Fix High Cortisol and Sleep 9 Hours Straight (Perfect Sleep Score) - Paul Saladino’s Plan

At rest, humans exhale ≈15 L of CO2 per hour. In a closed 20×20 ft bedroom, CO2 can rapidly climb from an outdoor baseline of ~410 ppm to over 1000–2000 ppm. Studies show that crossing the ~900 ppm threshold impairs sleep architecture and morning alertness. The fix is free: open a window. He also suggests ensuring cross‑ventilation and, if the whole house is sealed, occasionally opening windows during the day to prevent a high baseline that carries into the night.

He measures RF with a tri‑field meter. In Costa Rica, where internet is hardwired and there are no nearby cell towers, his background is <1 µW/m². In typical US homes, he sees 800–3,000 µW/m² walking around, with spikes to 50,000 µW/m² near routers, Apple TVs, and Bluetooth speakers. By turning off the router and unplugging speakers, he can drop the bedroom’s ambient RF from 1,000–2,000 µW/m² to 100–150 µW/m². He says scientists in the space often recommend <50 µW/m², ideally <10.

He explains that most houses should read below 1 milligauss. He stayed in a Miami house with a bedroom reading 4–5 milligauss, which made him concerned because studies of children living near high‑voltage power lines (average 3–4 milligauss) found higher rates of blood cancers. He also measured motorcycles at 50–100 milligauss and Teslas at up to 7–8 milligauss at the feet but only 2–3 at the hips, suggesting the car is somewhat shielded. He notes that many of his friends are unaware of their home’s magnetic field levels.

He recounts filming the LED aisle in Home Depot in slow motion and seeing every fixture strobe. He also mentions that film‑grade LEDs flicker at a speed too fast for the brain to detect (like a MacBook screen), making them acceptable alternatives. The iPhone is singled out because its flicker is slower and more disruptive; he explicitly advises, “do not look at your iPhone before you go to sleep because that is flickering.” He believes flicker is a major, under‑discussed variable in sleep quality.

He contrasts ‘whole food light’ (sunlight) with ‘processed light’ indoors: indoor lights have removed infrared and UV and are enriched in blue, plus they flicker. He explains that melatonin is not just a brain hormone; it’s made in most tissues when mitochondria receive infrared light. He also references the nitric‑oxide release from skin, calling it a ‘shaker cup’ effect that boosts blood flow. He links this to the common experience of sleeping better on vacation when outdoors more, even when stress is not reduced.

He describes long filming days where he fasts and eats very little, and even with extra outdoor time, sleep suffers. He tested the hypothesis by simply eating more on those days and found sleep dramatically improved. He says it’s not about the macronutrient composition — high carb or low carb didn't matter — but about total energy. He also notes that many people skip breakfast and lunch, arriving home and raiding the pantry, then sleeping poorly. He suggests front‑loading calories so that you don’t spike blood sugar right before bed but still meet your body’s energy needs.

At rest, a human produces about 15 L of CO2 per hour (up to 100 L during exercise). In a closed bedroom, especially with a partner or pets, CO2 can easily reach 1000–2000 ppm overnight. Research shows that once ambient CO2 passes 850–900 ppm, the number of awakenings per hour increases, sleep efficiency decreases, and morning subjective feeling worsens. He notes that if you live in a sealed house all day, the baseline can already be >1000 ppm, and then the bedroom level climbs further while you sleep. His solution is simple: crack a window or ensure cross‑ventilation, sometimes also leaving the bedroom door open for airflow. He considers this one of the highest‑leverage, most overlooked sleep interventions.

He explains the difference between the RF band (cell phones, Wi‑Fi, Bluetooth) measured in microwatts per square meter, and the magnetic field (ELF) from wiring, power lines, and motors measured in milligauss. He has found that most houses have a background RF of 800–3,000 µW/m², with spikes to 50,000 µW/m² near routers and Apple TVs. His Costa Rica house, with hardwired internet and no cell towers, reads <1 µW/m². He advocates for turning off the Wi‑Fi router at night, putting phones on airplane mode, and unplugging Bluetooth speakers to drop RF from thousands to under 150 µW/m². For magnetic fields, he notes that most houses should be below 1 milligauss, but he once stayed in a Miami bedroom measuring 4–5 milligauss — a level linked to increased childhood leukemia in power‑line studies — and magnetic fields are essentially impossible to shield. He also measured motorcycles at 50–100 milligauss, though no cancer link is established, and tested Teslas, finding magnetic fields at the feet up to 7–8 milligauss but only 2–3 milligauss at the hips.

He explains that incandescent bulbs, though they technically flicker at 120 Hz due to AC current, have thermal inertia — the tungsten filament stays hot and doesn’t extinguish between cycles, so our body perceives steady light. LEDs, by contrast, use pulse‑width modulation that turns the diode completely off many times per second, creating a perceptible flicker. Regular LEDs flicker slowly enough that the brain notices; film‑grade (zero‑flicker) LEDs flicker so fast they appear steady, similar to a MacBook screen. The iPhone, however, is “very bad for flicker” — it flickers more slowly, especially in low‑power mode, and he says it’s particularly disruptive. He filmed LEDs in a Home Depot aisle in slow motion to show the strobing effect. He believes flicker keeps the sympathetic nervous system activated, preventing deep parasympathetic rest before sleep.

He explains the need to triangulate: you want the room as dark as possible, but you also need one window cracked open to keep CO2 low. You can’t blackout the cracked window completely because the air needs to come in, so you leave that small portion uncovered and blackout the rest. To ensure the air actually moves, you must also create cross‑ventilation — either have two windows open or crack the bedroom door so air flows to the rest of the house. He combines this with earplugs and a cold room temperature for optimal sleep environment.

He says that on keto he was “redlining all the time” and stayed lean because of that constant sympathetic drive, but he liked how his brain worked at that stage. Now, with young kids and a different life phase, he doesn’t want that level of activation. He notes that people who feel “switched on” on keto may be experiencing sympathetic nervous system overdrive — essentially, the body is in a ‘go get carbs’ stress mode. He feels that adding carbohydrates has made him calmer and sleep better, and he sees it as part of a broader effort to downregulate and achieve parasympathetic edge.