The Top 10 Tips To Get a Good Nights Sleep

Here are the top 10 tips to get a more restful nights sleep:  Get out and work out - This is a two-parter. It may seem obvious, but going outside during the day matters, as our bodies use daylight as one signal to tell our brains when to be awake and when to be asleep. Drink less alcohol - That third nip of gin — or whatever poison you pick and whatever number is your line-crosser — might feel good at the time, but you will pay for it, with a greater need to pee. There is solid evidence that while alcohol induces sleep it messes with the brain’s “homeostasis,” which regulates the sleep/wake cycle and causes you to wake up in the middle of the night. If you wake up with a headache, you clearly drank enough to ruin your sleep Avoid caffeine - This is an obvious no-no before bedtime, but applies even earlier in the evening. A study in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine found that caffeine even 6 hours before bedtime “can have significant, disruptive effects on sleep.” Check your meds - Some medications can affect sleep. Read the label! Go Dark - Before Thomas Edison ruined it for all of us, humans fell asleep largely in darkness, depending on the moon’s phase and notwithstanding some candlelight. Since we are, after all, animals, we’re biologically attuned to sleeping in the dark. Lesson: Pull the shades or get an eye mask. Watch timing of naps - If you love a good nap, go for it. There’s evidence for and against the value of napping, but most expert advice, including this detailed batch from the Mayo Clinic, leans toward supporting naps if they seem to work for you. Be Chill / Chill Out - A dark and quiet bedroom is a given necessity. But a cool bedroom, with bedding that invites snuggling, can be helpful, too. There’s not a lot of hard science on this. But in one analysis, the thinking is that a cool head poking out from under a warm comforter leads to better sleep. Try setting the thermostat to 65 degrees or so, and experiment with this one. Stay on time - Sleeping in on weekends can be part of a vicious cycle that keeps you up late on, say, Sunday night, and leaves you tired at work on Monday. Experts recommend staying within an hour or so of the same bedtime seven nights a week. Eat early - Avoid heavy meals a couple hours before bedtime. There seems to be broad agreement on this advice, though I was unable to find any scientific basis for the claim. Eat well - More broadly, if you’re overweight, losing some pounds can improve sleep. One study found that overweight adults spend more time in the rapid-eye movement (REM) stage of sleep — the dreamy phase characterized by faster heart and breathing rates and less restorative sleep.