22 Ways To A Good Nights Sleep.
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There are few things in life as satisfying as a good nights sleep.
How many of you consider the importance of sleep in relation to fat-loss, injury prevention and recovery, lack of focus, and overall health and vitality?
Mothers insist on it to help children grow well, doctors advise it for optimum health, and beauty gurus recommend it to stay younger and feel better. Thus, it is important to get the good night sleep you deserve.
According to a study published in the Lancet Medical Journal chronic sleep deprivation may speed the onset or increase the severity of age-related conditions such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, and memory loss.
Just one week of sleep deprivation altered subjects hormone levels and their capacity to metabolize carbohydrates.
Ironically, however, this supposedly natural body phenomenon proves impossible to achieve for many people.
During sleep deprivation the researchers found that the men’s blood sugar levels took 40% longer to drop following a high-carbohydrate meal, compared with the control group (well rested group).
If you have sleeping disorders and you find it hard to get the good night sleep you deserve, you are not alone. A report by the U.S. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke reveals that about 40 million people suffer from chronic long-term sleep disorders each year.
Their ability to secrete and respond to the hormone insulin (which helps regulate blood sugar) dropped by 30%.
Additionally, the sleep-deprived men had higher night-time concentrations of the hormone cortisol, (hormone released in response to stress), and lower levels of thyroid-stimulating hormone.
Sleeping disorders are generally classified into three categories: lack of sleep (e.g. insomnia), disturbed sleep (e.g. sleep apnea or the obstruction of airways during sleep), and excessive sleep (e.g. narcolepsy, the condition of falling asleep spontaneously and unwillingly).
These raised cortisol levels mimic levels that are often seen in older people, and may be involved in age-related insulin resistance and memory loss.
So with that in mind here are some helpful tips to getting a good nights sleep:
- Get to sleep by 10.00 pm if possible as most of the physical repair in your body takes place between 10 pm and 2 am. For example the gallbladder dumps toxins during this period. If you are awake then your liver is being overworked and perhaps sending toxins into your bloodstream.
- Establish a regular, relaxing bedtime routine such as soaking in a hot bath and then reading a book or listening to soothing music. Some studies suggest that soaking in hot water before retiring to bed can ease the transition into deeper sleep, but it should be done early enough that you are no longer sweating or over-heated.
- Create a sleep-conducive environment that is dark, quiet, comfortable, cool, and without interruptions. Design your sleep environment to establish the conditions you need for sleep. Also make your bedroom reflective of the value you place on sleep. If there is even the tiniest bit of light in the room it can disrupt your circadian rhythm and your pineal gland’s production of melatonin and serotonin (growth and immune boasting hormones).
- Avoid arousing activities before bedtime like working, paying bills, engaging in competitive games or family problem-solving.
- Avoid exposure to bright light before bedtime because it signals the neurons that help control the sleep-wake cycle that it is time to awaken, not to sleep.
- Keep the light off when you go to the bathroom at night. As soon as you turn on that light you will immediately cease all production of the important sleep aid melatonin.
- Eating a high-protein snack several hours before bed works for many (but not all as it depends on metabolic type). This can provide the L-tryptophan needed to produce melatonin and serotonin. Also eat a small piece of fruit. This can help the L-tryptophan cross the blood-brain barrier.
- Avoid foods that you may be sensitive to. This is particularly true for dairy and wheat products, as they may have effect on sleep, such as causing apnea, excess congestion, gastrointestinal upset, and gas, among others. Additionally grains will raise blood sugar and inhibit sleep. Later, when blood sugar drops too low (hypoglycemia), you might wake up and not be able to fall back asleep.
- Exercise regularly. It is best to complete your workout at least a few hours before bedtime. In general, exercising regularly makes it easier to fall asleep and contributes to sounder sleep. However, exercising sporadically or right before going to bed will make falling asleep more difficult. In addition to making us more alert, our body temperature rises during exercise, and takes as much as 6 hours to begin to drop. A cooler body temperature is associated with sleep onset.
- Wear socks to bed. Due to the fact that they have the poorest circulation, the feet often feel cold before the rest of the body does. A study has shown that this reduces night waking.
- Remove the clock from view. It will only add to your worry when constantly staring at it… 2 am…3 am… 4:30 am…
- Use your bedroom only for sleep and sex to strengthen the association between bed and sleep. It is best to take work materials, computers and televisions out of the sleeping environment.
- Using dimmer switches in living rooms and bathrooms before bed can be helpful.
- Journaling. If you often lay in bed with your mind racing, it might be helpful keep a journal and write down your thoughts before bed.
- Avoid caffeine (e.g. coffee, tea, soft drinks, chocolate) close to bedtime. It can keep you awake as caffeine is a stimulant, which means it can produce an alerting effect. Caffeine products remain in the body on average from 3 to 5 hours, but they can affect some people up to 12 hours later. Even if you do not think caffeine affects you, it may be disrupting and changing the quality of your sleep.
- Avoid nicotine (e.g. cigarettes, tobacco products). When smokers go to sleep, they experience withdrawal symptoms from nicotine, which causes sleep problems.
- Avoid alcohol close to bedtime. Although many people think of alcohol as a sedative, it actually disrupts sleep, causing nighttime awakenings. Alcohol will also keep you from falling into the deeper stages of sleep, where the body does most of its healing.
- Avoid using loud alarm clocks. It is very stressful on the body to be awoken suddenly. If you are regularly getting enough sleep, they should be unnecessary.
- Avoid drinking any fluids within 2 hours of going to bed. This will reduce the likelihood of needing to get up and go to the bathroom or at least minimize the frequency.
- Sleep on a comfortable mattress and pillows. Make sure your mattress is supportive and have comfortable pillows. Make the room attractive and inviting for sleep but also free of allergens that might affect you and objects that might cause you to slip or fall if you have to get up during the night.
- Listen to white noise or relaxation CDs. Some people find nature sounds like rainfall or ocean waves, or white noise soothing for sleep.
- Herbs including chamomile and valerian are regarded as natural relaxants.
If you regularly cannot get the good night sleep you deserve, then you might have a chronic sleep disorder. Some sleep disorders are chronic, brought about by deep medical or psychiatric conditions.
Others occur occasionally and are only temporary, cured easily by eliminating the root cause of sleep deficit. Common causes of sleep disorders are lifestyle changes, work-related stress, and prescription drugs that disrupt sleeping patterns.
People with sleeping disorders are typically given medications or advised to undergo behavioral or psychotherapeutic treatments to treat their condition. While medications (such as sleeping pills) provide easy and immediate relief, they dont exactly give you the good night sleep you deserve and dont eliminate the root of a sleep deficit.
So before you pop that pill, remember that much can be done to win the fight against sleepless nights.
Here are some tips to get the good night sleep you deserve either before you hit the hay or as you lay in bed frustrated.
One way to get the good night sleep you deserve is to figure out how much you need. A good nights sleep varies from one person to another. Infants sleep most of the day (about 16 hours); teenagers usually need about 9 hours a day; and adults need an average of 7 to 8 hours a day. The key is to keep track of the total number of hours you spent sleeping.
For two weeks, take note of how many hours you spend in the sack, including naps. Calculate the average sleep you get in twenty-four hours. If you get, say, six hours, spend six-and-a-half hours in bed, to allow for time to fall asleep.
Another way to get the good night sleep you deserve is develop a pre-sleep routine.
Every night, before you hit the sheets, perform a specific wind-down ritual. Read a book, do yoga stretches, listen to calm music anything that helps you de-stress. A nighttime routine will create an association with sleep that your body will respond to automatically. This routine will help you get the good night sleep you deserve.
Use your bed wisely. Try to avoid non-sleeping activities in bed, such as watching television or balancing your bankbook. These activities will not help you get the good night sleep you deserve. Use it only for sleeping, and sex.
Doing this will send subconscious cues to your brain that will help it associate the bed with sleeping.
Take a steamy shower. A drop in core body temperature prepares your body for sleep. So an hour before bedtime, take a warm shower or relax in the bathtub.
Once youve cooled down, your body will be set for slumber and you will get the good night sleep you deserve.
Keep off the uppers. Coffee, cigarettes and alcohol are some of the stuffs you definitely need to avoid before going to bed.
They may relax and help you fall asleep, but when the effect wears off they can cause fragmented sleep during the remainder of the night. If you want to get the good night sleep you deserve, avoid coffee, alcohol and cigarettes. So hold off the nightcap and do not drink alcohol within six hours of bedtime.
If you must smoke, have your last cigarette at least three hours before going to bed. Coffee should also be avoided after 3 p.m.
Wear an eye mask. Strapping an eye mask on will help blot out miniscule light sources such as the red LCD screen of your alarm clock or the dim glow of the computer screensaver. These miniscule light sources are surprising sleep obstructions, which your brain can detect even when your eyes are closed.
These things will deprive you from the good night sleep you deserve. Count sheep. The old adage about counting sheep (or any other animal, for that matter) really works, because it helps you focus on a series of ascending or descending numbers which in turn keeps your brain too busy to focus on anxious thoughts… [read more]
Happy Sleeping!
Source: www.3dpts.com
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