“I Slept Great” Isn’t Good Enough at 71: Why I Track My Sleep to Fight Dementia
Don't tell me you had a good night's sleep. I don't want to hear it.
It happens all the time. Someone sees the ring on my finger, asks what it is, and I tell them it tracks my sleep. Then comes the line: “Oh, I sleep great every night.”
No, you don't know that. I'll grant you were unconscious for six, seven or eight hours. But you don't know how much deep sleep you got. You don't know your REM. You don't know how many times you woke up for a minute or two and never remembered it. Without that, you weren't sleeping well. You were just unconscious for the night.
Why Sleep Quality Matters for Dementia
Deep sleep is when your brain takes out the trash. A 2013 study in Science found the space between brain cells opened up by about 60% during sleep in mice, letting fluid flush out waste, including the beta-amyloid linked to Alzheimer's.
The human data points the same way. A 25-year study of nearly 8,000 people found those sleeping six hours or less in their 50s and 60s had about a 30% higher risk of dementia than people getting seven.
I plan to live to 200. Dementia would ruin the whole deal.
How I Track Mine
I use the Ultrahuman Ring. It shows me deep sleep, REM, light sleep and every time I woke up. The Oura Ring does the same job, and the Hume Band is another option. These are affiliate links; I may earn a commission if you buy, at no extra cost to you.
I'd rather find out I wasted a few hundred dollars on a tracker than find out I should have spent it.
Come Walk With Me
I post every day about longevity and health in my Facebook group. Come join us at garyleland.com/facebook, and tell me in the comments: do you track your sleep, or do you just think you sleep great?
Keep Going
Everything I take is on my protocols page. What I do to stay strong is on my fitness page, and every blood number I publish is on my test and stats page.
Live long and prosper,
Gary
A note from Gary: I am not a doctor, and I am definitely not your doctor. I am a 71-year-old man running a 129-year experiment on myself and publishing the results as they come. A sleep tracker is not a sleep study, so if you snore heavily or wake up exhausted, talk to your physician before changing anything about your own health.
These are products I use on my push to 200. I only put something on this list after I’ve tested it on myself. The links are affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission at no cost to you.
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