Note: The first part of this document recaps the circadian rhythm information in my book Forever Fat

Loss--particularly with regard to light and micronutrients linked with poor sleep. But this protocol goes
several steps beyond the simple strategies presented in my book of supplementing with salt and
magnesium, and avoiding blue light at night.

How To Reset Your Circadian Rhythm

and Sleep Normally Again
Sleep is another critical factor when it comes to having a fast metabolism. Having a properly functioning
circadian rhythm is critical to healthy thyroid function, healthy hormonal balance, and optimal cellular
energy production. So much so that some experts like Paul Jaminet even consider hypothyroidism to be a
circadian rhythm disorder. What is very clear is that if you dont sleep well, it is virtually impossible to
be healthy, energetic, have a fast metabolism, and have a lean body.
Re-establishing proper circadian rhythm is critical to metabolic function, and let me be very clear, even if
youre doing everything right when it comes to eating, if your circadian rhythm is off and youre not
sleeping the way you should be, you will still have metabolism troubles. So restoring normal circadian
rhythm to your body is essential to your metabolism rejuvenation process, and even by itself (aside from
all the dietary strategies Ive outlined so far), the protocol contained in this section alone can have hugely
powerful effects on your health and your physique.
Sleep is one of the great mysteries of life. Although were learning more all the time, scientists today still
don't really understand exactly why we sleep. Thats a pretty remarkable little fact, considering that were
talking about an aspect of life that we spend nearly one third of all our lives doing! Now, although we
havent cracked the mystery of why we sleep, what we do know is that normal circadian rhythm and good
sleep is a massively important factor in health. The research is very clear at this point that we all need
between 6-8 hours of sleep each night, and that poor sleep can have terrible adverse effects on our health.
Unfortunately, sleep deprivation is such a common and chronic condition in modern America that many
dont even realize they suffer from it. And the damaging effects from this state of affairs are widereaching and well, pretty awful. For example, interrupted or impaired sleep has been shown to:

Dramatically slow down your metabolism, and simultaneously, stimulates your appetite and
driving increased calorie consumption (specifically from processed foods). The combination of
these two things promotes fat gain, and tends to make fat loss almost impossible, even if your diet
and exercise habits are dialed in. Disrupted circadian rhythm is now understood by scientists to be
one of the major factors driving the obesity epidemic.
Weaken your immune system
Predispose to cancer, and accelerate tumor growthtumors grow two to three times faster in
laboratory animals with severe sleep dysfunctions

Seriously impair your memory; even a single night of poor sleepmeaning sleeping only 4 to 6
hourscan impact your ability to think clearly the next day

Impair your performance on physical or mental tasks, and decrease your problem solving ability

Can worsen a long list of other diseases and disorders, including: Hypothyroidism (i.e. slow
metabolism), heart disease, stomach ulcers, constipation, mood disorders like depression and anxiety
Poor sleep also significantly accelerates the aging process.

One study has even shown that people with chronic insomnia have a three times greater risk
of dying from any cause.1
Lost sleep is lost forever, and persistent lack of sleep has a cumulative effect when it comes to disrupting
your health. Poor sleep can make your life miserable, as many of you probably know.

Why Sleeping Pills aren't the Answer

The typical reaction to having difficulty sleeping is to take sleeping pills in order to knock you out.
Unfortunately, if you look at the science, its pretty clear that sleeping pills are not a real answer to
chronic sleep troubles. Here is an excerpt from an article on sleeping pills from Joseph Mercola, D.O.:
About two years ago, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) produced an excellent metaanalysis on the effectiveness of sleeping pills.
What did they find?
Sleeping pills DON'T WORK!
If you look at polysomnography (objective measures of sleep) more often than not,
sleep is worse on a sleeping pill, Naiman says.
In this meta-analytic study, they found that on average, sleeping pills would help people
fall asleep approximately 10 minutes sooner. If it's taking you an hour or two to get to sleep,
10 minutes is statistically significant, but frankly, personally, biomedically, it's not
significant at all.
On average, sleeping pills increase total sleep time maybe 15 to 20 minutes. Again, if
you're looking at an eight-hour night it's really insignificant.

(2010, June 15). Long-Term Study Links Chronic Insomnia to Increased Risk of Death. Retrieved from
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100607065559.htm

But here is the catch. This was a really phenomenal find. They found that what most sleeping pills
do is they create amnesia for awakenings and poor, fragmented sleep. Sleeping pills disrupt
your memory formation.
So you wake up thinking you had a good night sleep, but when you look at objective measures of
your sleep, it's really very poor. So we're tricking ourselves. Sleeping pills result in poor quality
sleep--what I call counterfeit sleep." 2
So whats clear is that we need something more than just pills that knock you out (and cause counterfeit
sleep) to truly cure chronic sleep problems. We need to do more than just cover up the problem with pills,
but to actually address the underlying cause of the poor sleep and correct the problem at the source. What
we need is to reset the circadian rhythm so that its functioning normally again.

What Were Trying to Accomplish With

This Circadian Rhythm Reset Protocol
In order to reset the circadian rhythm, the basic thing that needs to be accomplished is this: To make a
very clear distinction between daytime and nighttime. Your body is designed by evolution to be awake or
be asleep according to certain cues or triggers it gets from the environment and your behaviors. Now,
basically the reason that sleep problems have become so common in our modern society is that the modern
civilized world is essentially incongruent with the way our circadian rhythm is designed to workthat is,
were no longer providing the right cues at the right times, and were providing the wrong cues at the
wrong times. In essence, we are sending mixed messages to our brain about whether its day or night, and
the line between being asleep and awake is becoming blurred. This leads to being awake too much during
the night when we should be sleeping and being tired/fatigued too much during the day when we should
be awake and energetic.
Thus, what we are doing here with this circadian rhythm reset is trying to manipulate the specific factors
which tell your body this is the time you should be awake and the factors which tell your body this is
the time you should be asleep. When you send your body mixed signals, insomnia is the inevitable result.
When you send your body the right signalsthat is, the signals that are in harmony with your
evolutionary heritagenormal healthy sleep patterns are the natural result.
Now, you should be aware that this approach is NOT based on some quick fix solution to insomnia where
you take some pill that just knocks you out. The idea here is addressing the true underlying cause of your
disrupted circadian rhythm, and fixing the things that caused the circadian rhythm to go out of whack in
the first place.

Mercola, J. (2012, March 17). New Study Shows Sleeping Pills Linked to Increased Risk of Death and Cancer. Retrieved from
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/03/17/new-study-shows-sleeping-pills-linked-to-increased-risk-of-death-and-cancer.aspx

Thus, if you currently have difficulty sleeping, you should be aware that what were talking about here is
changes in habits/lifestyle, and what I will ask you to do here will likely not be in line with your current
habits. In fact, it is virtually guaranteed to be at odds with your current lifestyle/habitsfor if it werent
and you were already doing things along the lines of what Im suggesting here, you probably wouldnt
have insomnia right now.
Now, even if you dont have insomnia or trouble sleeping, I would still strongly recommend following the
advice in this section, as you will notice that youll sleep even deeper and have more energy during the
day.
If you understand everything Ive explained thus far, you should realize at this point that you have a
choice: Be willing to alter your lifestyle in certain ways, or alternatively, continue with your current habits
which disrupt circadian rhythm. If you decide you do want to fix your sleep troubles bad enough, you
should be aware that some of these which may be very difficult at first, say if youre currently totally
sedentary and you love staying up til midnight to watch your favorite TV show. Just remember that the
alternative to that is to continue with what youre currently doingwhich is most cases, involves sleeping
very poorly and trying to use drugs to knock yourself out each night.
That choice is yours, and I will leave it up to you. I apologize if this sounds preachy, but I have
experienced many people in my life that have a certain sense of entitlement about health, their body, their
sleepthey believe they can behave however they want and get whatever result they like, and they are
unwilling to accept the idea that perhaps their habits (which they may have been doing for 20 or 30 years)
may be at cause for their problems. Having a body that feels good is something that must be earnedit is
not something that is a given regardless of how you use your body each day. Having a body that is healthy,
having a body that performs well, having optimal cognitive performance, having a body that sleeps well
these are all things that are not givens, but must be earned. They are not earned through hard work or
anything of an especially rigorous and intense nature, but simply adopting some simple shifts in lifestyle
to come into harmony with your evolutionary heritagethat is, to allow your biology to function properly.
What all this is meant to say, in plain English, is this: You cannot have your cake and eat it to youI do
not believe that humans are entitled to act however they please and get any result they like. Certain
outcomes are the direct end result of certain actions. We do not have a right to complain of our poor health,
poor physique, and poor sleep, if we are unwilling to do the things which change those outcomes. We are
not entitled to be sedentary, eat a crappy diet, and watch reality TV and then be blessed with great health,
boundless energy and vitality, a great body, a great mood, and perfect psychological health. These are
things that result from certain habits, and in exactly the same way, alternative habits make these outcomes
virtually impossible.
Having said that, although some people may perceive some of these changes to be extreme or difficult at
first, the reality is that these are all very simple changes in habits and if you make the initial effort to do
them, its becomes just as easy to do as your current habits.

So if youve decided that you do want to change your habits to restore your natural circadian rhythms,
well, lets get into it!

Causes of Abnormal Circadian Rhythm:

There are 5 major factors that disrupt the circadian rhythm. They are:
1) Light
2) Activity
3) Stress Hormones
4) Micronutrient Deficiencies
5) Lack of transition from activity to rest
My aim with this Circadian Reset Protocol is to fix each of these 5 factors, thus providing a sciencebacked comprehensive system to correct every possible contributor to a faulty circadian rhythm. The
following is an in-depth explanation of each of these factors.

1) Light:
Light is the primary regulator of circadian rhythm. It is also the single most important factor you need to
correct if you want to restore normal circadian rhythm. Organisms evolved to adjust themselves the rise
and fall of the sun, in a physiological cycle known as the circadian rhythm. Once artificial light effectively
varied the length of a day, our rise and fall became somewhat dissociated from the rise and fall of the sun,
and the average night's sleep decreased from around nine consistent hours to roughly seven, and often
varying from one night to the next. This state of affairs is the primary culprit for why so many people in
modern society struggle with insomnia. While electricity and efficient lighting have clearly provided
major benefits to society, these benefits come with a price--the betrayal of your inner clock.
In Wiley and Formblys book Lights Out: Sleep, Sugar, and Survival, they make the case that that
disrupted circadian rhythm from unnatural light exposure is a major contributor to most modern-day
degenerative diseases like obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancerjust as big a contributor as what we eat
and how we exercise.
Now, to be more specific, when it comes to light exposure there are basically two problems that disrupt
circadian rhythm:
1) Deficiency in sunlight exposure during daylight hours. We need sunlight for numerous reasons

like making vitamin D (from the suns UV rays), stimulation of cellular energy production (largely
from light in the red wavelengths), and melatonin suppression (from light in the blue wavelengths).

Sunlight is bioactive! It is affecting numerous aspects of your physiology, and is an essential

requirement for health. Specifically, when we do not get ample blue light exposure during the day
(for example, if we spend all day indoors), we do not get enough of the stimulus that tells our
brains this is daytime, the time to be awake and melatonin (the hormone that should be
suppressed during daylight hours) is not adequately suppressed.
2) Too much light (specifically light in the blue spectrum) after the sun goes down. Artificial
light sources like TVs, cell phones, and computer screens emit light in the blue light spectrum
which enters our eyes and feeds back into the brain where it tells the brain its daytime and
melatonin is suppressed. Normally when darkness arrives after the sun goes down, melatonin goes
up and we get tired and ready for sleep. Due to modern artificial light sources, melatonin does not
increase like it should be after the sun goes down.
The combination of light deficiency during the hours of daylight and light excess after sunset is the single
most potent circadian rhythm disruptor.

2) Activity:
The second most important regulator of circadian rhythm is activity. Daytime is the time humans are
supposed to be active, and nighttime is the time humans are supposed to be restful. The more you disrupt
thati.e. the more you become active during the time of darkness, and the more you become inactive (e.g.
sitting or laying down) when its light outside, the more your circadian rhythm gets out of whack.
By far the most damaging thing here is sitting for hours and hours every daylike working a desk job.
Sitting is not only a major source of circadian rhythm disruption, but perhaps the bigger concern is that
sitting is now linked with all sorts of detrimental health effects. Having a desk job where you sit for 8
hours each day is not only terrible for your posture, its terrible for your circadian rhythm, and your
overall health. Combine that with not doing any exercise or very little movement of your body on a daily
basis, and you have a powerful circadian rhythm disruptor.
Research now indicates that sitting is an independent health risk factor, even for active people. So in other
words, its not just that sitting is correlated with increased disease due to the fact that people who sit more
tend to be sedentary, but even if you work out regularly, the time you spend sitting is still damaging your
health: Many people think that if they work out every day thats all they need to do, says researcher
Emma Wilmot, MD, of England's University of Leicester. But those with jobs that require sitting all day
may still be at risk."3
Research now indicates that sitting for several hours each day is as significant a health risk factor as
obesity and smoking. Many studies show increased mortality from heart disease and diabetes in those who

Boyles, S. (2012, Oct 15). Sitting Too Much May Lead to Diabetes, Heart Disease. Retrieved from http://www.webmd.com/diabetes/news/20121015/sitting-

diabetes-heart-risks

sit frequently, and some studies even suggest that excessive sitting is responsible for over 150,000 cases of
cancer each year. According to Joseph Mercola, D.O4.:
"A second study, published in the October issue of the British Journal of Sports
Medicine,3 which included nearly 12,000 Australian adults, concluded that each hour spent
watching television after the age of 25 reduces your life expectancy by nearly 22 minutes.
To put this into perspective, the authors compared it to smoking each cigarette reduces
your life expectancy by about 11 minutes. All in all, the researchers found that adults who
spend an average of six hours in front of the TV will reduce their life expectancy by just
under 5 years, compared to someone who does not watch TV...
Inactivity is naturally associated with increased risk for poor health, which will likely
impact your overall life span. A recent study published in Diabetologia,6 analyzed 18
studies that in total included nearly 800,000 people, and found that those who sat for the
longest periods of time were twice as likely to have diabetes or heart disease, compared to
those who sat the least. And, while prolonged sitting was linked to an overall greater
mortality risk from any cause, the strongest link was to death due to diabetes. According to
lead researcher Thomas Yates, MD:
Even for people who are otherwise active, sitting for long stretches seems to be an
independent risk factor for conditions like diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and kidney
disease.
Sitting for long periods of time during the day is a particularly potent way to disrupt your circadian
rhythm and damage your health.

3) Overabundance of stress hormones:

The reasons for chronic excess stress hormones are too numerous to address here. But suffice it to say that a
slow metabolism (low thyroid hormone), poor nutrition habits, sedentary living, psychological stress, as well
as insomnia itself, can lead to overabundance of stress hormones. These stress hormones cause and perpetuate
insomnia. They will keep you awake, or prevent you from going into deep sleep, and in some, they frequently
cause nightmares and teeth grinding. Low blood sugar during sleep will also cause a rise in stress hormones
that causes people to awake in the middle of the night, or too early (i.e. before the night is completed). From a
nutritional perspective with regard to specifically nighttime stress hormones, lack of adequate glycogen
(carbohydrate) stores in the liver, along with excess water intake close to bed time, a magnesium deficient diet,
and low salt intake can all contribute to an excess of stress hormones. I will spare you the scientific studies on
showing this link between stress hormones and sleep troubles, since this is something that is readily
observablethink of the last time you were really stressed out and how poorly you slept that night. The point

Mercola, J. (2012, November 9). Sitting Less May Be Key for Maximum Longevity. Retrieved from

http://fitness.mercola.com/sites/fitness/archive/2012/11/09/sitting-less-increases-life-expectancy.aspx#_edn2

here is that thats happening all the time on a less noticeable, less extreme scale in people with chronically
elevated levels of stress hormones.

4) Micronutrient deficiency:
The primary things that contribute to faulty circadian rhythm when it comes to micronutrients are salt,
magnesium, and vitamin D.
Salt deficiency: As I have already explained, salt is not an unhealthy or toxic substance that needs to
be avoided at all costs, as many people have claimed over the last several decades. What I didnt
mention is that not only is salt critical to good health, its also critical for a good nights sleep.
As one study concluded:
"The low sodium diet was also associated with disturbed sleep patterns: decreased rapid eye movement
and slow wave sleep and increased wakefulness." 5
A quote from Ray Peat: The increase of adrenalin caused by salt restriction has many harmful effects,
including insomnia. Many old people have noticed that a low sodium diet disturbs their sleep, and that
eating their usual amount of salt restores their ability to sleep. The activity of the sympathetic nervous
system increases with aging, so salt restriction is exacerbating one of the basic problems of aging.
Chronically increased activity of the sympathetic (adrenergic) nervous system contributes to capillary
leakage, insulin resistance (with increased free fatty acids in the blood), and degenerative changes in
the brain (Griffith and Sutin, 1996). 6
Simply put, salt deficiency can increase stress hormone levels in the body and insomnia is a common
symptom of increased stress hormones.
Magneisum Deficiency: Up to 80 Percent of Americans Are Magnesium-Deficient
There is also evidence that lack of magnesium may play a role in insomnia, and research indicates that a
majority of Americans are magnesium deficient. One of the classic diagnostic symptoms of magnesium
deficiency is insomnia, and low magnesium diets are consistently associated with poor sleep quality.
Magnesium deficient diets have been shown to significantly increase periods of wakefulness and
decrease slow wave (restful) sleep. 7
Vitamin D Deficiency: May Be the Cause of Excessive Sleepiness
Vitamin D is another substance (technically a hormone, not a vitamin) that is essential for good health
and disease prevention. Some research has shown that it also plays an important role in sleep, and that a
huge majority of people who complain of daytime sleepiness and musculoskeletal pain are deficient in
5

Vitello, MV, Prinz, PN, Halter, JB. (1983). Sodium-restricted diet increases nighttime plasma norepinephrine and impairs sleep patterns in man.
Journal Clinical Endocri Metab. 56(3):553-6.
6
Peat, R. (2007). Salt, energy, metabolic rate, and longevity. Retrieved from http://raypeat.com /articles/articles/salt.shtml
7
Depoortere H, Franon D, Llopis J. (1993). Effects of a magnesium-deficient diet on sleep organization in rats. 27(4):237-45.

vitamin D. (Note that vitamin D deficiency also relates to sunlight deficiency as our bodies require
sunlight to manufacture vitamin D). According to a writeup by Mother Nature Network:
[T]he team decided to test the vitamin D levels of patients who had complained of chronic pain as part
of the workup that was done for other sleep disturbances. McCarty and colleagues performed research
and reviews of 153 patients at a sleep clinic. Eighty-four percent of patients had either vitamin D
insufficiency (30 percent) or deficiency (54 percent).
They discovered that some patients who exhibited low levels of vitamin D experienced complete
resolution of daytime sleepiness symptoms after treatment for vitamin D deficiency. McCarty and
colleagues concluded that it is biologically plausible that low vitamin D could contribute to sleepiness
because of its role in systemic inflammation.8

5) Absence of shift out of activity:

Most of us run around like chickens with their heads cut off all day, and then wonder why we cant fall
right asleep as soon as our head hits the pillow. If our nervous system has been in overdrive for 16 hours,
its unrealistic to assume that it can switch into low gear in a matter of minutes simply because we want it
to. Of course this is why sleeping pills are growing in popularity each year. Before you expect to sleep, it
must be clear to your body now is not the time for activity, now is the time for rest and sleep. In
traditional societies that do not have artificial light sources, this usually revolved around sitting with the
family around a fire or reading in candlelight (note: fires are primarily red light, which does not suppress
melatonin). The absence of wind-down time before bed can be a significant sleep disruptor.

Mercola, J. (2012, August 15). Tips for Resetting Your Internal Clock and Sleeping Better. Retrieved from
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/08/15/nutrients-better-sleep.aspx

HOW TO FIX EACH OF THE CAUSES

OF DISRUPTED CIRCADIAN
RHYTHM:
To put it simply, youre going to combine a protocol of ample light (of the right spectrum) during the
daytime, spending the day mostly standing rather than sitting, along with some kind of exercise during
daylight, minimizing blue light exposure after sunset, taking in a pre-bed concoction of specific nutrients
to decrease stress hormones and stabilize blood sugar, CO2 increasing breathing to deactivate the
sympathetic nervous system, and sleeping in a room with complete darkness at an ideal temperature. The
combination of all of these together is very likely the most powerful and scientific systematic protocol in
existence for restoring normal healthy circadian rhythms and eliminating sleep troubles forever.

The Light Fix:

For millions of years up until the last 100 and something years, human activity has paralleled the rise and
fall of the sun. Now, we are out of sync with the sun and we have chronic sleep problems that result from
that. The fix is very simple:
1) Get lots of light during the day.
2) Eliminate light after sunset, or at least most of the light spectrum (explained below).
More light during the day, and less light at night. Its a pretty simple concept to understand, but many
people in the modern world have terrible difficulty putting it into practice.
You must get lightreal sunlight ideally, or if thats not possible, a full spectrum artificial light source
during the daytime every single day. Basically, the more the better. But at a minimum, 1-2 hours each day
of either sunlight or a light therapy box.
1) Get outdoors and get ample sunlight each day, or if thats not possible, use Light Therapy. If
you cannot get natural sunlight each day, you will need to get a device that emits ample light (in
the right spectrum) during the daytime while youre indoors. The best device on the market (as far
as less expensive ones that still get the job done) that I would recommend for this purpose is the
Lightphoria, which you can find on my website here (under the Circadian Rhythm section):
http://www.ariwhitten.com/recommended-products

If youre not getting outdoors and getting natural sunlight, you should use this device in the
morning after you wake up for 30 minutes (you can use it while getting ready in front of the mirror,
meditating, cooking breakfast, taking a shower, working at your computer, etc). That itself is
enough to provide you with tons of benefits and reset circadian rhythm, but if you want to amplify
the effect, you can also use it for 10-20 minutes every few hours as youre sitting at your desk
working throughout the day. But please DO try to get outdoors and go for a walk each morning.
Its free, and very powerful.
I actually recommend the cheaper homemade version above as a better choice, as the light
spectrum of incandescent bulbs in concentrated in the red spectrum, which has powerful anti-aging
and health benefits. (It has a small amount of light in the blue spectrum which is enough to
suppress melatonin if the light enters your eyes, but most of the light is in the red spectrum).
Although this is an area unknown to many people, there is a profound amount of scientific research
(much of which is from NASA) on the profound anti-aging and metabolism boosting effects of red
light therapy. I discuss this in the Red Light Therapy report.
So not only can you get ample melatonin suppressing blue light to keep your circadian rhythm
running properly, but you can also get the anti-aging and metabolism-boosting benefits of red light
by using the incandescent bulb.
2) Eliminate Blue Light After Sunset:
Just as important as getting ample light during the daytime to suppress melatonin, you must
eliminate light in the blue spectrum after sunset to make sure melatonin is not suppressed after its
gets dark outside. You want to have the absence of artificial lightlike from room lighting,
computer screens, cell phone screens, and TVsafter sunset. Or at least, the absence of the blue
spectrum of light, since its the blue spectrum thats responsible for melatonin suppression. How
can you eliminate the blue spectrum only? Well you have a couple of choices: One is to install
f.lux (http://justgetflux.com/) on your computer and smart phone, and this will almost completely
eliminate the blue spectrum of light on the screens of those devices. Alternatively, you can use
blue light blocking screens on your computer and phone, which actually block blue light even
more effectively than f.lux, and they work for your TV as well, which f.lux doesnt. (Note: If you
have severe sleep troubles, and youre serious about fixing the problem, you should use the blue
blocking screens rather than f.lux, as they block the blue light more completely).
For computer screens: https://www.lowbluelights.com/products.asp?cid=55
For phones: https://www.lowbluelights.com/products.asp?cid=57
You may also get blue blocking sunglasses, which will effectively eliminate all light in the blue
spectrum from entering your eyes from room lighting as well as electronic screens, though it does
require you to wear goofy sunglasses around your house at night. If you prefer not to do that, then
you want to get the blue blocking screens to go youre your phone, computer, and TV if you plan
on using those devices after sunset.
While avoiding TV in general is best, if you absolutely cannot live without watching TV before
bed, you can STILL do it without disrupting your circadian rhythm by simply using one of these
blue light blocking screens over your TV: https://www.lowbluelights.com/products.asp?cid=55.

If you do not get the blue blocking screen for your TV, then youll have to avoid watching TV
within 2-3 hours of bedtime.
So theres really no excuseeven if you absolutely must use your cellphone, computer, and TV
incessantly after sunset, you can eliminate all blue light emanating from them by using either f.lux
or by using blue-blocking screens.
By doing this, you allow your brain to produce melatonin at the time when its supposed to.
3) Optional: You may use light in the yellow, orange, and red spectrum in the evening as a

source of indoor light.

Since humans evolved in the glow of firelight, the yellow, orange and red wavelengths dont
suppress melatonin production the way white and blue wavelengths do. You can read these studies
if youd like to learn more about this:

"There was no significant difference in sleepiness between the 550-nm (orange/red

spectrum) light exposure and the no-light condition".
http://jcem.endojournals.org/cgi/content/full/90/3/1311

It is now well accepted that the circadian system is maximally sensitive to shortwavelength (blue) light and is quite insensitive to long-wavelength (red) light.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2744917

This experiment used goggles with selective exclusion of all wavelengths less than 530 nm
(i.e. they block blue light but not red light)... All subjects demonstrated preserved
melatonin levels in filtered light similar to their dim-light secretion profile. Unfiltered
bright light drastically suppressed melatonin
production.http://jcem.endojournals.org/cgi/content/full/90/5/2755

This study used either blue-blocking (amber) or uv-blocking (yellow-tinted) safety glasses
for 3 h prior to sleep. The amber lens group experienced significant improvement in sleep
quality relative to the control group and positive affect. Mood also improved significantly
relative to controls. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20030543

If you want to protect your melatonin cycle, when the sun goes down, you would shift to a low
wattage bulb with yellow, orange, or red light. I have several different cheap low wattage amber
and red bulbs that you can use for this purpose, listed here in the Circadian Rhythm section:
http://www.vielight.com/intranasal-light-therapy-device-category/
If you want something fancier, theres also a fancy LED setup listed on there you can completely
program the light wavelengths you want at particular times of the dayi.e. white light during the
day and then have it shift to amber or red at night. (see link above).
Amber or red bulbs as well as fire/candles are wonderful options for lighting your home at night
without suppressing melatonin. If youre unwilling to do this, do at least try to dim the lights in the
evening after sunset and minimize light exposure. If you get in the habit of using amber/red bulbs

and/or candles, you may find that you actually like it and that it adds a wonderful ambience to your
home.
4) Sleep in complete darkness.
In addition to ample light exposure during the day and minimal blue light exposure while youre
awake in the evening, you want to sleep in complete darkness. You do this by unplugging anything
emitting light (alarm clocks, nightlights, etc), and either using black out shades on all windows, or
by wearing an eye mask. I recommend the black out shades as the eye mask can sometimes disturb
sleep.
Sleeping in complete darkness is a powerful way to ensure deeper sleep. Please see the following
graph from author Seth Roberts 9 illustrating how well rested one feels after sleep as it relates to
darkness in the room:

In surveys of people who struggle sleeping, room darkness is consistently ranked as being critical
to a good nights sleep. 10

Roberts, S. (2013, November 27). Darker Bedroom Better Sleep. Retrieved from http://blog.sethroberts.net/2013/11/27/correlation-between-moon-phase-andsleep-quality-supports-importance-of-dark-bedroom/
10
Breus, M. (2012, April 29). How Sleep-Friendly Is Your Bedroom? Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-michael-j-breus/sleepbedroom_b_1455850.html

The Activity Fix:

During the day, you want to be as active as possible. Part of what Im talking about here is exercise,
though daily exercise is actually not the most important thing. The most important thing that needs to be
done here isnt exercise per se, its not sitting!
1) Work Standing Up! This one is absolutely massive, to the point where it may be just as

significant a regulator of circadian rhythm as light exposure is. During the day, sit as little as
possible! Get yourself a standing desk and work standing up, not sitting. Here is a graph from Seth
Roberts on the impact of standing more on his sleep problem 11:

As you can see from the above graph, just the single intervention of standing more during the day can be
exceptionally powerful in correcting sleep dysfunction.
Now, standing up is not really exercise and its not particularly strenuous, but it is extremely powerful
in sending your body the signal its daytime. Sitting does just the oppositeit sends your body the
signal its time to rest and wind down. So you dont need intense exercise programs in order to restore
circadian rhythmyou can simply make an effort to stand for the majority of the day.
What if my work requires sitting?
Most workeven desk jobsdo not actually require sitting. You should simply get a standing desk (or
convert your existing desk to a standing desk) by simply placing a stand on top of it for your computer
screen to sit on. Then, work standing up. This is an extremely powerful way to help restore your natural
circadian rhythm. In addition, it will cause you to burn significantly more calories each day, and it will
even affect nutrient partitioningthat is, simply by standing up, more of the calories you eat each day end
up going to feed muscle rather than fat. Most people also notice that they become significantly more
productive by working standing up.
11

Jaminet, P. (2011, March 22). Seth Roberts and Circadian Therapy. Retrieved from http://perfecthealthdiet.com/2011/03/seth-roberts-and-circadian-therapy/

Working at a standing desk is powerful medicine! It restores circadian rhythm, improves your health, and
gives you a better physique at the same time.
You can either buy, build, or convert your existing desk to a nice standing desk using the links on my
recommended products page: http://www.ariwhitten.com/recommended-products
Personally, I use a simple laptop stand (link on the above page) with a wireless keyboard below my laptop.
2) If possible, do some kind of daily exercise, whether a simple walk or intense exercise.

As stated above, intense exercise isnt entirely necessary for restoring circadian rhythm, but doing some
exercise beyond simple standing each day can certainly speed up the circadian reset tremendously. The
ideal combination is standing as much as possible throughout the day, some daily walking (ideally
outdoors), and a bout of intense exercise between 20 minutes to an hour. Standing plus a daily walk or two
is certainly enough though, for those not inclined to intense workouts. Yes, even a simple walk,
particularly if done outdoors in the sunwill be powerful medicine in this regard. Intense exerciseif
thats what you preferis also wonderful to restore circadian rhythm. Its best to do it outdoors during
daylight hours if at all possible, but at the very least, it should be done sometime during the daylight hours
rather than after sunset.

The Micronutrient Deficiencies Fix:

Vitamin D:
Daily sun exposure is the best way to optimize your vitamin D levels. If youre not getting sun exposure
each day, then you really need to take steps to make daily sun exposure a priority in your life. Because
your body requires UV rays to synthesize vitamin D, please note that the light therapy options will not
stimulate your body to produce vitamin D, as they do not include UV rays in their light spectrum. So its
either sun exposure or supplementationbut you definitely need one or the other.
BIG CAVEAT: New research is emerging that vitamin D supplementation may NOT be a good idea, and
can potentially be harmful. If you are deficient in vitamin D or you rarely get sunlight exposure, I strongly
recommend correcting this situation NOT by supplementing with vitamin D, but instead by increasing
sunlight exposure. If that is not possible, get yourself good full spectrum indoor lighting. But remember
that vitamin D supplementation is not an adequate substitute for sun exposure. Get your vitamin D up, but
do it with daily sun exposure.
If youre worried about exposing your skin to the sun, consider that the latest research indicates that sun
avoidance is linked to significantly SHORTER lifespans., which you can see in this literature review
HERE: http://chriskresser.com/does-avoiding-the-sun-shorten-your-lifespan

Getting sunburned is unquestionably bad thing, but daily sun exposure below the threshold of sunburn is
an unquestionably good thing.
Magnesium:
Remember, most people are magnesium deficient and would benefit from dramatically increasing their
magnesium intake. Oranges and cacao (dark chocolate) and coffee are great sources of magnesium that
can be consumed daily.
Additionally, I recommend supplementing with oral magnesium citrate just before bed (1/2 tsp-1tsp).
Transdermal magnesium is actually the fastest way to correct magnesium deficiency (much more efficient
than oral magnesium), and by spraying magnesium oil on your body liberally each day and/or using
Epsom salt baths regularly before bed (whichever is more convenient for you), you will notice profound
effects very quickly. If you use magnesium oil, you can spray your body at any time of the day, but you
want to make sure to do it right before bed. You can either rinse off in the shower (after at least 20
minutes), or simply leave it on if it doesnt bother you. Magnesium is a very powerful tool that you will
notice instant effects from, and for many people, magnesium alone has cured their insomnia.
There are many different options for correcting magnesium deficiency, and you can find links to them on
my recommended products page: http://www.ariwhitten.com/recommended-products
Salt:
Salt is perhaps the most important of all of these. The fix is simple: Salt your foods liberally, and make
sure you add a pinch of salt to each cup of water you drink. Also, make an especially important point of
taking in as big of a pinch of salt as you can handle right before bed.
I recommend the brand Real Salt from Utah, as it is one of the purest sea salts in the world, free of
contaminants and has lots of great trace minerals.

The Stress Hormone Fix:

First of all, a major cause of elevated stress hormones are the things weve addressed earliersuch as
PUFAs, carbohydrate avoidance, low salt intake, endotoxin, magnesium deficiency, and in general
hypothyroidism/slow metabolism. When cellular energy production is chronically low (i.e. you have a
slow metabolism), stress hormones are elevated. So all the strategies youve learned thus farthe
Metabolism Supercharge Nutrition principlesare important for lowering chronically elevated stress
hormones.
But here Im going to offer another strategy to lower stress hormones, specifically during sleep. This is
going to be the most enjoyable therapy youve ever doneI promise you that! Right before bed each night,
I want you to consume a small amount of ice cream. Yes, really...ice cream! Ice creamwhen it is made
of pure top quality ingredients has an unparalleled mix of healthy fats and good carbohydrates to keep
your blood sugar levels stable during sleep and keep stress hormones at bay. I strongly recommend
making this ice cream yourself at home with pure ingredients (grass-fed organic milk and cream, and fruit
plus raw honey or coconut sugar for sweetener and flavoring).

Aris Special Home-Made Ice Cream

Note: I like to make mine with raw milk and raw eggs without cooking the
mixture, but you can cook the mixture as is typically done with ice cream recipes if you prefer.
The base mixture (for multiple servings) that I use is this:
2-2.5 cup Grass-fed milk (cow or goat, preferably raw milk)
Optional:1/4 cup grass-fed, organic cream or MCT oil (I recommend just using the milk
without added cream)
1/4 cup raw honey
2 scoops whey protein powder
2 tsp. vanilla extract
Note: I also make a dairy-free version using 2.5 cups coconut cream in place of the milk and
cream. To make the coconut cream, you can use Desiccated Unsweetened Coconut Meat. Just soak
a few cups in hot water for an hour or so, and then strain out the coconut fiber.
I usually make a simple version using solely full-fat organic milk with some fruit, honey and a
pinch of salt, (i.e. no added cream) and just throw that in the ice cream maker, and it turns out
amazingly well. More like a sorbet texture, but still delicious.
If you do not want to go to the trouble to do make your own ice cream, you can also simply use organic
milk/yogurt with some coconut cream, fruit and raw honey if you dont want to go to the trouble of
making ice cream and just want something you can prepare in a snap. The mix of healthy fats (from
coconut), the slow digesting protein in the milk, and the carbohydrates in the fruit will have essentially
the same effect.
Regardless of which of these options you choose, I strongly advise adding a pinch of salt to the
concoction you make, and importantly, a few grams of gelatin powder.
Next, I want you to tart cherries to your pre-bed ritual. Research has now proven that tart cherries--in
addition to the numerous benefits on inflammation and countless other health benefits--have powerful
sleep enhancing benefits. 12 13 Participants in a study who took in tart cherry concentrate before bed
were consistently found to sleep longer and have more restful sleep than the placebo group. I
recommend taking in a small amount (maybe 1oz, or enough to form a layer at the bottom of a cup) of
tart cherry concentrate.
The next thing were going to add into the mix is gelatin. Gelatin, which is rich in the amino acid
glycine, has powerful effects on your brain, working to decrease stress hormones and inflammation, as
well as to increase inhibitory neurotransmitters in the brain (namely GABA) which act to promote
12
13

http://www.nutraingredients-usa.com/Research/Tart-cherry-juice-may-help-insomniacs-sleep-research
http://www.nutraingredients-usa.com/Research/Melatonin-rich-tart-cherries-may-improve-sleep-quality-RCT

natural sleep. There is even god research showing that gelatin consumption can significantly improve
sleep when done by itself:
In human volunteers who have been continuously experiencing unsatisfactory sleep,
effects of glycine ingestion (3g) before bedtime on subjective sleep quality were
investigated, and changes in polysomnography (PSG) during sleep were analyzed. Effects
on daytime sleepiness and daytime cognitive function were also evaluated. Glycine
improved subjective sleep quality and sleep efficacy (sleep time/in-bed time), and
shortened PSG latency both to sleep onset and to slow wave sleep without changes in the
sleep architecture. Glycine lessened daytime sleepiness and improved performance of
memory recognition tasks. Thus, a bolus ingestion of glycine before bedtime seems to
produce subjective and objective improvement of the sleep quality in a different way
than traditional hypnotic drugs such as benzodiazepines. 14
Gelatin can be purchased from my recommended products page, as there are several options:
http://www.ariwhitten.com/recommended-products

And if youd like to read more about the powerful physiological effects of gelatin, you can read this:
http://raypeat.com/articles/articles/gelatin.shtml
So, all you have to do is take in a bit of ice cream before bed, and youll notice that you instantly sleep
deeper and feel more rested the following day. One little caution: Be aware that foods rich in sugar and
fat together, while very good for suppressing stress hormones, are also highly rewarding to the brain
and make it easy to overeat. In other words, once we get a taste of something that delicious, our brains
get so much pleasure from it that we just want to consume more and more and we have a hard time
stopping! So make sure to just serve yourself a small portion of ice cream (1/4 cup or 3-5 tablespoons)
before bed and not to eat a whole quart. Go easy! This is not meant to be a treat. It is meant to be a
medicine. So treat it as a medicineuse a small dose for the effectbut dont start eating to give
yourself pleasure and then ending up stuffing your face. Believe it or not, ice cream can be powerful
medicine for curing insomniaand I promise it will be the most enjoyable medicine youve ever taken!
The whole thing put together looks like this:
Sleep Inducing Concoction
3-5 tablespoons of the homemade ice cream
0.5-1 tsp Magnesium Glycinate
1 oz tart cherry concentrate
Large pinch of salt
1-2 Tbsp Gelatin

14

Bannai, M., Chiba, S., Inagawa, K., Nakayama, K., Yamadera, W. (2007). Glycine ingestion improves subjective sleep quality in human volunteers,
correlating with polysomnographic changes. DOI: 10.1111/j.1479-8425.2007.00262.x

The Nervous System Fix:

Many people have heard of the sympathetic nervous system, by its association with the stress response
we call it the fight or flight response. Opposing the sympathetic nervous system is the parasympathetic
nervous system, which is basically the opposite systemits the rest and digest system. These systems
oppose one another and you cannot simultaneously be bothactivating one inhibits the other. So the more
youre in stress and activity fight or flight mode, the harder it will be to sleep. Today, we are typically
running around til late at night and were active and energetic as we sit in front of artificial light sources
like TVs and computers and cell phones. Before the advent of modern artificial lighting, cell phones, and
TV, people living in traditional societies would typically start to wind down and relax after the sun went
down. It is essential to wind down in this way if you want restful sleep. Now, Im not going to recommend
that you never watch TV and dont touch your cell phone or computer for hours before bed (as these
recommendations are very hard for most of us to adhere to), but what you can do is take 5 minutes right
before you lay down in bed to consciously and deliberately take your body out of
activity/stress/awake/fight and flight mode by activating the parasympathetic nervous system. You can do
this very powerfully with a simple breathing exercise from a powerful breathing method developed by
Russian scientists, known as Buteyko breathing. This simple exercise will raise CO2 levels in your body
and shut down the sympathetic nervous system to promote a very deep relaxation:
Take a small breath into your nose; a small breath out; hold your nose for five seconds in
order to hold your breath, and then release to resume breathing.
Breathe normally for 10 seconds.
Repeat the sequence: Small breath in through your nose; small breath out; hold your breath
for five seconds, then let go and breathe normally for 10 seconds.
This sequence helps retain and gently accumulate carbon dioxide, leading to calmer
breathing and reduces anxiety. In other words, the urge to breathe will decline as you go
into a more relaxed state. 15
If you do this for just 5 minutes, you will notice a profound calming effect on your body.
If youre interested in reading about on the science behind why altering your breathing pattern can alter
your physiology, I recommend reading this:
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/11/24/buteyko-breathing-method.aspx
No need for elaborate meditations or spiritual philosophies, just a simple breathing method that has
profound physiological effects.

15

Mercola, J. (2013, November 24). How the Buteyko Breathing Method Can Improve Your Health and Fitness. Retrieved from
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/11/24/buteyko-breathing-method.aspx

A Few Other Important Tips

Having addressed all of the main sources of circadian rhythm disruption, I would now like to offer a few
simple little tips to really make sure everything is dialed in to perfection, and you can quickly fix all your
sleep troubles:
1) Keep the temperature in your bedroom at or below 70 degrees F (21 degrees Celsius). Many
people keep their homes and particularly their upstairs bedrooms too warm. Studies show that the
optimal room temperature for sleep is quite cool, between 60 to 68 degrees F (15.5 to 20 C).
Keeping your room cooler or hotter can lead to restless sleep.
2) Get rid of electromagnetic fields (EMFs) around your bed. These can also disrupt your pineal
glands production of melatonin and serotonin, and may have other negative effects as well. Move
alarm clocks and all other electrical devices away from your head. Do NOT sleep with your
phone on your nightstand next to your head! If these devices must be used, keep them as far away
from your bed as possible, preferably at least six feet. Some experts even recommend pulling your
circuit breaker before bed to kill all power in your house. But at the very least, unplug all
electronics within 6 feet of your bed.
3) Avoid using loud alarm clocks. It is very stressful on your body to be suddenly jolted awake. If
you are regularly getting enough sleep, an alarm may even be unnecessary. I gave up my alarm
clock years ago and now use a sun alarm clock, an alarm that combines the features of a traditional
alarm clock (digital display, AM/FM radio, beeper, snooze button, etc.) with a special built-in light
that gradually increases in intensity, simulating sunrise.
4) Try not to drink much fluid within 2 hours of going to bed. This will reduce the likelihood of
needing to get up and go to the bathroom, or at least minimize the frequency. The water you take
in with magnesium should also include ample salt, and you should strive to use a minimal amount
of water.
5) Go to the bathroom right before bed. This will reduce the chances that you'll wake up to go in
the middle of the night.
6) Reserve your bed for sleeping. If you are used to watching TV or doing work in bed, you may
find it harder to relax and drift off to sleep, so avoid doing these activities in bed.

Summary:
So thats it. You now have a system of a few simple strategies that can completely cure all your sleep
troubles for the rest of your life. Some of these changes may seem intimidating at first if theyre very
different from your normal routine (say for example, if you dont normally get any sun exposure, and
if you work a desk job every day), but if you make the initial effort to do these things like get a light
therapy box and get a standing desk and establish these habits, it actually doesnt really any time or
effort. Its just a different set of habits, but once you integrate them into your life, they become very
easy and routineand have profound benefits that will make you want to continue doing them.
Dont be overwhelmed with all this information. Let me translate it all into a few simple actionable
things. The whole thing is as simple as this:
1) Get ample sunlight and/or light from a light therapy light during daylight hours, every single
day. Minimize blue light exposure after sunset by using blue blocking screens on your
electronics.
2) Stand rather than sit while working each day, and go for a walk or do some other physical
activity each day.
3) Salt your foods liberally, and supplement with and magnesium.
4) Take an Epsom salt bath before bed, or use magnesium oil and then shower to rinse off (note:
if you choose magnesium oil, have the magnesium oil on your skin for at least 20 minutes
before rinsing off). You can also do oral magnesium here (I recommend magnesium glycinate
or threonate rather than magnesium citrate). Hot epsom salt baths will be the most powerful destressors and sleep enhancers.
5) Take in a bit of ice cream, tart cherry concentrate, salt, and gelatin just before bed.
6) Do breathing practices to increase parasympathetic nervous system activation just before bed.
7) Sleep in complete darkness, with no electronics around your bed, and with the room
temperature below 70 degrees F.
I have tested out this system extensively with people complaining of chronic sleep troubles, and every
single person who has implemented this system has reported back to me that cured their insomnia
within 2 weeks.
If you apply these strategies, I can almost guarantee that youll notice profound effects on everything
from sleeping deeper and longer, to your daily energy level, to chronic symptoms fading away, to
clearer thinking, to a faster metabolism and a better body.