A couple of months ago, I bought a Whoop strap. And, if I’m being honest, I mainly bought it so that I can flex my sleep results.
Joe is always sharing his outstanding sleep metrics (yes, this is what we gloat about in the company) but now… now was my time to shine.
I’ve never had a wearable before, but I’ve been working at SelfDecode for over 3 years now, and I’ve utilized it to optimize my health – getting rid of brain fog, improving my resilience to stress, and optimizing my fitness program to name a few.
I never really focused on sleep as it has never been an issue for me.
I’m healthy and my pillow is my best friend, so I was ready to show up and laugh at the soon-to-be inferior sleep results Joe has with his Oura Ring.
So, I put it on and went to bed excited.
The results of day one… not so great.
But hey, no one in the company knew that I had started tracking my sleep, so I just pretended that it didn’t happen.
Also, it was the first day and I was excited, my body was not used to wearing something on my wrist, maybe the Whoop was still getting to know me… it’ll get better right?
Flash forward to day 7 and I finally decided to check SelfDecode for suggestions to improve my sleep.
Here’s What I Found
For someone that doesn’t work in the science department, the Sleep Summary Report was a game-changer, as I was immediately able to see the issue.
Quick explanation: The Sleep Summary Report combines all health reports that are related to sleep (so that’s around 10+ health reports) and puts them in one easy-to-understand “summary” report.
I was able to see that all of my genetic predispositions for topics like Insomnia, Sleep Apnea, and Caffeine Related Sleep Problems were low or typical.
I felt like I dodged a bullet, as I do not know what I would’ve done if caffeine was my biggest issue (although cutting back on that will probably help 😅)
But, there was one thing that I had a high genetic risk for – Sleep Quality.
SelfDecode analyzed 576,999 genetic variants to give me this score, but it also gives you the top variants that most likely impact your genetic predisposition.
In my case, I had the negative variant of the PER3 gene. This is involved in regulating the body’s circadian rhythm, which plays a critical role in determining sleep patterns and quality.
I also found out that people with my GABRG2 gene variant may be more nervous. This gene affects the activity of GABA, a chemical that relaxes the mind. So, SelfDecode recommended valerian, which can help by boosting GABA.
And, after implementing some of the top recommendations based on my unique genes, I was able to improve my sleep metrics.
How You Can Improve Your Sleep
While I was not able to reach the same sleep scores as Joe (expert biohacker of 15+ years vs. amateur biohacker… just saying) I was able to really improve my sleep and optimize my health even further.
Fixing my sleep helped me with certain parts of my health that I thought were already optimized.
For example, I did get rid of my brain fog, but my improved sleep took my cognitive function multiple levels higher.
When you sign up for SelfDecode, you receive your Sleep Summary Report, plus:
- 14+ Summary Reports – Similar to the Sleep Report, these look at all of our health reports that fit under one health topic, combines it into one easy to read report, and gives you life-changing insights and recommendations.
- 300+ Health & Trait Reports
- Unlimited access to Lab analyzer tool – upload your labs and track your results
- Access to Personalized Genetics Blog – over 600 blogs that change based on your DNA
- Personalized supplement formula – instantly created based on your unique genes
- SNP & Gene Explorer
- Lifestyle Analyzer
- NEW! Ancestry – discover where you’re from and track your maternal lineage (Only available on Health & Ancestry Plan)
