Sleep on This...
Posted by Well Being Holistic Pharmacy on
Sleep should be thought of as an important “nutrient” for your health… one that is just as important as any vitamin, mineral or food component that you could think of.
“But wait a minute,” you might say, “Sleep is really just a colossal waste of productive time. Nobody ever died from not sleeping.”
Ah… but if you only knew the truth.
Physiologically speaking, sleep is likely one of the most important phases of your day. A myriad of vital biological functions happen when you sleep. More importantly, these very same crucial cellular activities don’t happen when you don’t get proper sleep. How should we define “proper” sleep? More on that later…
Although complete scientific understanding about sleep continues to elude us, here are the facts that are known. As sleep quality and quantity decline…
- levels of growth hormone decline,
- levels of the adrenal hormone cortisol, the hormone of stress, rise,
- insulin resistance gets worse, as evidenced by elevated secretion of insulin, and
- the percentage of natural killer cells in peripheral blood is lowered.
- Try to get to bed earlier and do it regularly. Your system cries out for living in sync with the cycles of nature. If you are used to going to bed after midnight, slowly change your bedtime to earlier, in 15 minute increments, every week or so.
- Avoid stimulants like caffeine and nicotine, especially before bedtime.
- Avoid alcohol. Even though alcohol is technically a depressant, it does not allow for the proper, restful sleep that you desire. Additionally, alcohol is a diuretic, which may cause awakening at night to urinate.
- Do not eat within 3 hours of going to sleep. Your body does not want to work on digestion when you sleep which distracts it from regeneration and repair.
- Regular exercise during the day results in getting to sleep easier and earlier at night.
- Adopt some relaxing bedtime rituals… a relaxing bath, reading something soothing and spiritual, having a massage, or listening to relaxing music. The idea of “ritual” has been lost in our society. Through some sort of a regular practice, your body will get the signal that it is time to sleep and settle down much easier.
- Use good “sleep hygiene.” That means, use your bed for sleeping… not for watching television, eating or reading. It also means that you should make your bedroom completely dark. Your pineal gland detects light even if your eyes are closed.
- Wear socks. Some studies have shown that cold feet are a common factor that wakes people up a night.