This book is quite interesting to read. It is a compilation if scientific information and good advice that everyone can put into practice, selecting what suits them best.
I can't say I learnt that much from the book but the fact that it highlighted information about sleep together with the nutrition and sports/physical activity aspects was particularly relevant as we always tend to focus on one aspect of the problem (ie: I have problems sleeping) without considering the whole picture.
So a good read that puts all facets of the "problem" in a nutshell. Not sure it will help you much if you are already heavily on pills, but helpful if your problem is manageable with some efforts. Good advice.

Fast Asleep teaches the science of good sleep, techniques, and the importance of food in relation to your sleep. A good night's sleep is important for your overall health, and Michael Mosley helps readers find that.

I really enjoyed this quick read and learned a lot that I've been able to add to my routines to consistently get a better night's sleep.

This book was an easy self-help guide to better sleep. I found several helpful tips to improve my own sleep schedule and get better sleep.

A quick and informative read that I found quite helpful.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for my review copy.

I've found the 5:2 method useful and interesting in the past, but have found it difficult to stick to, though on days when I'm looking for inspiration while trying to eat less calories I do find one of the very basic vegetarian cookbooks still comes up with the goods. It certainly made a difference in the run-up to my wedding! Currently I am on a diet designed by two men who do a lot more training than me, so the weight wasn't dropping off as fast, However, I've paired it with time-restricted eating and will be seeing how far I can push my body to break down those calories and sugars in my sleep - I've never been a big breakfast person so looking forward to using that aspect of myself practically, especially as I'm always ready for a massive lunch!

Since I was a young girl, I have always woken during the night and had trouble falling back to sleep. In our world which pushes productivity 24/7 I think many of us have grown to believe sleep is a luxury we don’t deserve.
I welcome the information and messages found in Fast Asleep! And while this is not a cookbook look forward to making the recipes Dr Mosley included which help with sleep as well!
Thank you Dr Mosley for writing this book the world needs! I am heading to Instagram to follow you there!
Here’s to sweet dreams!

A little background about the person writing this review; she suffers from insomnia several days a month, she doesn't like taking prescription meds and hasn't had good results with melatonin and she is cranky on days that follow sleepless nights.
I jumped at the chance to read Fast Asleep by Dr Michael Mosley because I am a firm believer in the thought that one can never have enough tools in their toolbox to tackle any problem. What this book does is offer some great holistic methods that a reader can utilize in their quest for the sweet land of sleep.
This book ties in nicely with another book written by the same author, The Fast 800, discussing nutrition and intermittent fasting. If you don't think nutrition plays a role in sleep, you have probably not had a big, greasy meal with a few cocktails before bed.
I especially like the fact that this book engages the reader in different ways. From quizzes to recipes, you will find this book user friendly and not feeling like another lecture to get through. Many thanks to Netalley and Atria books for the opportunity to read Fast Asleep in an electronic ARC. All opinions expressed in this review are authentically my own.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for this opportunity. My review opinions are my own.,.
Dr. Michael Mosley is a British doctor .a BBC commentator and an author of several bestselling books. I was pleased to read this book for review as I suffer from lack of sleep for years from chronic pain. I do not believe in sleep aids and use natural methods and sensible eating which I had great success with.

This was a exemplary body of work on the subject of sleep. The author covers how our usual suspects as sleep, weight gain and poor eating can affect our sleep. As a vegan who practices healthy eating I was pleased to see the section on eating habits and how they can affect our sleep to a great degree. Many people do not correlate how critical eating is in reference to good sleep. I myself do not eat after 6 pm and found that works wonders for me in regard to sleep. The receipes here are outstanding and sensible. The author has suggestions for making your room cooler which is a critical factor for me as well as managing our stress and what to do when we wake up at night. All in all I learned a lot of new information to put into my own sleep practice and enjoyed what I learned from this excellent body of work.

Perhaps related to my recent review of "I'm So Effing Tired" (great book), I also have trouble falling "Fast Asleep." So I was excited to read this book by Dr. Michael Mosley, a British doctor with a fascinating background as a BBC commentator and a host of shows about mysterious medical diagnoses, as well as an author of several other bestselling medical books. Even if you don't struggle with insomnia, who among us could not use a better night's sleep? Especially in times like these. So I would recommend this book to absolutely everyone, not just poor sleepers like me.

Dr. Mosley provides a fascinating scientific history about the early science of sleep. He breaks down the different stages of sleep (REM, deep, light) and the purposes of each. For example, I had no idea that deep sleep actually cleans your brain and helps your memory. I also did not know that REM sleep and its vivid dreams affects our emotions and emotional processing in the daytime .

Dr. Mosley suggests various methods of tracking your sleep, through journaling or similar (I use an app). He goes past the usual culprits that most of us have tried already (caffeine, blue light) and helps you understand things like your own internal clock (there is a quiz and I was surprised by my results!) It is also surprising and somewhat distressing to learn how much sleep is related to weight gain and weight loss. He discusses eating to create a "sleepy biome" He also has an idea I never heard before: if you are an "extreme lark" (on an early morning clock), maybe you wake up at 3 am and start your day then. While that sounds a little crazy he has some pretty compelling evidence that it works - Mark Wahlberg and Tim Cook are living life this way apparently and getting the same amount of stuff done (or more) before going to bed at 7:30 pm. And finally there is a LOT of discussion about diet and the gut...my least favorite, since I love eating carbs and sugar. But his evidence is compelling.

Overall a great book for people who have tried absolutely everything - there is a ton of new information in here to try and a specific program to follow along with a diary to fill in of factors that may be affecting your sleep. There are also recipes! (I have not tried these yet but I am going to! The breakfasts in particular look fantastic and include some fun stuff like potatoes.) A very complete, science-based book that is also fun to read. Highly recommended for all my insomniac buddies or for anyone who wants to be less tired and enjoy better sleep.

Thanks to NetGalley, Simon and Schuster and Dr. Michael Mosley for the advance copy! 4.5 stars.

I read much of this book in the wee hours of the morning, during bouts of insomnia! I was intrigued by the recommended techniques and will be experimenting personally with them. Thus, I am writing this review before knowing if the advice presented will help me. With that caveat, I do have a very positive impression of the book as a whole. I agree that sleep is a very complex phenomenon, and that many internal and external factors influence the physiology of sleep. So, I was gratified that a multi-pronged approach to improving sleep was presented. It makes a lot of sense to combine behavioral changes consisting of altering the timing/amount of sleep with good sleep hygiene, and importantly, exploring one's own relationship between diet and eating schedule with sleep. There are 3 main avenues of suggested ways to improve sleep efficiency for the reader to follow:
1. Bedroom habits and environment
2. Instructions for sleep restriction therapy
3. Instructions for time restricted eating and choice of foods

Although making these changes will be challenging to do, the instructions are straightforward and the potential for reward is high. The writing style flows well and the material is clearly written without being overly simplistic. The author has done his homework on this subject and not only provides citations for the research studies mentioned, but also shares insights from his own personal experience. For those who need it (and those who do not) there is a nice collection of recipes in the last section of the book to entice the reader. I saw several that I plan to try out!

Overall, this is a concise, action-oriented sleep primer that offers evidence-based techniques to battle insomnia. Nothing here is new, but it is packaged skillfully. (This is my unbiased review of a digital ARC from NetGalley and the publisher.)

I picked up some good tips and ideas for better sleep and I also learned a few things about how sleep works and what affect it has on the body. But I don't believe there was anything groundbreaking or life changing, just some potentially helpful things to try. There was also quite a few recipes at the end but I didn't really understand how they fit in with the rest of the book.

Fast Asleep is a highly readable self-help guide by well known former doctor turned journalist Michael Mosley, who previously popularised Intermittent Fasting for weight loss. This one tackles another common modern affliction - insomnia - with a range of very practical tips.
I had read and enjoyed Fast 800 last year, and been struggling with sleep recently, so was pleased to find this on NetGalley.

Mosley begins by summarising what we know about sleep and why it’s so important, talks about the various types o& sleep disorder and describes his own experiences with insomnia.
There’s a chapter of tips and all the do’s and don’ts, another on sleep restriction therapy, then he moves onto how diet plays an important role - especially the gut’s microbiome.
He puts it altogether into an easy follow programme, then talks about shift work and jet lag which are managed differently. The final part is a series of supposedly sleep-promoting recipes created by his wife, who is a GP rather than a dietitian.

It’s ironic that the book is illustrated throughout with cute cartoons of cats, but the book doesn’t actually discuss feline causes of insomnia, one of our biggest problems - we have three, who all like to sleep on the bed, or even on us when it’s particularly cold. One pesters my husband relentlessly for water/brushing/attention in the middle of the night, the other randomly sits on my chest and pats my face or smooches enthusiastically for no obvious reason, the third just hits the floor with a guilt-inducing thud when you roll over and accidentally boot her off.
Locking them out leads to furious scratching at the door until they get back in, and not having cats is not an option so we live with it. I need to actually read one of the multiple cat behaviour books I’ve bought but not started - perhaps if Mosley wrote one I might!

I enjoyed reading about the scientific aspects of the topic, and like that while he personalises this by recounting his own sleep issues, it’s not one of those rigid “this worked for me so you should do it too” books - he does keep referring to relevant studies and experts in the field.
I found his suggestions generally helpful - one in particular has already made an enormous difference - putting my iPad in another room overnight so that when I do wake in the night, instead of reaching for it to browse the news or Facebook because I’m bored, I mostly just go back to sleep! Things aren’t so bad that I need to try sleep restriction but it’s good to understand how it works both for suggesting to patients and in case it does become necessary.

The diet section does hark back to his previous books - not necessarily a bad thing but some aspects got a bit repetitive. The dietary principles he promotes seem generally sensible, but I think most people would struggle with the portion sizes recommended in the recipes and feel permanently hungry as a result - which in itself can make it hard to sleep.
Overall I would recommend this to anyone looking for a way to improve their sleep without medications - it’s clearly written, easy to understand, not too long, features some Light British humour and is not overly patronising. My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc which allowed me to give an honest review. Fast Asleep is published on October 27th.

If you're looking to understand more about sleep and how to get a better night's rest this book is for you.

I liked how the book was part science and part case study along with a few at home experiments. The plan for creating a better sleep is clearly outlined. There are even some recipes included which I think is brilliant and attests to the modern nature of this book.

I've had difficulty with sleep my entire life and it only seems to be getting worse. I love that this book was easy to read and full of (but not too much) information on understanding our need for and improving sleep. As a medical professional who often works overnights I was happy to see a chapter on managing sleep as a shift worker.

The Author makes some well rehearsed points, that have been offered over and over again but, there is nothing ground breaking here. He writes well-in simplistic terms that are understandable and he does expand on some points but, I was looking for more-something new-anything but, unfortunately...nothing.
And the recipes? I didn't get that connection at all. Maybe he should write a cookbook.
There was a line in the book that really stuck with me. he describes his wife "falling asleep while standing in the operating room-thankfully no one noticed?!" I could not relate to this book at all. His humor, the case studies, the recipes, it didn't work for me.

jb
https://seniorbooklounge.blogspot.com/

I learned so much about improving sleep from this info-packed guide. The author shares a science-based program with case studies and even 50 tasty recipes to boost sleep.

You will learn the science of good sleep, techniques such as Sleep Restriction Therapy to regulate your sleep cycle, and the importance of healthy food to restorative rest. All can improve mood and brain function, protect against chronic illness, and help in weight loss. Happy sleeping!

5 of 5 Stars

Pub Date 06 Oct 2020

Thanks to the author, Atria Books, and NetGalley for the early copy. Opinions are mine.

#FastAsleep #NetGalley

Obviously I downloaded this book because I am often an insomniac. I was impressed by the amount of research that the author included. There are a ton of books like this on the market but this book broke down the tips into easy to understand and follow sections.

Dr. Mosley shares with readers how to improve sleep patterns & achieve a multitude of benefits to include waking feeling refresh. I can't remember if this was in the book or if I read it in an article but Dr. Mosley was an insomniac, understandable how it is that he can write such great tips to help us.
I was shocked to read sleep is an individual thing, I've always heard we need eight hours, when in fact according to National Sleep Foundation depending on the stage of life we are those are the targets we should hit. (very interesting)
This book is for everyone, we all need to reset our sleeping patterns and understand sleep efficiency.

TIP: (from the book)
lie down in a quiet room in the afternoon and see how quickly you fall asleep. If you fall asleep within 10 minutes of closing your eyes, it suggest you're seriously sleep deprived. Outstanding quick read

Fast Asleep by Michael Mosley is an interesting and easy read about sleeping and tips for insomniacs to consider to improve the percent of the time they spend actually sleeping while in bed instead of laying there fretting and trying. It didn’t feel like this was groundbreaking but more of a summary of good practices. I appreciated the chapter on jet lag and shift work the most. About a fourth of the book is a section with recipes using foods that are supposed to be good for sleep enhancement (and other health benefits. It did feel like the book had a lot of self-promotion to the author’s other works but I think that is his style. I voluntarily received and reviewed a complimentary copy of this book on Net Galley, all opinions are my own.

This book is filled with really helping information, with a great deal of research to back it up. I read a lot of books about health related topics. I read them for the sake of gaining information, but I usually find them extremely boring. So I was pleasantly surprised that this book was not only informative, but also really interesting.