Full disclosure- I stole all this awesome information right from “Why We Sleep” by Matthew walker. I definitely recommend this book to anyone and everyone. It discusses a lot of really interesting sleep research without being boring or tedious at all. If you have the time I strongly recommend reading the book. If not, you can listen to him on the Joe Rogan podcast, or he did a short TED talk.
I don’t think the benefits of sleep can be overstated. After reading the book I really wonder if sleep might be one of the most important things missing for Americans’ health. It could be one of the biggest factors that's causing the epidemic of chronic diseases and poor health in our country. Actually, it's probably a combination of poor sleep and poor diet as well as sedentary lifestyles. But sleep seems to be the factor that's really left out the majority of the time. You always hear the advice to eat better and exercise, but how often do you hear about getting more sleep? Instead our culture glorifies the lack of sleep, and being “busy.” You hear things like “sleep when you're dead,” or hear about famous entrepreneurs or millionaires who somehow became successful sleeping only 4 hours a night - like that's what we should aspire to be. Anyway, bottom line is everyone needs at LEAST 7 hours of sleep (more would be better). If you think you’re special case and can get by on less, I hate to break it to you but you're not. There is a gene that does somehow allow a few people to get by on less sleep but that's incredibly rare - chances are you don’t have it. Bad news first; if you get less than 7 hours of sleep per night you’re at increased odds to get a lot of nasty health problems:
Alzheimers
High blood pressure
Obesity
Diabetes
Heart disease
Cancer
stroke
Now for the good news. Besides decreasing the risk of all the health problems listed above, getting enough sleep has all these awesome benefits:
Makes you smarter
Better memory
Makes you more creative
More attractive to others
Helps you lose fat and gain muscle
Decrease food cravings (and make better food choices)
Better self control and decision making
Fewer colds and flu
Feel happier,
Less depression and anxiety
Better motor skill acquisition (everything from learning handstands, to piano playing, to playing video games)
These lists are by no means exhaustive. There's so much good stuff that happens when you sleep well and I may go into more detail in another post.
So, we know we need to get enough sleep, but with our busy lives, how do we do that? Artificial light, busy schedules, omnipresent screens on phones, tablets, laptops, and TVs all conspire to deprive us of much needed rest. Research has found that looking at a tablet screen even two hours before bedtime interferes with sleep quality. Blue light from screens suppresses production of melatonin that we need to get to sleep. Unfortunately, if you think that you can just pop a tablet of melatonin, that won’t work either. The only ones who seem to benefit from taking melatonin are the elderly, and jet-lagged travelers. What does help?
-Make a schedule and stick to it; go to bed and wake up at the same time every day. Establish a regular bedtime ritual that involves calm activities like reading or taking a hot shower or bath (the drop in body temperature after a hot shower will hep you feel sleepy)
-We all are used to setting an alarm to wake up; try also setting an alarm for bedtime to keep yourself on track.
-Daily exercise is good for your sleep but avoid exercising in the 2-3 hours before bedtime
-Avoid nicotine and don't have caffeine later in the day.
-No alcohol before bed. You might think you're more relaxed but alcohol actually inhibits REM sleep (deeper sleep) and you won't be as rested.
-Avoid screens at least two hours before bedtime.
-Keep the temperature in your bedroom on the cooler side - you can even get cooling pads for your bed (like the chilli pad) if you’re an especially hot sleeper.
-Keep screens OUT of the bedroom including TV and keep your room totally dark. If you absolutely need to look at screens before bed, you can invest in a a pair of blue blocker glasses to block out most of the harmful blue light.
-If you can't sleep, don't lie in bed stressing about it. Get up and do a relaxing activity until you feel sleepy enough to go back to bed. You can also try progressive relaxation techniques before bed (just do a google search to see how to do this; its really simple and usually involves contracting and relaxing your muscles from your feet up to your head); you can meditate, or listen to a sleep story on YouTube or on a meditation app like Calm or Headspace).
However you choose to do it, the important thing is to create a relaxing bedtime routine that preps you for sleep and stick to it every night. After about a month of consistency you will have a solid habit pattern with better sleep and better health!