Sleep, the ultimate Restorative act
What’s the cheapest and most effective ‘life hack’ for anti-aging, mental clarity, and improved immune system? Sleep. One of the most obvious ways we can keep ourselves healthy and thriving is through our time asleep. Just like eating food and drinking water, we need adequate rest every night to function optimally. Deep sleep is crucial for maintaining normal organ functions, regeneration of cells and tissues, restoring energy, and overall mental clarity. Relying on caffeine can put you in a vicious cycle that can lead to adrenal dysfunction. Before any other health interventions, this is a great place to start a solid foundation for each new day.
Here are some non-invasive tips for improving your sleep hygiene:
Maintain a consistent sleep schedule. Go to bed and wake up around the same time every day—even on the weekends. This is very important. Changing cycles of sleep can disturb your circadian rhythm. I was working in the hospital for many years and worked night shifts. My adrenal function was altered causing me to be inflamed and perpetuating my gut issues. This led to a vicious cycle. Once I left the hospital and changing shifts, I was able to regulate my GI tract.
Take in more daylight and limit exposure to artificial light. Daylight reinforces the ‘awake’ phase of your body’s sleep cycle, so spending more time outside during the day can make it easier for you to fall asleep at night. Lights should be off from 11pm to 6am. Limit EMF readers from 11pm to 6am as well.
If you are inside most of the day, try to sit close to a window or take breaks outside when you can. In the evening, spend less time with electronics. This will help regulate natural cycles of light.
Blue light from back-lit devices like cell phones, computer monitors, and tablets mimics daylights and stimulates alertness. Using electronics before bed tricks your body into thinking it’s still daytime and can make it harder for you to fall asleep. Limit your use of electronics at least one hour before bedtime as they can inhibit melatonin production. If you must use these devices, consider using a blue light glasses as well as blue light filters on the electronic device.
Stay active. Exercising during the day for 30 to 60 minutes helps you feel alert and promotes better sleep at night. Optimally according to circadian rhythm biology, before 9 am would be most optimal for strenuous activity.
Strenuous activity at night, however, can make it harder to fall asleep. Give yourself plenty of time between finishing your workout and winding down before bed.
Avoid caffeine after noon and avoid heavy meals and alcohol before bed. What you eat and when you eat it could be holding you back from a restful night’s sleep. Try to avoid large meals before bed and limit your consumption of alcohol. While it may help you fall asleep, alcohol can cause you to wake up more frequently during the night. Caffeine may impair sleep if consumed six hours prior to bedtime. Eating from 9 am to 6pm is optimal for your Circadian rhythm and helps with better sleep and metabolism.
Take naps. Napping can boost your immunity and make you feel more alert, which increases cognitive performance and productivity. Aim for a 20 to 30-minute nap early to mid-afternoon. Napping later in the day could interfere with your ability to fall asleep. While napping can help you catch up on sleep from a restless night, it’s no substitute for inadequate nightly sleep.
Improve your sleep environment. Create a strong association with your bedroom and sleeping. Only get into bed when you are tired and ready to sleep, and avoid the use of electronics or TV once you are in bed. Change your sheets regularly, keep your room temperature at 65 degrees, and use dark curtains.
Take time to unwind and relax at least an hour before bedtime. Practice mindfulness or engage in light stretching before bed as a way to reduce stress or anxiety. If this is challenging to you, try journaling, relaxation breathing, progressive relaxation, guided imagery, listening to soft music, taking a relaxation bath, with lavender essential oils and Epsom salts is desired. Try going to sleep to the sounds of the ocean or similar pleasant sounds.
Relax with a cup of tea an hour before bed with some sedating and relaxing teas such as passion flower, lemon balm, valerian, hops, and chamomile. Reflect on your day and things that brought you joy. Practice gratitude for the blessings in your life. Train your brain that these gentle acts every night are your invitation to a deep, restful sleep.
Sleeping in a cooler atmosphere can help maintain more refreshing sleep. Overheating while sleeping leads to more broken up sleep overall.
Every individual is different, and not all of these tips may work for you. Research on how to best improve sleep is still in progress, so for the time being, create a sleep routine that best fits your lifestyle.
We all live busy, fast-paced lives, and somehow sleep has become less of a priority. We are almost made to feel guilty for taking down time to rest and restore our bodies. During this pandemic, prioritize getting sleep especially when you may have more time away from the office and no commute. This basic change will keep you staying sharp mentally and physically. Not only will your immune system be stronger to fight pathogens, you will feel better in all aspects of your life. Let’s start measuring our success on how good we feel instead of how productive we are. Perhaps then, we would reach new levels in our health and capabilities.
Hope this helps you optimize your health in a meaningful way. It is interesting how these simple changes can help so dramatically. There are herbs and nutritional supplements to help with sleep. Melatonin is a potent antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, immune boosting and helps with sleep as well. Starting at 2.5mg dose of melatonin is adequate. Most of us are also deficient in Magnesium and using this at a dose of 200mg prior to bed can help maintain restful sleep along with decreasing anxiety and repleting magnesium at the same time.
If you are having any signs of obstructive sleep apnea or other medical conditions altering sleep, please consult with your physician.
Sleep tips compiled by myself Dr Sonal Taylor and Life hacks added by Sara Floyd, functional nutrition counselor and office ninja
