In our modern-day world it can sometimes seem like an inconvenience to have to stop everything we are doing and just sleep. Our busy schedules, work demands and digital screens mean that we are getting to sleep later, waking up earlier and having a poorer quality sleep than ever before.
Many people can get by in everyday life with a low level of exhaustion, priding themselves on only needing a couple of hours of sleep a night and being able to add a few extra hours of work into their day. But what about the long-term consequences of low-level sleep deprivation? As humans, we roughly spend a third of our lives asleep, therefore it is important to understand why we need to sleep. How much we really need, and how to increase the quality of our sleep.
Why do I need to sleep?
There are four stages of sleep NREM (stages 1, 2 and 3) and REM. Both NREM and REM stages are vital for health and have many benefits. NREM sleep can be summarised as the stage of repair, regrow and renew. During this stage your immune system strengths, bones rebuild and muscles repair, therefore it is vital for healing and health. REM sleep can be summarised as helping the stage that aids with learning, memory and mood. REM sleep also allows the brain to fine-tune emotional circuits in the brain. As well as sleep being vital for overall health, it has other benefits such as clearing out amyloid fibers that could lead to Alzheimer’s disease, increasing problem solving abilities, aiding information processing and working to consolidate memories by strengthening and storing new information and skills. During sleep, we become healthier, stronger and smarter!
How much sleep do I really need?
There is some debate in the research world around the exact amount of sleep a person needs. More recent research is suggesting that a minimum of 7 hours sleep per night is vital for overall long-term health and wellness. 7-9 hours of sleep a night will help to reduce the risk of disease and improve overall physical and mental health. Some research has equated less than 7 hours of sleep per night as worse than smoking for your health! Aiming for between 7-9 hours per night is vital for maintaining long-term health.
So how can I increase my sleep quality?
Here are some important factors for sleep and tips for increasing your sleep quality, therefore improving your physical and mental health.
Melatonin
Melatonin is a hormone that is produced by the pineal gland in the brain, it plays a large role in regulating our circadian rhythm. It can be summarised as the hormone that helps to signal to the brain when sleep should occur. Some ways you can increase your melatonin naturally in the evening:
– Have a hot bath or shower an hour before bed. When you get out of the bath your core body temperature will drop, which will signal to the body that it is night time (when it naturally cools down). This will cause melatonin levels to begin to rise and signal to your body that it is time to sleep.
– Increase tryptophan-containing foods such as nuts, seeds, bananas, fish and spinach. Tryptophan converts to serotonin, which converts to melatonin, which again aids in the regulation of your circadian rhythm.
Serotonin
The hormone serotonin makes you feel awake in the morning, as melatonin drops naturally. To naturally increase serotonin, look outside into natural light within ten minutes of opening your eyes. Open your curtains first thing when you wake up to encourage natural light to stimulate more serotonin to boost you through your day!
Avoid Blue Light
This is a tough one with the overuse of our many screens! Blue light can not only disrupt the circadian rhythm, but also reduce the quality of our sleep. As a result, even if you are getting 8 hours of sleep, you may wake up feeling sleepy and groggy due to the poor quality of your sleep. A couple of helpful tips:
– Try avoiding screens and fluorescent lights at least one hour before bed.
– Try blue light blocking glasses when using the screen throughout the day.
– Try a Himalayan salt lamp as an alternative light at night as this does not emit blue light and can increase the quality of your sleep.
Routine
Keeping a regular sleep routine is vital to increasing quality sleep! A regular routine of going to bed and waking at the same time each day will help your circadian rhythm to balance and help promote a natural cycle of sleeping and waking. Try stick to this within 15-20 minutes every day (including weekends).
Food and Alcohol
Alcohol is one of the most powerful repressors of REM sleep, therefore even though you may feel like you slept well, you are missing a huge vital part of healing sleep. In fact, REM sleep is the only time your brain is devoid of noradrenaline (a excitatory neurotransmitter which is responsible for stimulatory processes in the body), therefore alcohol can rob you of the soothing effect REM sleep can have on the body and mind. Alcohol also causes fragmented sleep, continuous small awakenings that disrupt your quality sleep.
– Try to limit and reduce alcohol consumption and avoid at least two hours before bed.
– If drinking alcohol, enjoy it with food to encourage proper absorption.
If you are trying to improve your sleep, the same two-hour rule applies to food. When we eat, our bodies are actively digesting therefore this can impact sleep quality.
– Avoid consumption of food two hours before bed.
– Eat a meal at least two hours before bedtime that has good quality protein to ensure your blood sugar levels stay stable throughout the night and do not wake you up.
Extra tips:
– Avoid caffeine after midday and if consumed try to consume at most only one cup of coffee or black tea per day.
– Exercise in the morning or late afternoon but avoid exercising 2-3 hours before bed.
– Try not to nap for more than 20 minutes and not after 3-4pm as this will disrupt your circadian rhythm
For more information on how to help improve your sleep or for personalised sleep advice please get in touch.