Top 10 tips for a good night’s sleep
What is a ‘good night’s sleep?’
We often hear people say this, but it means different things to different people. Some feel that 4 or 5 hours of good quality sleep is adequate whereas others aren’t happy unless they get a full 10 hours, so it really depends on who you ask. It’s generally considered that somewhere between 7 and 9 hours is about right for most people.
Most people struggle with sleep problems at some stage in their life, whether it’s difficulty falling asleep, or waking up with a racing mind during the night or just waking up far earlier than we would like and not being able to get back to sleep. Whatever the issue, poor quality sleep can impact our health.
Numerous factors can influence the quality and duration of our sleep, these might be things like being under stress, eating late at night, going through the menopause, leading a sedentary or indoor lifestyle or being in pain. These days we often have constant, conflicting demands on us through technology, answering emails late into the evening or keeping up with social media. All these things and more can have an impact on our ability to get a good night’s sleep.
What happens when we sleep and why do we need it?
We may think we’re resting while we are asleep, but in fact our body systems are busy getting to work cleaning out toxins, repairing damaged tissues and regenerating our cells to keep us healthy and prevent disease. It’s actually a hive of activity in there! The better the quality of our sleep, the better our body can deal with the impact of our external and internal environments: all the things life throws at us.
A few of the many reasons why we might want to optimise our sleep
- Weight management – we need sleep to balance our hunger hormones, and when we are sleep deprived, our appetite stimulating hormone ghrelin rises and our satiety hormone leptin decreases. This increases hunger and can lead to overeating. Have you ever noticed you are hungrier the next day after a late night or a particularly bad nights sleep?
- Cardiovascular health – long term sleep deprivation can raise cortisol levels, increase inflammation, and cause us to be in a more sympathetic state (fight or flight), all of which are risk factors for high blood pressure, heart disease and other cardiovascular conditions.
- Immune system – our immune system is made up of lots of different types of cells which all perform different functions but work together as a team to keep us healthy. Studies have shown that T-cells can lose their ability to recognise and bind to infected cells when we are sleep deprived, and as a result we can be more susceptible to coming down with a virus.
- Emotional wellbeing – have you ever noticed how after a bad nights sleep you might overreact to a comment or feel particularly grumpy or upset? Our brain needs sleep to process our emotions and sleep has been shown to have a profound effect on how we feel and react. An area of the brain called the amygdala controls the fear response and when we are sleep deprived, it can overreact to situations.
- Concentration – have you ever felt a bit fuzzy and unable to concentrate after a poor nights sleep? Reaction times are slower, it’s harder to concentrate and it can be hard to remember or retain information. Our brains process new information while we sleep and clear out toxic waste and our nerve cells reorganise themselves.
Top 10 tips for a good nights sleep
If sleep’s so important, how do we make sure we get enough good quality sleep? The answer is it takes work, it can be a bit of trial and error, but mostly it’s about developing some good habits and sticking to the ones that work for you.
- Exercise every day, about 30 minutes of moderate exercise can help with the quality of sleep but try to avoid the few hours before bed when it can have the opposite effect by raising cortisol when you really want it to be low.
- Get outside in the sunlight (or daylight at least!), particularly in the morning to raise serotonin levels. Serotonin is the precursor to melatonin (our sleep hormone) so getting plenty of daylight can boost our melatonin when it goes dark.
- Reduce exposure to blue light from computers, phones, TV and other devices during the evening by switching off an hour or two before bed. The blue light in these devices tells our brain that it’s still daylight and can prevent sleep.
- Eat your last meal at least 3 hours before bed so that the food is digested well before bed, this will help prevent heart burn, but will also mean that your digestive system is at rest and can do it’s overnight processes of cleaning, repairing and regenerating.
- Pay attention to your sleeping environment by keeping it cool and dark. A pair of black out curtains, a silk eye mask, leaving the heating off or opting for cooler bedding.
- Avoid caffeine in the afternoon and evening. Caffeine can be more stimulating for some people than others. Instead opt for herbal teas such as camomile or red bush, or experiment with some of the sleepy blend teas.
- Avoid alcohol during the evening as it can disrupt sleep and sleep patterns. We spend less time in the restorative REM sleep and it’s common to have poor quality sleep with interruptions during the night after drinking alcohol.
- Timing is everything – stick to the same bedtime and getting up time, this will strength your circadian rhythm and your body will expect to sleep between certain times. By creating a bedtime calming routine around these times, you will strengthen your body clock and allow the natural processes that take place overnight.
- Introduce 10 minutes meditation during the evening, studies have shown that the greatest calming benefits of meditation are found with consistent practice.
- Eat a wholefood diet with a good balance of nutrients and ditch the processed foods and sugary snacks. You’ll notice the difference.
Getting a good night’s sleep is a great way to improve overall health in so many ways, and with a little thought and planning it’s pretty easy to incorporate some of these tips to improve quality and duration of sleep.
How does Nutrition support sleep?
Our diet and nutrition can influence the way we sleep. Too much sugar, processed foods, alcohol, caffeine, refined carbohydrates can all have a detrimental impact on our sleep. Whereas a healthy diet of whole unrefined foods, fruit, vegetables, healthy fats, and adequate protein can support good quality sleep. Basically, healthier eating habits can encourage healthier sleeping patterns and support our body’s own healing.
If you’d like to know more about how improving your eating habits can support the quality of your sleep as well as increasing energy levels, balancing your immune system, and maintaining control of your weight, get in touch.