Lights Out: Sleep, Sugar, and Survival

I lost 80 lbs, sleep like a baby & Delight in this book!

This amazing book found it's way into my life several (12) months ago. I found it so fun and refreshing to read and the theory was intriging and so simple to follow. I am a LCSW Social Worker, working as a psychiatric evaluator for an ER, nights & weekends. I had cortisol/stress related weight gain, suffered with many sleep disorders, auto-immune disorders (and more) and weighed 205. My doctors had given up treating my multiple stress related/auto-immune & pain disorders and my med list was huge.

All I did was read this book, tape my window with 8-ply dark plastics and turn the lights outs at night (including radio & phone red lights, & black taped over smoke detectors lights) and I allowed myself to sleep 9-12 hours a night. The weight started rolling off so fast that in 3 months, I dropped 50 lbs. My team of doctors freaked out at the weight loss, worked me up for every imaginable cancer they could think of...all the while I'm telling them "I'm just sleeping...long and in the dark". I tell about Dr. Formby's research (they look very skeptical) and give them copies of this book.

Today I weigh 128 (my weight pre-children at age 24). I am 59 years old and look great, like I did in my 40's. I have gone off most of my meds and eat in a seasonal pattern, with lots of meat and little carbs from pasta or bread. (This just happened on it's own, I have never purposefully dieted(nor lost weight)in my life, my tastes just changed.)

The medical community will find it hard to embrace this work as all the major research on cancer, heart disease and tesing on lab animals has not paid any attention to whether the lights were on during the lab animals sleep...could all those 80-plus years of research be in error, by not factoring this in? I am sure the major drug companys will try to land blast this man, as he is over-turning a multi-million dollar sleep medicine industy with his work.

Bless you Dr.Formby for exposing us to the "dark, and the light"!

5 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

An Intriguing Theory

This is quite an idea; that, since the advent of electricity, our bodies are exposed to too much light. This sets off a chain reaction leading to obesity, depression, diabetes, and maybe extinction. Basically, our bodies think we are living in perpetual summer and we are preparing for semi-hibernation. Getting back to Paleolithic, low-carb eating is just a part of it, I think. We also have to try to sleep like our ancestors. I finally convinced my husband to turn off the TV during the night and stop bragging about being able to live on 5 hours of sleep. This book makes a great case, explaining clearly about the deadly cortisol build-up we bring about by too much light, too little sleep, even jogging, and certainly carbo consumption. No wonder we are all 'stressed-out' for no reason and diabetes Type II is now an epidemic. A very impressive book.

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Sleep.... and practice true anti-aging!

This is a fabulous book...could the answer to preventing chronic disease really be this simple..the answer is yes...stick with the laws of nature and honor your sleep cycles and lose weight and feel great in the process! A must read!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Interesting Read

This book was a very knowledgeable and interesting read. It was very educational and made a lot of sense with the "pure" knowledge it spoke off. This book was an eye opener and has helped me on my journey to becoming a healthier person overall.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

The "hidden" harm of unnecessary light at night?

I am a nanotechnologist. However my hobby is astronomy. Light pollution, caused by unnecessary light at night, is destroying our birthright, our heritage of the wonders of the night sky. Kids today think stars are movie SFX, few can see the Milky Way. This book however is frightening me because of its implications concerning the LAN that obscures that Milky Way. As a nanotechnologist I know the harm being done by sub micron aerosol particulates. The "hidden" harm of light at night, as described in this book, is a warning that we may well be too late - much too late?
Ignore this book and we face a dreadful future. Like passive smoking and exposure to asbestos (like that from the WTC tower collapse), the harm may very well already have been done? Read this book and learn the future implications of what we ALL may well face?

1 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Impossible to Put Down

I've read The Zone, The Atkins diet and other so-called high protein diet books but this book actually gives you the history and the science as well as a current explanation of what our bodies need. It's not just about a high-protein, low carb diet; it's about the health of the human being. This book gives a road map to understanding how we work as a species and how we work in relation to the life cycle we're a part of...oh, and losing weight not only becomes secondary, it becomes easy. Plus, who doesn't want to sleep longer in the winter? I know I do and now I understand why. And for anyone concerned with compromised immunity, this book talks very specifically about repairing the immune system.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

It may save your life...

As a biochemist this book, Protein Power, Atkins all make sense.As a recovering vegan these books saved my life. The importance of the paleolithic diet has been looked at quite a bit, but finally someone has addressed the importance of light for health.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Finally!

What an eye-opener! I, too, think that everyone ought to read this book. After reading Lights Out! from cover to cover in a matter of hours, my first thought was: Wow!! This makes so much sense.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Real 'Food' For Thought - Great Info and Entertaining

If you are interested in learning about how your body functions, concerned about your health or someone else's, learning why we get so many conflicting reports on how to stay well, this book is for you. Actually, I think everyone should read it. I have been reading other books and seeing articles (unfortunately small) in papers that support their statements. I'm looking forward to turning the lights out this fall!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Mind blowing

Excellent! I devoured this last week in a couple of days, and my perspective on humans' health and place in nature has completely changed. The book is meticulously researched, with 100 pages of endnote citing studies published in peer-reviewed journals. Believe me, this book will scare you into getting those 9 1/2 hours of pitch black sleep and cutting way back on the carbs. I'm already losing weight and recommending this to everybody I know.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Couldn't Finish It

The first problem is that this book came out ten years ago, making many of the 'medical breakthroughs' irrelevant. The writing was repetitive and sometimes the claims were just so out there. If you are looking for an insightful book lauding the evils of modern medicine via refined sugar check out Good Calories Bad Calories by Gary Taubes.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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