Tips for getting a good night’s sleep

Tips for getting a good night’s sleep 

Adequate sleep, while as critical as proper nutrition, is often overlooked as a key component of good health.The health and functional importance of sleep is not well understood.  Although often unrecognized

as  serious,lack  of  sleep  is  associated with many  physical  and mental  health  problems,  including injury, chronic health conditions, and mortality.  Insufficient rest may contribute to obesity, diabetes, heart disease and other age-related, chronic and high-cost disorders.

Difficulties with sleep profoundly affect daily living and have broader societal implications, such as the risks associated with unsafe driving and resulting accidents, and the health care cost implications of a prescription drug market flooded with sleep remedies.  

Lack of adequate and regular sleep has a negative impact on health and has been associated with chronic  conditions  such  as  obesity,  high  blood  pressure,  heart  disease,  depression  and  diabetes. Researchers  don’t  know  fully  whether  sleep  disruption  leads  to  these  clinical  problems  or  the problems disturb sleep.

Studies  linking  lack of sleep and weight gain show that obesity can contribute to sleep problems,but having difficulty sleeping may also  lead to obesity. Reduced sleep affects the secretion of two hormones  related  to  appetite:  ghrelin  (which  triggers  appetite)  is  increased;  and  leptin  (which reduces appetite) is decreased.

People who are overweight or obese are at higher  risk  for numerous  serious medical  conditions, particularly type 2 diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and stroke.Difficulties falling asleep, staying asleep or early waking lead to fatigue, depression and an inability to function at full capacity.    Inadequate sleep can result from poor sleep habits or sleep disorders that interfere with consistently sleeping seven to eight hours a night.

Sleep problems can be treated by a number of interventions ranging from adopting healthier habits

to trying more complicated medical, pharmaceutical or surgical interventions.For many people, changing daily routines such as avoiding alcohol near bedtime, quitting smoking,losing  weight,  shifting  sleep  positions  and  changing  the  sleep  environment  may  relieve  the symptoms of sleep apnea (a sleep disorder with brief interruptions of breathing during sleep) and help insomnia.

Tips for getting a good night’s sleep 
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health suggests a range of dietary and other lifestyle changes to promote better sleep hygiene: 

1. Stick to a sleep schedule. Go to bed and wake up the same time each day. As creatures of habit, people have a hard time adjusting to altered sleep patterns. Sleeping later on weekends won’t fully make up for the lack of sleep during the week and will make it harder to wake up early on Monday morning.

2. Exercise is great but not too late in the day. Try to exercise at least 30 minutes on most days but not later than 5 or 6 hours before your bedtime.

3. Avoid caffeine and nicotine. Coffee, colas, certain  teas, and chocolate contain  the stimulant caffeine, its effects can take as long as 8 hours to wear off fully. Therefore, a cup of coffee in the late afternoon can make it hard for you to fall asleep at night. Nicotine is also a stimulant, often causing smokers to sleep only very lightly. In addition, smokers often wake up too early in the morning because of nicotine withdrawal.

4. Avoid  alcoholic  drinks  before  bed. You may  think  having  an  alcoholic “nightcap” will  help  you  sleep,  but alcohol robs you of deep sleep and REM sleep, keeping you in the lighter stages of sleep. You also tend to wake up in the middle of the night when the effects of the alcohol have worn off.

5. Avoid large meals and beverages late at night. A light snack is okay, but a large meal can cause indigestion that interferes with sleep. Drinking too many fluids at night can cause frequent awakenings to urinate.

6. If  possible,  avoid medicines  that  delay  or  disrupt  your  sleep. Some  commonly  prescribed  heart,  blood pressure, or asthma medications, as well as some over-the-counter and herbal remedies for coughs, colds, or allergies, can disrupt sleep patterns. If you have trouble sleeping, talk to your doctor or pharmacist to see if any drugs you’re taking might be contributing to your insomnia.

7. Don’t take naps after 3 p.m. Naps can help make up for lost sleep, but late afternoon naps can make it harder to fall asleep at night.

8. Relax before bed. Don’t overschedule your day so that no time is left for unwinding. A relaxing activity, such as reading or listening to music, should be part of your bedtime ritual. 

9. Take a hot bath before bed. The drop in body temperature after getting out of the bath may help you feel sleepy,and the bath can help you relax and slow down so you’re more ready to sleep.

10. Have a good  sleeping environment. Get  rid of anything  that might distract  you  from  sleep,  such as noises,bright lights, an uncomfortable bed, or warm temperatures. You sleep better if the temperature in your bedroom is kept on  the cool side. A TV or computer  in  the bedroom can be a distraction and deprive you of needed sleep.

11. Having a comfortable mattress and pillow can help promote a good night’s sleep.