Sleep, Sunlight, and Repair | Stasha Gominak

Dr. Ben sits down with retired neurologist turned sleep coach Stasha Gominak, whose career took an unexpected turn when a headache patient's sleep study revealed something medicine wasn't talking about. What started as curiosity about REM sleep and headaches led Stasha down a 20-year rabbit hole connecting vitamin D, the gut microbiome, and B vitamins to how well we actually sleep and heal. In this episode, Stasha shares how she stumbled onto the vitamin D and sleep connection, why she believes it's a hormone and not a vitamin, and the surprising downstream deficiency she discovered years later when patients started showing up with strange new symptoms. She also gets into why the microbiome may be the missing link in sleep quality, and why she thinks medicine needs more humility and more listening. This is a fascinating look at what happens when a doctor is willing to follow the evidence even when it contradicts what she was taught. Learn more about Stasha's work and her Right Sleep program at https://drgominak.com/