[ TLDR Description ]
Add Life to Years brought to you by Dendro — brings you the latest science-backed advice to help you live healthier. In this episode, our host, Karl Schopf, interviews our expert guest, Dr. Jatin Joshi on sleep health. You'll learn what constitutes good sleep health, how environmental factors impact your sleep, practical tips for creating the ideal sleep environment, and the truth about caffeine and alcohol's effects on your rest.
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[AI Show Notes]
Keywords: sleep supplements, melatonin dosage, magnesium forms, sleep wearables, polysomnography, orthosomnia, evidence-based supplements, tart cherry, holy basil, supplement quality standards
Summary: In this conversation, Karl Schopf and Dr. Jatin Joshi conduct a comprehensive review of sleep supplements and wearables. They discuss the importance of evidence-based supplement selection, covering popular ingredients from melatonin to magnesium to botanicals like holy basil. Dr. Joshi explains why most melatonin products are overdosed, which supplement forms actually work, and the science behind emerging ingredients. The conversation shifts to sleep wearables, comparing them to clinical gold standards and warning against orthosomnia—the unhealthy obsession with sleep tracking data.
Takeaways:
• Most melatonin supplements are drastically overdosed; the effective range is 0.3-1mg, not 5-15mg commonly sold.
• Melatonin is best used occasionally for jet lag or circadian rhythm resets, not for daily long-term use.
• Magnesium supplementation works primarily in those who are deficient, with bisglycinate and citrate being superior forms.
• The supplement industry lacks standardization—always verify the right ingredient, in the right form, at the right dose.
• Valerian root has poor evidence and should be avoided despite its popularity in stores.
• Emerging ingredients like Montmorency tart cherry and holy basil show promising evidence for sleep support.
• Polysomnography (PSG) is the gold standard for sleep measurement, but consumer wearables are practical alternatives.
• Orthosomnia is a real disorder—obsessing over sleep tracker scores can create sleep anxiety and worsen outcomes.
• How you feel upon waking matters more than any wearable score; trust subjective experience over data.
• Use wearables for weekly/monthly trends, not daily micromanagement—consistency matters more than perfection.
Titles: The Supplement Breakdown: What Actually Works for Sleep, Wearables & Sleep Tracking: Don't Obsess Over the Data
Sound Bites: "The right ingredients in the right form at the right dose—that should be standard.", "You're not treating the score, you want to treat the person.", "Can you imagine getting stressed about your sleep because of your sleep tracker?"
Chapters:
• 00:00 Introduction to Episode 4
• 02:30 The Supplement Industry: Quality Standards and Skepticism
• 08:15 Evidence-Based Supplement Selection Framework
• 12:40 Lightning Round: Melatonin—Overdosed and Overused
• 18:20 Magnesium: Forms, Deficiency, and Effectiveness
• 22:10 THC & CBD: What the Research Actually Shows
• 26:45 Valerian Root, Glycine, and Tart Cherry
• 32:30 Holy Basil and L-Theanine: Emerging Evidence
• 38:50 Vitamin D and Synergistic Ingredients
• 44:00 Wearables: Gold Standard vs. Consumer Devices
• 50:15 Orthosomnia: When Sleep Tracking Becomes Harmful
• 56:20 Conclusion & Wrap-up
