Many people do not recognize just how important it is for our overall health and well being to get a good night’s sleep. Many studies have shown that when you don’t regularly get enough sleep, your mental and physical health will suffer. Despite this, the CDC estimates that one-third of adults don’t get enough sleep on a regular basis.
This can be due to forces outside of people’s control. There are numerous sleep disorders and underlying health issues that can prevent people from sleeping, but for most people, it is because they do not realize how seemingly innocent choices and habits sabotage their sleep. If you are having trouble sleeping, here are six tips that can help you start getting your night’s under control.
#1) Adjust Your Eating and Drinking Ahead of Time
So much of what and when we eat and drink will affect our sleep. Some foods will have ingredients and chemicals that affect our health, reduce mental health, and actively prevent people from sleeping. Here are some common ways to alter your eating and drinking habits to help you sleep more:
Don’t take any caffeine within at least eight hours of your bedtime.
- Don’t drink alcohol before bed, as it can exacerbate things like sleep apnea and snoring, and disrupt your sleep in the middle of the night.
- Don’t eat meals or larger quantities of food before bed, as it can reduce your sleep quality and disrupt the hormone production that regulates sleep.
- Don’t drink anything within one or two hours of going to bed so you’re less likely to wake up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom
#2) Take CBD with Melatonin
CBD and melatonin are two kinds of natural supplements that can be used to help people with sleep issues. CBD works by interacting with parts of your brain and nervous system that regulate things like pain, stress and sleep quality. When you take it before bed, it can help improve the quality of sleep you get so you feel more rested.
Melatonin is a natural hormone our body produces to make us feel tired at night, so we know when to go to bed. So if you want the best of both worlds, you can combine them with things like CBD softgels with melatonin.
#3) Control the Sound in Your Sleep Environment
For people who are light sleepers, even the slightest noise can interrupt their ability to fall and stay asleep. It’s important to do everything you can to control the sounds and noise around you. Keep doors and windows firmly shut. Wear sleep plugs to block out all noise, or use white noise machines to drown out external sounds.
#4) Use and Avoid Light Carefully
Your circadian rhythm is very important for sleep. It is a natural 24-hour cycle that can be thought of as your body’s internal clock. It regulates when and how much your body produces certain hormones to make you feel hungry and sleepy, so you know when to eat and sleep.
One way to get more sleep is by making sure you are exposed to light during the day and avoid it at night. This is because light suppresses melatonin, the hormone that makes you feel tired. If you expose yourself to light during the day, then dial it back at night and especially before bed, you will make your body feel more tired around bedtime so you can fall asleep more easily.
#5) Set Your Room Temperature
Another thing that your circadian rhythm regulates is body temperature. It has been shown by research that having a higher body and room temperature hurts your sleep quality. As it gets closer to the time your body thinks is bedtime, it will start cooling your body down to make it more optimal for quality sleep. If you think that you are more comfortable with warmer temperatures, you are unknowingly sabotaging your sleep. Instead, keep your bedroom temperature around 70 degrees, and don’t overdo it on the blankets.
#6) Exercise Regularly, But Not Before Bed
Exercising regularly and staying in good shape has been found to be one of the best ways to improve sleep quality, and reducing symptoms of insomnia. One study found that people who exercise regularly are able to fall asleep in half the time as people who don’t.
However, there has been some inconsistent results found that seem to imply that for some people, it can prevent you from falling asleep if you exercise too close to bedtime. The idea is that exercising increases hormones that make you feel energetic and amped up, and those take time to fade away so your body is calm and cool enough to sleep.
These six strategies to help you sleep are among the best and most common for people to follow, and they are backed by science and research. However, if you are finding you still have issues sleeping it is worth seeing your doctor or a sleep specialist. You may have sleep disorders such as insomnia or sleep apnea that still prevents you from sleeping. In those cases, treating your condition and reducing the symptoms will be the best way to improve your sleep.
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