Ultimate Anti-Aging Secret Revealed Habits to Avoid for Achieving Deep Sleep
Health Without Spending Money
It’s no secret that one-quarter of our lives are spent sleeping. The impact of this time on maintaining the health of our brain, body, and mental state is undeniable. Even when we understand that cutting into our sleep time—by working overtime, eating dinner late, drinking alcohol, or being glued to our smartphones right before bed—is harmful, it can be challenging to know where to start making improvements.
Ryō Kakutani, the author of ‘Sleep Revolution for Working Women,’ which was published on August 21, has a track record of helping 140,000 people improve their sleep. In the book, he argues that for busy modern women, both at home and in the workplace, prioritizing “deep sleep” is crucial for managing their lives effectively. He introduces “three steps” to boost serotonin levels, which are necessary for good sleep. So, what about sleep strategies for stressed-out individuals overwhelmed by information in today’s society? I asked for some advice.
“To maintain good health, three key factors are important: diet, sleep, and exercise. High-quality foods like organic vegetables and supplements can be expensive, and while you can exercise on your own, gym memberships come with a cost. However, improving sleep can be done with minimal expense. You can start by replacing non-light-blocking curtains with blackout curtains and switching to eye-friendly LED light bulbs if your ceiling is too bright. These two changes alone can be made with a small investment of a few thousand yen.
For some reason, sleep often receives less attention compared to exercise and diet, but getting deep sleep helps remove physical fatigue, recover mental health, and organize the brain. Sleep is, in fact, the most powerful tool for maintaining health without spending much money,” says Kakutani.
Creating an environment conducive to deep sleep is crucial. As mentioned, replacing curtains with blackout ones and using LED lights is a good start. Additionally, move your phone charger to a spot away from your head, like the foot of your bed, to avoid light leakage. Surprisingly, expensive bedding or mattresses are not necessary.
Adult Videos Should Be Watched Without Guilt
“If you have the budget, it’s ideal to invest in a high-quality mattress costing several hundred thousand yen. However, a high-priced futon or mattress from a home center like Nitori, priced between tens of thousands to around 100,000 yen, is sufficient. Instead of using an expensive mattress for many years, replace it when it begins to feel worn out and you notice it starting to sag. If your current futon has been in use for over 10 years, it’s time to replace it.”
In today’s information-overloaded society, many people, not just older individuals, tend to look at their smartphones right before sleeping. While it’s often said that blue light from smartphones isn’t something to worry about, the advice continues:
“It’s unrealistic to tell modern people not to use their smartphones. Instead, shift your focus to what you are viewing and what you should avoid. It’s best to steer clear of subscription-based streaming dramas. Their episodic structure tends to make the brain excited and remain in an active state, making it harder to unwind.
When it comes to choosing dramas, opt for ones with a self-contained episode format like Mito Kōmon, where the story is clear and resolved within each episode. This avoids stimulating the brain too much since knowing the storyline helps prevent emotional highs and keeps the excitement at bay. Sleep is about turning off the brain’s active state, and if you fall asleep while still being engaged, you may experience light sleep and start dreaming quickly. This can lead to waking up during the night.”
Some people might find that watching slightly adult content is an essential part of their pre-sleep routine. This might be a small personal pleasure, enjoyed privately away from family.
“The reality of smartphone addiction often involves either social media or pornography. Pornography, in particular, can cause excitement and interfere with good sleep. However, given human desires, avoiding it completely can be challenging. Rather than feeling guilty about it, it’s better to approach it as a form of stress relief. Viewing it briefly to satisfy your desires and then going to sleep immediately can prevent it from disrupting your sleep.”
help with relaxation and stress relief, using alcohol as a substitute for sleep aids can lead to increased consumption over time. If you try to stop drinking before bed under such conditions, it could worsen sleep onset due to stress or lead to excessive drinking as a rebound effect.
“Drinking before bed may initially help with falling asleep, but alcohol has a diuretic effect, which can cause you to wake up during the night. Additionally, alcohol is a toxin that requires energy from the liver to break down and detoxify, disrupting stable sleep. However, completely banning alcohol may increase stress, so it’s important to understand how drinking before bed affects your sleep quality and how many drinks are tolerable for you based on your body type.
Moreover, alcohol has a muscle-relaxing effect, which can cause the muscles in your tongue and throat to relax, narrowing the upper airway and potentially leading to snoring. When you sleep, your muscles are already relaxed, so adding alcohol increases the risk of snoring.
There is a free app called SnoreLab that helps track snoring. By using this app, you can visualize how much you snore during sleep and get a snoring score each morning. By using it for a few days, you can determine how much you can drink before you start snoring. Knowing this can help you manage your drinking if you have important tasks the next day. For those who have made drinking before bed a routine, it’s crucial to understand how many drinks are okay for you.”
Deep Sleep is the Ultimate Anti-Aging Solution
Sleep is the source of good health. There’s a noticeable difference in appearance between men who get deep, restful sleep and those who do not. Healthy individuals tend to have better skin and reduced hair loss. Without the need for expensive anti-aging medications, getting good sleep can be the most effective anti-aging measure.
“There are reports from those who have improved their sleep that they’ve become more attractive. Not only are they praised by the opposite sex, but also by colleagues and family, who comment on their youthful appearance. Wouldn’t it be nice if your daughter said, ‘Dad, you’re looking great lately’?
Just by sleeping deeply, you can achieve anti-aging benefits. Deep sleep promotes the release of growth hormones, so there’s no need for costly anti-aging drugs. Without proper sleep, your mental state and brain won’t be in optimal condition. To look better and become more popular without spending money, sleep is key. I believe focusing on getting good sleep will make a difference. That shift in focus will change you.”
If your daughter tells you ‘Dad, you smell,’ getting better sleep might be the best solution.
Sleep Revolution for Working Girls” (Ryo Kakutani, Mirai Sato, Kobunsha)
Profile: Ryo Kakutani is a senior sleep health advisor and the founder of Life Re. He has a proven track record of improving the sleep of 140,000 people, primarily through corporate clients like NTT Docomo and CyberAgent. He specializes in practical methods that show results in a short period with a high success rate (over 90% of participants). His YouTube channel, Ultimate Sleep Techniques for Executives, will launch on September 10.