How to Improve Your Quality of Sleep

According to the CDC, one-third of Americans do not get even 7 hours of sleep a night, let alone the recommended 7-9 hours of sleep.  And, even if you are able to sleep through the night, which most adults do, the foods we eat, the bedroom environment and our general lifestyle habits prevent us from getting  high quality sleep.

These are the four recommendations from sleep researchers at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine:

"1.  Turn down the thermostat
Sixty-five degrees is the optimal temperature for sleeping, according to the National Sleep Foundation. That’s because, throughout the day, your circadian clock alters your body temperature right along with your energy levels. And when your clock says it’s time for bed, you experience a rapid decrease in your core body temperature, says Zee. In fact, from the beginning to middle of the night, your temperature drops about 3 degrees Fahrenheit, allowing you to enter the deepest stages of sleep. Keeping your room cool (you don’t necessarily have to go as low as 65 if it feels too cold for comfort) facilitates this process, while temperatures higher than the low- to mid-70s are known to impede the brain’s ability to switch to sleep mode.

2. Exercise as early in the day as you can
Research suggests that regular exercise improves sleep quality and duration. And while the effects are generally seen sooner in people with sub-clinical sleep problems, after four months of regular exercise, a gym membership can prove as (or even more) beneficial than most sleep medications even for those with serious cases of insomnia.

3. Skip the nightcap
By acting on your brain’s GABA receptors, that glass of wine may help you fall asleep. But, unlike sleep meds, which also work on GABA, alcohol targets sub-receptors that are more related to sedation than actually sleepiness, Zee says. So even though alcohol may help you fall asleep, it won’t help you stay asleep. In a 2015 study, researchers from the University of Melbourne found that alcohol increases the sleeping brain’s alpha wave patterns—which typically only occur when people are awake—to seriously disrupt sleep. In fact, they said the sleep disruptions are similar to those experienced when receiving small electric shocks throughout the night.

4. Nix even the occasional cigarette
While we hope you know smoking isn’t a healthy activity, most women would be surprised to hear that it affects your sleep patterns—and for the worse. While nicotine in itself is a stimulant, potentially triggering insomnia and mid-slumber awakenings, people who currently smoke are also 2.5 times more likely to suffer from sleep apnea."

Dr. Esther
fixdhealthcare.com