A Good Night’s Sleep: The Benefits and Tips
Sleep is integral to maintaining good health and well-being across the lifespan. The quality of your waking hours is influenced by the quality of your sleep. While you're asleep, your body engages in vital processes to support healthy brain function and preserve physical health.
Most adults should get at least seven hours of sleep each night. Benefits include:
Improved Mood: Sleep replenishes the body and enhances energy levels, making waking up well-rested beneficial for an individual's mood.
Healthy Heart: Quality sleep contributes to cardiac health by slowing down heart rate and decreasing blood pressure during sleep.
Regulated Blood Sugar: Sleep also influences the body's interaction with the hormone insulin, which regulates blood sugar levels by facilitating the entry of glucose into cells for energy. Ensuring seven or more hours of sleep each night aids in maintaining regulated blood sugar levels.
Improved Mental Function: Furthermore, sleep is believed to enhance memory and cognitive function. According to the brain plasticity theory, a leading theory on the purpose of sleep, the brain requires sleep to facilitate growth, reorganisation, restructuring, and the formation of new neural connections.
Stress Relief: Waking up feeling refreshed allows individuals to avoid the stressors associated with sleep deprivation, such as impaired performance, cognitive difficulties, and decreased energy levels.
Tips to getting better sleep:
Exercise During the Day: Regular physical activity can indeed improve sleep quality. However, it's advisable to avoid vigorous exercise too close to bedtime, as it may interfere with the ability to fall asleep.
Avoid Screens Before Bedtime: It's beneficial to ban smartphones, computers, and TVs from your bedroom and refrain from using them for at least an hour before bedtime. These devices emit blue light, which can suppress the production of the sleep hormone melatonin, making it harder to fall asleep.
Create a Consistent Sleep Schedule: Maintain a consistent sleep schedule by going to bed and waking up at the same time every day, even on weekends. Consistency reinforces your body's natural sleep-wake cycle.
If you're unable to fall asleep within about 20 minutes of going to bed, leave your bedroom and engage in a relaxing activity such as reading or listening to soothing music. Return to bed when you feel tired again.
Create a Restful Environment: Ensure your bed offers proper support, comfort, and adequate space to minimise restlessness during sleep. Maintain a room temperature between 16°C and 18°C (60°F to 65°F) for optimal sleeping conditions. Keep your sleeping area free of clutter and opt for pale colours and pleasant scents like lavender and geranium to create a calming environment.
Foods to Avoid: Avoid consuming spicy food, alcohol, and large meals in the hours leading up to bedtime. For many people, drinking coffee or other caffeinated beverages in the afternoon can disrupt sleep. Additionally, sugary foods should be limited before bedtime because the energy spike followed by a crash can disrupt your body clock.
