My top tips to improve your sleep (without drugs, that will do you more harm than good!)
Do you sleep like a baby?
Or more like a large croc rolling its prey in the water…tossing and turning, wide awake and PRAYING that Mr Sandman would pay you a visit.
Not sleeping is no fun. And if you have sleep issues, you won’t need me to tell you that.
You can just tell by how you feel, that it’s doing you no good.
On the odd occasion I am sleep deprived, I feel totally pants the next day.
It can make you crabby, irritable, short-fused, lacking in energy, nauseous even.
And the physical effects it has on your body that you can’t see are no better either.
If it becomes a prolonged problem, lack of sufficient sleep can do some horrid things inside us.
It messes with your body’s ability to handle sugar (increasing your chance of becoming insulin resistant and developing type 2 diabetes).
It skews with your hormones and often increases the hunger hormone, ghrelin, which adds to the challenge if you’re trying to maintain a healthy weight.
It compromises your immune system so you’re much more likely to pick up bugs if you’re not sleeping sufficiently.
Your body recovers both physically AND emotionally while you sleep. If you’re not getting enough, then you’re missing out on cell regeneration and a whole host of processes key to good health.
You’re more likely to suffer from hypertension (high blood pressure) if your sleep isn’t good and long-term consequences can include depression and anxiety which clearly none of us want to make friends with.
So enough of what it does to us….
How can we improve it?
How can we get more of it and importantly, good quality sleep?
Here are my top tips to improve your sleep and consequently, your health!
#1. Establish a routine. You know the routine you used to have when you were a baby or small child? You need that as an adult too.
Exceptions permitting (parties, weddings, gigs, etc) you need to establish a rough sleeping schedule. And that includes weekends too.
Going to bed and getting up at roughly the same time every day is more important to improving your sleep quality than you may realise.
#2. Exercising regularly is so crucial when it comes to sleeping well. If I had a pound for every time one of my clients has told me that their sleep’s improved since joining us, I’d have retired by now ;-)
OK – maybe not quite, but you get my point? Physical exertion (exercise) is key to promoting good sleep.
#3. Avoid stimulants (caffeine etc) after lunch. The degree of effect this will have will depend on how caffeine-sensitive you are, but if you are sleeping badly and drinking tea, coffee, coke etc after lunch, try stopping for a couple of weeks and seeing what happens.
NOTE – don’t think decaf is the answer. Removing caffeine often leaves other stimulants, so replace with naturally caffeine-free alternatives such as herbal teas…chamomile, lime flower, skullcap, pink rose. Personally, I drink Neal’s Yard ‘Calming’ and ‘Night Time’ teas after lunch.
#4. Get off the electric stuff!! So many of us work late or browse the internet on our tablets, flick through social media right up until bed time. The light emitted by our screens stimulates the back of our eyes and inhibits the production of melatonin. We need melatonin to help us get to sleep so inhibiting it’s production isn’t what we’re after. Aim for an hour or 2 of no-screen time before retiring.
#5. For the reasons given in tip number four, ensure your home is as dark as possible in the run up to retiring and through the night. Use low lights, dimmer switches, candles even, to ensure the light around you is soft and low as you approach sleep time.
#6. Brain dump!! You won’t sleep well and you won’t stay asleep if you’ve got a million things in your head that you’re trying to remember to do the following day. Before you sleep (through the evening if possible) write down anything that’s preying on your mind that requires an action. Removing it from your head will give you the space needed for sleep to settle in.
#7. Ensure your bed and bedroom are comfy! It sounds obvious but for goodness sake, make sure your bed and bedroom and conducive to sleep. Having a mattress that’s past it’s best, a bedroom that’s too hot or cold or that has a street light right outside the window won’t help your cause. Make it a haven for relaxation and rest…think of your favourite spa and replicate it ;-)
#8. Enjoy a relaxing bath. Candles for soft light and some essential oils in a warm bath can really aid the wind-down before bed. Essential oils to try include lavender, chamomile, marjoram and bergamot…just add a few drops to the bath water.
#9. Make love!!! Yep – I did say that! The hormone cocktail released when we orgasm is a very sound and natural sleep promoter so get active under the bed sheets to improve your zzzzzzzzs.
#10. Avoid nightcaps! Yep, sorry peeps…you may think that the glass of wine or two you have before bed aids in helping you relax and drop off but it all too often reduces the quality of our sleep once you have dozed off. It affects the passage of tryptophan into your brain and it is this amino acid that’s converted to serotonin, a relaxing and calming neurotransmitter.
#11. Try relaxation and/or visualisation techniques. Take yourself off to your favourite place (a beach or beautiful garden, for example). Hear the sounds, smell the aromas, feel the environment around you. Really make the place come alive in your mind. Each time you do this, the time taken to drop off will reduce, as going to this favourite place of yours signals to your brain that it’s sleep time.
#12. Consider magnesium supplementation. Known as nature’s tranquiliser, many of us are deficient in this crucial mineral. Often our diet is poor and even if it’s great, the foods available to us just aren’t as nutrient-dense as they used to be. Adding 2-300mg of magnesium glycinate into your diet (taken with or after your evening meal) can help give you a boost when you need it most.
#13. Get tryptophan into your evening meal! Tryptophan remember, converts to serotonin which we need for sleep. The following foods are rich in tryptophan and getting them into your diet, especially into your evening meal will help provide you with enough to aid that conversion: free-range eggs, wild salmon, pasture-raised poultry, raw organic dairy, sesame seeds, cashews, walnuts, grass-fed beef and lamb, wholegrains, potatoes, bananas, beans and legumes.
#14. Feed your good gut bacteria. Whilst this isn’t an overnight tip, nurturing your good gut bacteria is key to long-term health in general but sleep specifically too. This is achieved through fundamental dietary changes, among other things, but a quick fix worth considering is to increase your population of Bifidobacterium levels in your gut via some quality prebiotics. I can recommend Bimuno powder, available via Amazon. Just one sachet daily in a hot drink each evening.
Quality sleep, as with anything health-related, isn’t achieved through one thing or a quick fix. It’s a multi-faceted issue that often requires several changes in order to improve.
I hope that some of the tips above have provided some food for thought and given you some ideas of ways you may improve yours.
Good sleep is a pre-requisite for good health so don’t put off making those changes and improving yours.
