How to Sleep Better Tonight (and Every Night) with Morgan Adams
Show Snapshot:
Morgan Adams spent years cycling through prescription sleeping pills before she finally cracked her own sleep, and now she's a double-certified holistic sleep coach helping other midlife women do the same. Her top tip: keep a consistent wake time every single day, even weekends, since your body can't tell the difference and an anchored wake time is what trains your circadian rhythm to make you sleepy at the same time each night.
In this episode:
Why morning light exposure (sunglasses off) matters more than people realize
Building a circadian rhythm that works with your schedule, not against it
Sleep hygiene routines worth adopting, and the real impact of screens and blue light
The nitty-gritty on eye masks, bedroom temperature, and other sleep aids worth trying
About Morgan Adams: Morgan Adams, MSW, is a certified holistic sleep coach specializing in insomnia and sleep issues for women in midlife. She holds certifications from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and as a Certified Sleep and Recovery Coach and WINK Sleep BBT-I practitioner.
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Quotable:
Have a consistent wake time. And that means all days, even weekends, because our bodies don't know the difference between the weekend and the weekday. The reason why this is important— it's a very powerful way to train our circadian rhythm. When we have an anchored wake time every morning, we naturally become sleepy around the same time every night.
Transcript:
Morgan Adams [00:00]
Ideally, we want to be going outside within an hour of waking, and we want to make sure that we leave our sunglasses at home. And here's why: when the light hits our retina, it sends a signal to our suprachiasmatic nucleus, which is our circadian pacemaker. From there, this wonderful cascade of neurotransmitters and hormones happens — any residual melatonin from the night before gets shut down, our cortisol increases for energy, our serotonin increases for a mood boost, and it also prepares our melatonin for the upcoming night.
Katie Fogarty [00:36]
Welcome to A Certain Age, a show for women who are unafraid to age out loud, beauties. We're recording this show during Sleep Awareness Month, a month that focuses on the connection between sleep health, mood, and your overall wellbeing. But if you are one of those zillions of women who are up all night tossing and turning, you're already fully aware of the importance of a sound night's sleep. Want to get to sleep faster, better, naturally? Ready to sleep better tonight? Stick around, because we are getting schooled on all things sleep with Morgan Adams, a double-certified holistic sleep coach, creator of the Midlife Sleep School, and a woman who suffered from sleep challenges for years before she learned the tools and strategies for unlocking a more restful night that she is now sharing with the world. If you have trouble falling asleep because your busy brain keeps humming, if you wake up in the middle of the night and can't get back to sleep, if you are tired and groggy when your alarm rings — today's show is for you. Welcome, Morgan.
Morgan Adams [01:46]
Thank you, Katie, great to be here.
Katie Fogarty [01:48]
Well, I am very, very excited, because sleep is the holy grail, right? It keeps the trains on the tracks, improves mood, energy, all the good stuff. So I'm really thrilled to dive in. I would love to start by having you share how you got into sleep coaching.
Morgan Adams [02:04]
Yes, so as you mentioned in the intro, I had insomnia for a long time — had it for about eight years — and I was dependent on Ambien during that time. The episode of insomnia started because of a personal relationship issue, which I won't get into, but essentially I was one of those people who had a really hard time falling asleep. It would take me sometimes up to two hours, which is why I decided to go with a sleeping pill. But I was actually able to get off sleeping pills eventually, due to the gentle nudging of my then-boyfriend, now-husband, and was able to sleep pretty well for many years. And then there was a bit of a plot twist: the beginning of the pandemic. In March of 2020, I started having trouble sleeping again, and I got really concerned because I did not want to go down that road of insomnia I'd been down before. So I started Googling sleep and implementing some of the strategies I learned, and was quickly able to turn my sleep around. I was so fascinated by what I was learning and how the changes were happening that I started organically sharing it on Facebook and letting people know what I was doing. And people were like, wow, I'm having trouble sleeping too. So I started to think more and more about how I wanted to make an impact in the world. In 2018 I had a breast cancer diagnosis, and that really set me on this incredible health journey. I knew at that point I wanted to do something with my life to help women with their health — I just wasn't sure how that would play out. And when I discovered this whole sleep world, it just hit me like a ton of bricks: Morgan, you have to help women with their sleep. And that's really how things took off. In 2020 I was one of those women who, during the pandemic, really got very clear on what my mission was going to be, and then I was off to the races doing the certifications and trainings and all that.
Katie Fogarty [04:08]
I love how this was a story of a pandemic pivot, and how you recognized this pain point for so many women because you were living it yourself. I've had other guests on the show who've talked about problems with Ambien. Is that what brings your clients to you? Are they people who are relying on artificial aids to fall asleep and want to change? What type of client walks in your door?
Morgan Adams [04:33]
A lot of the women who come to me are either thinking about trying sleep medication, or they may already be on one — and it doesn't necessarily have to be a prescription. A lot of women come to me on Benadryl, or other antihistamines. Generally speaking, the women who come to me really want a more holistic approach to getting better sleep, and they typically do have insomnia. So quite a few, but not all, are already on some kind of medication.
Katie Fogarty [05:03]
Interesting. And do you lump CBD in with that, or is that something that falls outside the box of a sleeping pill?
Morgan Adams [05:11]
Yeah, I really consider CBD more of a supplement, so it's in a different category than a sleeping pill or a prescription medication.
Katie Fogarty [05:22]
Interesting. So we're going to dive into so much, I'm really excited about this — I've done two shows on sleep before and they are downloaded like crazy, because women need these tools. Let's do a big stage-setting question: how much sleep do we really need? If we're not clocking eight hours of z's and we're feeling stressed out about that — is this a case-by-case basis, or is there a generally accepted baseline we should be trying to hit?
Morgan Adams [05:52]
This whole eight-hour thing has really been beaten into our heads by the media. But when you look at the National Sleep Foundation's recommendations for adults 18 to 64, you'll see they recommend between seven and nine hours — that's the general guideline. But when you actually get into the fine print of their recommendations, you'll see they say six to ten hours is appropriate for some people. So that's quite a bit of latitude. The way I like to approach sleep duration is: we don't all have the same calorie requirement, or the same shoe size. You may require fewer calories than someone else who is a professional athlete. So it really comes down to figuring out how much sleep you need to feel good, and not getting too bogged down with eight hours. When I have clients come to me who have insomnia, what I'm typically seeing is fear — they're very concerned about this eight-hour thing they keep hearing about. And when they hear from me, hey, you might not need eight hours, we're going to work together to really figure out how much sleep you need, it takes this burden off their shoulders, because they often find they're actually dialed in with seven hours. It's a huge relief to them. So basically everyone just needs to figure out for themselves what their sweet spot is when it comes to sleep.
Katie Fogarty [07:26]
Yeah, it's so important to do this myth-busting, so we don't hold ourselves to these measuring sticks and then judge ourselves harshly when we fall short. But let's talk about this notion of feeling dialed in, because that sounds amazing, right? Everybody wants to hit the pillow, fall asleep, wake up feeling refreshed and ready for the day. And there are things that get in the way of that — I know menopause is one of them. Things like distractions and Instagram scrolling are another thing that sometimes gets in the way of my sleep. Before we dive into your strategies for optimizing sleep, talk to us about screens. Do we really need to be avoiding them, full stop, at night?
Morgan Adams [08:05]
The screen issue is quite a debated one in the sleep community. We often hear, get off your screen one to two hours before bed, and I think that's honestly a little bit of an unrealistic expectation for a lot of people, because there are a lot of things we do on our screens. As for the blue light thing — I'll share some thoughts on that; it's a very hotly debated topic in sleep, too. We do know blue light can suppress our melatonin production, that's a given, but the degree to which that happens is variable. People with lighter-colored eyes are more sensitive to blue light. The thickness of our eyelids can also have an impact. So there is some personal variability in how sensitive we are to blue light. They actually did a study recently where they had people looking at regular screens with blue light, and then another group looking at screens with the f.lux app — basically what that would equate to is the Apple Night Shift setting, where it's a little dimmer, a little warmer. What they found was only a four-minute difference in sleep latency between the people who had the warmer-hue setting and those who didn't. So what that indicates is that maybe blue light is not quite as detrimental as we thought — but again, it is a variable factor, along with light eye color and eyelid thickness. So I think it's probably a wise idea to have a little bit of time before bed where you're not in front of a screen. It's just a safety net.
Katie Fogarty [09:59]
Yeah, that totally makes sense. I'm fascinated by this whole blue-light thing because I feel like I've got both, quite honestly, and I am addicted to my eye mask, which I'm hoping solves some of these problems. So Morgan, I want to talk about — we talked a little about these three strategies that we're going to share with our listeners for optimizing sleep. We're heading into a break, but I want everyone to hang in there, because when we come back we're going to get into three easy ideas you can start using this evening to get a better night's sleep.
— AD BREAK —
Katie Fogarty(continued)
Okay, Morgan, we're back from the break. Going into it, we told our listeners that we were going to share three easy, impactful ideas for improving sleep. What are they?
Morgan Adams [10:44]
What I love about all of these is that they are big needle-movers with my clients, and they're also free. The first one I'll share is getting morning sunlight. Ideally, we want to be going outside within an hour of waking, and we want to make sure we leave our sunglasses at home. Here's why: when the light hits our retina, it sends a signal to our suprachiasmatic nucleus, our circadian pacemaker, and from there this wonderful cascade of neurotransmitters and hormones happens — any residual melatonin from the night before gets shut down, our cortisol increases for energy, our serotonin increases for a mood boost, and it also prepares our melatonin for the upcoming night. You really only need to be outside for about ten to fifteen minutes, maybe a little longer on an overcast day. It's a very simple way to also get some movement in the day if you're taking a walk — but if you can't walk, you can just sit on your porch and you're still getting the benefit.
Katie Fogarty [11:51]
Or garden, or do this whole host of things you could do outside for fifteen sunny minutes. I love this idea.
Morgan Adams [11:57]
The second thing is to have a consistent wake time — and that means all days, even weekends, because our bodies don't know the difference between the weekend and the weekday. The reason this is important is that it's a very powerful way to entrain our circadian rhythm. What we find is that when we have a very anchored wake time every morning, we naturally become sleepy around the same time every night. Once you've woken up, there's a countdown process that happens — about sixteen to seventeen hours later is when we have this buildup of adenosine, our sleepy chemical, signaling that it's time to sleep. So that morning wake-up time is an awesome anchor to help ensure we're also getting to bed around the same time every night — you're really just ensuring your regularity and consistency. The last tip I have is exercise. We all know exercise is incredibly important on many different levels, but we also know there have been so many studies showing regular exercise can improve sleep. They did a meta-analysis of thirteen studies showing that exercise was associated with deep sleep, and another study showing that for older adults, moderate exercise increased deep sleep by 40 percent — that's a lot of deep-sleep increase, astonishing. What I love about this, Katie, is they're saying moderate exercise — you don't need to do HIIT workouts or really intense things to get this benefit. Exercise encompasses so many different activities, so we can all find something we like doing. And as a bonus, if you're walking outside, you're getting the benefit of that natural light too — feeding two birds with one stone.
Katie Fogarty [13:56]
I love that. First of all, anytime I get an easy-button idea, I'm all for it, and I love the idea of starting with a morning walk and getting sun. I have a dog, which gets me out, and I love walking. I actually had a wonderful podcast guest on several years ago, Joyce Shulman, who has her own show called The Walking Podcast, and she talks about the importance of walking for brain health, fitness, and longevity. So you're giving us another reminder about why getting out early in the morning and walking is such a great idea. I also love that you identified that these three sleep-boosting steps are free — because free is good, not everything needs to be expensive or time-consuming. I know you offer your coaching services to women who are really struggling, but these are three easy ideas. So for people who are truly struggling and do want to work with a sleep coach, I know you have something called Sleep School, which is intriguing. Can you give us a little overview of how that works and who it best serves — is this for somebody who's truly struggling on their own and isn't moving the needle with these three easy ideas?
Morgan Adams [15:05]
Yes, so Midlife Sleep School is my new course that I recently launched. I designed it for women in midlife who are struggling with insomnia — women who have already been down the route of trying supplements, trying the hacks and gimmicks they read about online, but are really ready to make an impact with their sleep. So what I've done is base this course on some of the most potent principles of cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia — that's a whole other topic in itself, but essentially it's about changing behaviors and attitudes about sleep to improve sleep. It's a self-paced course, so women can do it on their own time and pace themselves according to what their schedule allows. I'm really excited for this, to give women a chance to use some of the strategies I use without having to do one-on-one coaching, because I know that's not accessible for everybody.
Katie Fogarty [16:08]
And it's great to have this deeper dive that you can do at a self-paced cadence, which is smart. I'm curious, for people who are listening and thinking, I'm going to start using some of Morgan's recommendations, or I've really been struggling and I think I need to focus on this — how long does it take to fix sleep problems? These are easy ideas that people can use, but when might they see results?
Morgan Adams [16:35]
That's a great question, and there's not really one answer, because it really depends on how quickly people are implementing the strategies, and also how long they've had insomnia. I've had clients get results within a couple of weeks, but I've also had clients where it takes a few months to really get them moving in the right direction. So again, it depends on that person's situation — how long they've been struggling, and their motivation level.
Katie Fogarty [17:07]
Gotcha, gotcha. And when should a client be working with a doctor? Because I know there are medical conditions like sleep apnea, and other conditions that cause sleep disruptions — we have hormonal changes in menopause that affect how we sleep. When do you advise a client to talk to a different kind of medical provider?
Morgan Adams [17:29]
When I'm doing my initial call with a potential client, I do an assessment to see if they're at risk for, or potentially have, another sleep disorder. If I'm fairly certain they have one that requires medical attention, I'll refer them on and not work with them. But if we are working together — and this has happened a few times — and the interventions are taking longer than they should, and I suspect there might be another issue, this has happened quite a bit with sleep apnea. In fact, postmenopausal women have about a 47 to 67 percent risk for sleep apnea, and that's huge. Quite often they're not exhibiting the typical snoring and typical behaviors that people who have sleep apnea do. So what I end up doing is referring them to get a sleep test, and what we often find is that they do have some form of sleep apnea, so they need treatment for that. Other times they might need to deal with their hormones, and they go to a provider to talk about hormone replacement therapy.
Katie Fogarty [18:39]
That makes so much sense. I've actually heard that about sleep apnea and menopausal women — just another one of the surprises of menopause, that you have a greater incidence of sleep apnea than before you head into menopause, which is fascinating, and I'm sure it's causing a lot of people's sleep troubles. So a question for you — I know there are sort of two kinds of sleep issues. I sometimes get into bed and my chattering brain will not let me fall asleep, so that happens to me more nights than I'd like. And then there are times when I fall asleep easily and readily, but I'm up in the middle of the night at three or four a.m. and then I cannot get back to sleep. I'm sure my listeners have the same exact issues. Let's start with having trouble falling asleep — what are some recommendations you can make for listeners who hit the pillow and their mind immediately races?
Morgan Adams [19:34]
This happens to so many people. One of the things I suggest is actually a strategy that can be utilized during the day — I call them mindfulness snacks. Essentially, it's a small, ten-minute break where you're doing something that isn't a productive activity. You're not working, you're actually just taking a walk, sitting in silence, maybe doing breath work or meditating. That allows us to process our thoughts and emotions during the day, because so often we as women get so busy — we're just boom, boom, boom, from one thing to the next — and we don't have any time to process those important feelings and thoughts during the day. So what happens at night, when our head hits the pillow, is all those things bubble up, and that's why we have a hard time getting to sleep. So mindfulness snacks throughout the day is one strategy I'd recommend. Another thing I'd recommend is really leaning into an evening routine — perhaps an hour or half an hour before bed, or as much time as you have to commit to it — and really decompressing, doing some kind of wind-down activity. Whatever that activity is, is completely personal to you; there's a whole plethora of things you could do. But essentially what you want to do is not be, quote, productive — not be working up until the moment you're supposed to go to bed.
Katie Fogarty [20:56]
That makes so much sense. So now let's flip the coin to the other side of the equation — for our listeners who are struggling to stay asleep, whose minds pop them awake at three or four in the morning, what is your recommendation for them?
Morgan Adams [21:13]
So, somewhat of the same recommendation as before for trouble falling asleep — allow yourself time to process thoughts and emotions during the day by doing mindfulness snacks. A more advanced technique, if you're really in worry mode: a lot of times what happens when we wake up in the middle of the night is that our thoughts become more catastrophic. It sounds kind of crazy, but it's true — our brains are actually not operating from the rational part; we're operating from our amygdala, our emotional center, and that's why things get catastrophic. So one thing that works very well with a lot of my clients is to take some time, maybe before or after dinner, and do something called the constructive worry exercise. What you do is take a piece of paper, draw a line down the center to make two columns. On the left, you write your concerns and worries, and on the right, you write solutions. You're basically listing out all of your worries and concerns, and in the opposite column writing down the next step to solving that problem. It's essentially a brain dump — getting all of the stuff that's in your head out onto paper, so that when you wake up in the middle of the night, you're not as apt to be perseverating on it when you should be sleeping.
Katie Fogarty [22:30]
That's such a smart strategy, I love that — I'm definitely trying that.
Morgan Adams [22:36]
Good, good. And then for people who have insomnia and are really frequently tossing and turning, having anxiety in bed — what we really want to do, according to the CBT-I protocol, is unpair anxiety from the bed. We want the bed to be a place of sleep or intimacy. So if you're having those anxious thoughts during the night, one strategy is to get out of bed, go to another room, and do something relaxing and pleasant in dim light until you're sleepy again. That's a bit more of an advanced strategy, and not everyone's going to want to do it, but it really does help unpair your bed from the anxiety.
Katie Fogarty [23:21]
I'm going to confess that sometimes I get up in the middle of the night and work for an hour, and that's probably something that doesn't qualify as relaxing or destressing — but if I'm up worried about something, I figure I might as well be doing the thing I'm worried about, and then I can get back into bed feeling like I've achieved something. I don't do this all the time, and I try never to do it, honestly, but life gets in the way sometimes. This is probably not Sleep School–approved, but I'm just throwing it out there for remedial students who need some extra help. Okay, one last question before we head into our speed round. We talked about screens getting in the way of sleep, and whether that's a myth or something we need to take seriously. I know that for women who are listening who are partnered, sometimes the sleep problem comes from our partner — our partner's snoring, or our partner tossing and turning. How do you recommend women navigate sleep issues with whoever they're sharing their bed with?
Morgan Adams [24:28]
Great question. First and foremost, I'd look into the health issue, because what often happens in these situations is that it's the partner snoring — this happens so often. If that's the case, the first step is to have the partner get a sleep study to figure out whether they have sleep apnea, and if so, get it treated, because untreated sleep apnea can lead to serious metabolic and cardiovascular consequences. Once that's off the table and dealt with, sometimes what happens is there are scheduling differences — some people have different chronotypes; some people may be night owls married to an early bird. I think what really needs to happen is an open, honest discussion during the day, not in bed, because that is not the time to have heated discussions — and really make a plan. If necessary, it may be appropriate to have what's called a sleep alliance. That term was actually coined by Dr. Wendy Troxel, who you may have had on the show in the past — she kind of used that term as a replacement for the phrase "sleep divorce." That's a really heated term, but it's used quite often, and basically what it means is when a couple decides to sleep separately. About 25 percent of couples do sleep separately because it works best for their own sleep. So I would say go into this with a very conscious mindset, being kind and considerate, and really looking at it as how can we address this issue as a partnership, versus playing the blame game.
Katie Fogarty [26:15]
Yeah, that's such a fabulous reframe — rather than a divorce, which implies separation and things that didn't work, it's like an alliance, working together apart to make sure everyone gets a good night's sleep. And I'm sure the alliance also comes with periods of the day where you all mutually agree to be in the same bed. That's a great recommendation, and this notion of honest conversations is so key to navigating so many challenges. I honestly feel that as we get to midlife, it's easier to have these honest conversations. Thank you for that, great suggestion. All right, Morgan, we are heading into the end of our time together. I'm really excited that we've had this conversation, because I know sleep is such a huge priority for people. We're going to close with a quick speed round so you can pass some more ideas along. Are you ready?
Morgan Adams [27:09]
Okay, sure.
Katie Fogarty [27:11]
I could talk about this sleep health topic again and again.
Morgan Adams [27:15]
Oh, sleep topics — there's so many.
Katie Fogarty [27:21]
There's so many, there's so many. Let's say — let me pick one.
Morgan Adams [27:23]
Temperature.
Katie Fogarty [27:27]
Ooh, we didn't even go there.
Morgan Adams [27:29]
Yeah, it's a big one — temperature of the bedroom and of the bed. Sleeping cool is your friend. So sleeping cool — whatever you have to do to get there, try to find a way to get there.
Katie Fogarty [27:38]
Okay, great tip. What's one action we can take to make sure our sleep is better tonight, besides bringing our temperature down?
Morgan Adams [27:47]
I would say, go to bed when you are sleepy. A lot of people will go to bed when they feel mentally or physically fatigued — you really want to wait until you're feeling actually sleepy, you're yawning, your eyes are starting to droop.
Katie Fogarty [28:01]
Very smart. Okay, best sleeping position — side, back, or doesn't it matter?
Morgan Adams [28:07]
It really depends on you, but I think the two best ones are side and back. Side is probably best for brain and gut health — I wouldn't do stomach, but side or back are probably best.
Katie Fogarty [28:23]
Okay, nice. All right — eye mask, yes or no? I know for me it's a firm yes, but what do you recommend to clients?
Morgan Adams [28:28]
I think it's a yes, if it suits you — if you don't mind something on your face. They actually did a study recently showing that it helps people with cognition and memory the next day — this is brand-new research, so that adds even more credibility to an eye mask. To keep the room really dark, we want the room to be so dark that we can't see our hand in front of our face if we hold it up.
Katie Fogarty [28:51]
Oh my God, you are speaking my language. I am such an eye mask addict — I've got a whole little basket full. I love them so much, and if anybody wants me to be an eye mask influencer, hit me up. Okay, I think I know the answer to this one — weekend napping, yes or no?
Morgan Adams [29:08]
If you feel like it, yeah, that's totally fine. There's a little caveat — you want to make sure you're not napping for too long, so twenty to thirty minutes is fine, especially if you were out later the night before and were a little short on sleep. You also want to make sure any nap, no matter the day, is in the earlier part of the day — I'd probably cut off naps by 3 p.m., because napping later in the day is essentially like snacking on sleep. It cuts down your sleep appetite for your actual sleep period, so just be mindful of the timing.
Katie Fogarty [29:45]
Okay, got it — so you can squeeze in a disco nap before three. Love it. So, finally — one habit, one lifestyle choice or hack, that helps you sleep.
Morgan Adams [29:55]
Avoiding alcohol. I know that's a big one to hear, but it's so true.
Katie Fogarty [30:01]
Yeah, no, no, no — we want the right information, so thank you for sharing that and reminding us. Okay, finally, your one-word answer to complete this sentence: as I age, I feel ___.
Morgan Adams [30:20]
Free.
Katie Fogarty [30:21]
Nice, I love it — I thought you were going to say "slavery" [sic]. No, ma'am, oh my gosh, no, no, no, I love it, I love it, I love it. Morgan, thank you so much for joining us during Sleep Awareness Month to remind us of what we know, and need to know, and need to practice in order to get an amazing night's sleep — because that keeps the midlife train on the tracks. I so appreciate it. Before we say goodbye, how can our listeners find you, learn more about your sleep advice, and check out Sleep School?
Morgan Adams [30:44]
Sure — you can find me on my website, morganadamswellness.com. I offer a free mini course on morning and evening routines for better sleep, and a free sleep clarity call if you want to talk about sleep issues and coaching. I'm also really active on Instagram — my handle is @morganadams.wellness. You can find me there, DM me, and say hi — I'd love to chat with you.
Katie Fogarty [31:06]
Phenomenal — all of that is going in the show notes. Thank you, Morgan.
Morgan Adams [31:10]
Thank you.
Katie Fogarty [31:11]
Beauties, don't go anywhere — we are doing answers to listener-submitted questions. If you are curious about something, if you want more information about a certain topic, hit me up with a question. You can reach me via email at katie@acertainagepod.com, or you can DM me over on Instagram — I hang out there a lot, you can find me at @acertainagepod. Send me your questions via DM — that's how this question came in from a listener. This listener wants to know if I have a favorite supplement. I take a lot of supplements, but my absolute favorite, hands down, is magnesium. Magnesium is great for your bones, it has benefits for your cardiac health, you can even use it for things like PMS — but I use it for sleep. Now, I don't use it every night, and I don't even use it every week, but every time I'm worried I'm going to be stressed out and too anxious to sleep, I take a magnesium the night before. I take magnesium the night before a really important client call, I take it before I have a podcast with a big-name guest, and I always take it when I need to be onstage presenting or public speaking. I truly find it helps knock me out — it lets my head hit the pillow and helps me get a great night's sleep. Now, I was curious why magnesium works so well, so I did a little Googling. I learned that magnesium supplements are often used as a natural remedy for things like insomnia — magnesium regulates several neurotransmitters involved with sleep, so that's how that magic happens. I also learned that a study of older adults with insomnia found that magnesium supplements lowered the amount of time it takes people to fall asleep by 17 minutes, which is pretty astonishing. Wouldn't it be nice to fall asleep 17 minutes faster? And another major study of 4,000 adults found that taking magnesium is linked to improved sleep quality and longer duration. I love that — we all love a great night's sleep. This is why magnesium is my favorite supplement. Thanks for the question — if you have your own, please email me, please DM me, I would love to answer your questions. All right, that's a wrap on this episode of A Certain Age, a show for women who are aging without apology. Before I say goodbye, two quick favors: first, can you please forward this episode to a friend who's having trouble sleeping? Sharing the show helps it grow — you can even drop it into your girlfriend text thread, you know, the one you've got going with all the women in your life. Second, I would love a five-star podcast review. Did you learn something on today's show, or get some easy ideas you're going to start using immediately? If so, please take five minutes to write a short review over on Apple Podcasts or Spotify — every review helps the show grow. Special thanks to Michael Mann Sydney [name as heard; spelling unconfirmed], who composed and produced our theme music. See you next time, and until then — age boldly, beauties.
