Snapshot · The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
Researcher Walter Stumpf published articles in 1982 showing vitamin D receptors exist in the brainstem nuclei that control paralysis during REM sleep and set the body's sleep-wake clock.
Where this was said
At 36:20 · chapter starts 24:56
Between September and December 2009, Dr. Gominak tested vitamin D and B12 levels in around 500 patients — 'completely naive' to what she would find. Every single one was low. Two CPAP patients returned and independently reported the same thing: a year of CPAP hadn't cleared their headaches, but a month of vitamin D supplementation (from a note she had sent them) had resolved their sleep and headaches simultaneously. She turned to PubMed. In 2009, searching 'vitamin D and sleep' returned zero results. Searching 'vitamin D in the brain' led her to Walter Stumpf — a researcher who had published since 1982 showing vitamin D receptors inside the exact brainstem nuclei that paralyse the body during REM sleep and set the circadian clock. Stumpf had also proposed vitamin D as the 'hibernation hormone,' orchestrating the body's seasonal adaptation. She called Stumpf directly, and he confirmed no one had connected his vitamin D receptor findings to sleep. From 2010 she began giving patients vitamin D. She describes the political obstacle: the Endocrine Society's 2004 report acknowledged that clinical vitamin D studies had been done wrong (fixed doses, no blood-level monitoring), and then — instead of calling for better studies — recommended that doctors neither test vitamin D levels nor make supplementation recommendations, effectively killing clinical inquiry.
Every neurological patient Dr. Gominak tested showed abnormal sleep — regardless of their diagnosis. If sleep is how the body repairs everything every night, then abnormal sleep isn't a symptom of disease — it's the cause.
Vitamin D activates a gene that makes the enzyme that produces acetylcholine — the neurotransmitter the brainstem needs to enter REM sleep. When vitamin D levels drop, the brain loses the chemical instructions for sleep entirely.
A large Harvard study found that a wandering mind is an unhappy mind — people report greater happiness when their attention is tethered to the present, even if the task is unpleasant.
A key study finding that we have a 'credit card's worth of plastic' in our bodies was likely skewed because researchers used nitrile gloves that shed plastic particles onto the microplastic detector.
Emotionally sensitive people have a hyperactive amygdala, an underactive prefrontal cortex, and a frayed connection between the two — making emotional regulation structurally harder.
Rejection sensitivity can be observed as early as age 2 or 3, suggesting it has strong developmental and likely genetic roots.
A Yale study found that non-judgmental observation of emotions — without rushing to resolve them — reduces activation in the brain, making it a powerful regulation tool.
Dan Gilbert's research found that the psychological immune system — the brain's ability to justify and find satisfaction in choices — activates most powerfully when a decision is perceived as irreversible.
Barry Schwartz's research found that maximizers — people who try to optimize every decision — tend to achieve objectively better outcomes but report lower happiness than satisficers who choose 'good enough.'
Research consistently shows that while people may initially regret poor decisions, in the long run they regret the decisions they didn't make — inaction — far more than the ones they took.
A study showed that men in committed relationships who briefly viewed 10 attractive women's faces reported a measurable decrease in relationship satisfaction immediately afterward, illustrating evolutionary mismatch with modern media.
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