Dr. Tim Spector (5:31)

Extra virgin olive oil is probably the most healthy cooking ingredient in the world. A number of studies show it reduces heart disease, diabetes, cancers in massive studies in Italy and Spain elsewhere. And you know, that contains up to 14% saturated fat, but it's mixed in with other healthy fats.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta (5:54)

That's Dr. Tim Spector, a renowned nutritionist who I recently spoke to for my Chasing Life podcast. And we were talking all about protein, but he said that in moderation, full fat dairy, like milk can actually, maybe even should actually be part of a balanced diet. And while this isn't usually true of skim milk, Dr. Spector also pointed out something really important, which is when some food companies remove fat from these quote unquote low fat products, they do sometimes replace it with other ingredients.

Dr. Tim Spector (6:25)

You see these huge aisles, especially in the dairy section of low fat foods, and most of them are heavily processed. They've replaced the fat with sugary starches, corn starches, extracts, emulsifiers, glues, all kinds of chemical trickery to make you think you're getting that mouth feel of real fat on your tongue. And these cause more sugar spikes, they're bad for your gut microbes and really should be avoided. And that's this whole new movement about picking up on ultra processed food, which makes up 60% of the American diet, is often these fake foods that mean we're ingesting a lot of these chemicals which, you know, once in a while aren't a problem. But if you're having them every day for 30, 40 years, certainly are, and they nearly all make you overeat.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta (7:21)

So I guess Kevin here's the bottom line. Whole milk in moderation can be, maybe even should be, part of a balanced diet, especially if it helps you feel satisfied and you're not overdoing it with saturated fat elsewhere. Again, one cup is about 20% of your recommended daily amount. Now, compared to sugary drinks or overly processed, low fat products, whole milk might even be the better choice for some people. Okay, skim milk does have fewer calories and less saturated fat, but as you just heard, it may have other ingredients and it could be lower in some of these key vitamins unless they are added back in. So check for the label. Does that skim milk or whatever milk product you're talking about have vitamin A, vitamin D, things like that? Make sure you get enough of the nutrients you need. When we come back, we're going to shift gears and hear from a listener named Sarah who's got a question about dreaming. Stick around.

Sleep Number Voice (8:19)

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Dr. Sanjay Gupta (10:32)

And there goes the pager, which means it's time for another question. Kara, who's up next?

Sponsor Voice (10:37)

Now next up, we have Sarah from Connecticut. Here she is.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta (10:40)

Hi, my name is Sarah. I'm 68 years old. I just listened to the podcast about dreams. Sometimes I will be screaming while I'm sleeping and my spouse always wakes me up. I'm wondering whether it's healthier to keep dreaming or to be woken up. Thanks. Okay, Sarah, thank you for that question. First of all, let me catch people up who maybe didn't catch the podcast episode about dreaming. And then we're going to run over a few basics.

Siddhartha Ribeiro (11:13)

So dreams are the product of the reactivation of memories. To a large extent, they reflect what's going on in your life. They reflect your fears and desires, your challenges. Nothing is just a dream. A dream is something to be paid attention to, something to be interpreted, something to be shared because it will influence everybody else. And I think we lost that. And that's why I think we should rescue the art of dreaming.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta (11:34)

That's neuroscientist Siddhartha Ribeiro. He's an internationally recognized leading expert on memory, sleep and dreaming. Now, when we spoke, he made this really compelling case for why we should all try to get better sleep, but also dream more.

Siddhartha Ribeiro (11:48)

Sleep has different phases. When you have a full night of sleep, you go through four or five full cycles of sleep. In each cycle, you undergo four different states. State 1 and 2 are very brief. This is when we are dozing and then we start dreaming. But those dreams are little clips. They're not really full fledged dreams. Then we go into phase three, this so called slow wave sleep. When you're in that state, you don't really dream much. People that are awoken from that state, they will report some vague thoughts, I need to pay some bill or something like that. But not a movie, not something with a strong visual impression. Then we go into rapid eye movement sleep, REM sleep. And this is when our brains become really, really engaged in the reactivation of memories.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta (12:42)

Now, Ribeiro also pointed out something that might surprise many of us. Even nightmares, as scary or intense as they can be, they're actually a normal part of REM sleep. Now you may also be surprised to know that when your brain is in this active REM phase, your body is temporarily paralyzed. So that's part of the reason you don't physically act out your dreams. You are in the state of sleep paralysis. But not all scary sleep experiences are actually considered nightmares. Nightmares and night terrors are actually two very different neurological experiences. And understanding that difference matters, especially if trying to answer your question, which is, is it appropriate to wake someone up or comfort someone in the middle of one of these episodes? So here's the key distinction. Nightmares typically happen during REM sleep, rapid eye movement sleep, that's typically later in the night. If someone wakes up from a nightmare, they're usually alert and they can describe what happened. Okay? Night terrors, on the other hand, typically happen during non REM sleep, and often that means within the first few hours of falling asleep. That's when the brain is sort of shifting between stages. Now, someone having a night terror is not sleep paralyzed. So they might sit up, scream, thrash, even sleepwalk, but they are still asleep. And unlike nightmares, they usually won't remember it. So why does this matter? How you respond to that could be very different depending on what you're actually experiencing. If you're having a nightmare, it will likely go unnoticed unless it is intense enough to wake us up. And that's also when we tend to remember them. Now Siddhartha said talking about the dream afterward, especially with someone you trust, can actually help your brain process it and lead to more restful REM sleep. But on the other hand, if someone's having a night terror and they're sitting up and moving and screaming, waking them up could actually make things worse. In those cases, experts recommend staying close, making sure the person is safe, but mostly letting the episode pass on its own. I will say this. If these night terrors are happening often and they're affecting your sleep or your day to day life, you should probably try and get some help for that. There are treatments for that. Psychologists sometimes use a technique called imagery rehearsal therapy, where you reimagine the nightmare during the day and give it a safer, newer ending. And there was this meta analysis a few years ago that found this method could be just as effective as certain medications in reducing these sorts of nightmares. It's even something you can try on your own. So if you have a bad dream, actually think about it the next day and then daydream a new ending. An ending where you feel safe and comfortable. So Sarah, I hope that helps and I hope that you're able to look forward to a better night's sleep very soon. And as always, thanks to everyone who took the time to call in and email a question. I really do love hearing from you, and if you've got a health question you'd like answered, we could answer it on an upcoming show, record a voice memo, email it to asksanjayn.com or give us a call 470-396-0832 and leave a message. Thanks for listening. I'll be back next Tuesday. Chasing Life is a production of CNN Audio. Our podcast is produced by Aaron Mathewson, Jennifer Lai, Grace Walker, Lori Gallaretta, Jesse Remedios, Sofia Sanchez and Kyra Daring. Andrea Cain is our medical writer. Our senior producer is Dan Bloom. Amanda Seely is our showrunner, Dan dejula is our technical director and the executive producer of CNN Audio is Steve Lichtai, with support from Jamis Andrest, John Dionora, Hayley Thomas, Alex Manasseri, Robert Mathers, Lainey Steinhart, Nicole Pesaru and Lisa Namorow. Special thanks to Ben Tinker and Nadia Kanang of CNN Health and Wendy Brundage.

Sleep Number Voice (16:34)

When something's made for you, it simply fits. You feel special. That's the sensation of a Sleep Number Smart bed. You'll sleep comfortably, hot or cold, soft or firm, because it's personalized, scientifically made for you. Sleep Number Smart Beds learn how you sleep and provide personalized insights to help you sleep better. Why choose a Sleep Number Smart Bed? So you can choose your ideal comfort on either side. And now it's the Sleep Number Everything Smart Bed sale. Every Smart Bed and base are on sale during our Memorial Day event. Up to 50% off limited time, exclusively at a Sleep Number store near you. See store or sleepnumber.com for details.