11/09/2026
Sleep is more than one number 😴
The American College of Lifestyle Medicine is holding its conference just two miles from ACR Convergence this week, so I registered for both. I’ve also been pleasantly surprised by how many lifestyle medicine talks are in the ACR program this year. Great to see!
Poor sleep is incredibly common in people with autoimmune disease. Of all the lifestyle pillars, I’ve always believed sleep comes first. Without it, it’s hard to find the energy to exercise, eat well, manage stress, or connect with others.
Sleep has four dimensions:
1️⃣ Quantity: how long you sleep
2️⃣ Quality: how well you sleep
3️⃣ Clock: when you sleep. Your body’s internal clock times your hormones, hunger, and alertness. Morning light shifts sleep earlier, and bright light at night pushes it later.
4️⃣ Consistency: how much your sleep varies. Big swings between weekdays and weekends cause “social jet lag.”
Consistency may matter more than we think. In one large study, people with more regular sleep had up to a 48% lower risk of death. Getting enough sleep still matters, but consistency is the piece we rarely talk about.
Two simple steps: get morning light, and keep your sleep and wake times steady, even on weekends.
💬 Which of the four is your biggest struggle? Tell me below 👇
Thanks to Dr. David Benavides, MD, DipABLM, for an awesome talk on a four-dimensional framework for evaluating sleep.
Educational only, not medical advice. Talk with your own doctor about your care.
