Everyone loves good sleep and it becomes more precious with age. You need about 8 hours of good sleep to function properly. Nothing beats the feeling of waking up the next day after a great night’s sleep. This is good for your overall health and wellbeing. A quality mattress is essential to encourage good sleep. Here are some interesting facts you should know about sleep.
More Sleep as You Get Older
Getting sleep while young is easier. As you age, melatonin production lowers in the body. This hormone sets the circadian rhythm into sleep mode. Exposure to things such as light from smartphones, alarm clocks, and other devices offsets the sleep pattern. Resultant pain from arthritis or chronic ailment also inhibits the ability to enjoy a sound sleep. Additionally, stress from worry about financial troubles or family responsibilities makes it hard to enjoy quality sleep.
There is no way to bypass getting quality sleep. Adults need about 7 to 8 hours of quality sleep for good health regardless of age. You can tell you are getting enough sleep when you don’t need an alarm to wake up. Quality sleep encourages waking up feeling rested, energetic, and refreshed to take on a new day. It is important to identify what is causing your sleep deprivation and fix it. Taking naps throughout the day supplements the total sleep in a day.
Less Sleep Affects Body Function
Investing in a new mattress sale in Dubai is essential to allow proper functioning throughout the day. Quality sleep allows paying attention easily, making sound judgments, problem-solving, and commitment to things. Sleep deprivation encourages moodiness, caps energy, and increases the risk of accidents. You need enough sleep to lessen chances of various health ailments including:
- Stroke
- Diabetes
- Heart attack
- Atrial fibrillation
- High blood pressure
Getting poor sleep increases the secretion of ghrelin. This hormone stimulates appetite and increases insulin resistance. You are more likely to wake up at night for some snacks. This encourages overeating and getting overweight. This affects your relationship, safety, performance, happiness, and longevity.
Stressing About Lack of Sleep Doesn’t Help
The trick to sleeping well is not worrying about occasionally waking up. Anxiety about falling asleep or waking up makes it harder for the body to settle and nod off. Waking up at night to go to the bathroom while minimizing exposure to light and sound encourages getting back to sleep easily. Other strategies to encourage better sleep include:
- Replacing an old mattress
- Managing factors like chronic pain
- Avoiding caffeinated drinks before sleep
- Staying away from alcohol at bedtime
Exercise Before Bedtime Affects Sleep
Working out some hours before bedtime makes it easy to fall asleep by about 65 percent. Exercise raises body temperature and getting normal temperature takes about 6 hours. The body falls asleep easier when cooler. Therefore, work out about three hours before going to bed to allow the body to regain normal temperature before you hit the bed. Try relaxation techniques like calming yoga postures to make falling asleep easier.
Tossing and Turning in Bed Doesn’t Encourage Sleep
When you fail to fall asleep, you might begin to associate the bed with failure to sleep. No amount of tossing and turning in bed encourages sleep. Get out of bed when you can’t sleep after 20 minutes. Do something peaceful and relaxing including gentle yoga, reading with soft light, and mindful breathing. Avoid exposure to bright like from your gadgets or laptop to avoid activating the brain. Get back to bed when you begin getting drowsy.
Sleep Deprivation Kills
Most people believe that eating is essential for life than sleeping. Both are essential for quality life but lack of sleep kills more than not eating. You can go for a week or more without eating with few problems. However, lack of sleep for a few days comes with severe consequences including the body failing to function. Forced sleep deprivation is a form of torture. Sleep is more important than eating since it’s impossible to feed when dead.
Good Bedtime Habits Improve Sleep Quality
Most times, poor sleep results from bad habits before bedtime. The body requires consistency with a regular bedtime and wake up routine. Exercise hours before sleep and regular exposure to natural light improve sleep quality. Avoiding caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol before bed is important. Use the bed for just sleep but not for scrolling your smartphone to make the brain associate the bedroom with sleep.
Here are some reasons to have quality and appropriate sleep include:
- Lessening the risk of heart disease
- Preventing weight gain
- Increasing exercise performance
- Restoring lost energy to encourage success
- Enhances mood, performance, and productivity
- Improving brain function and cognition
- Boosts immune system for increase cytokines production
Wrapping Up
Quality sleep is very important for good health and wellbeing. Sleeping in a comfortable bedroom and on a quality mattress enhances the quality of sleep. Back this with habits like limiting exposure to blue light in the bedroom and avoiding alcohol and caffeine.
Originally published at https://www.thefastr.com on October 19, 2019.