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It may be common knowledge that missing out on sleep can leave you feeling cranky the next day, but some may not realize the depth of the connection between how well they sleep and the rest of their health. The reality is that there's a lot more to getting a good night's rest than just going to bed early. There are a lot of things that can impact your quality of sleep, as well as your ability to fall asleep in the first place, your stress levels being one of them.
Topics: sleep habits, sleep hygiene, getting beter sleep
Tossing and turning each night in a bid to get a wink of sleep shouldn't be your everyday reality. What could be interfering with receiving your beauty sleep? Could it be work or family stress? Are you going through an unexpected life challenge such as sudden illness? Sleep might become elusive, but you can try to adopt proven habits to promote better sleep. Here's how to get your beauty rest in easy steps.
Topics: insomnia, CPAP, bipap, sleep hygiene, getting beter sleep
There are a lot of things that can get in the way of your sleep. From health issues like chronic pain to bad habits like drinking and eating at night, there’s already a lot to worry about without thinking about your environment. However, it’s often the case that a few changes to that environment can result in profound changes to your sleep, as well. Here, we’re going to look at ways you can change that environment and help you get some shuteye.
Topics: environment, bedroom, getting beter sleep
We think about sleep and associate mattresses, pillows, and blankets. The temperature of the room and essential oils help the ambiance as well. But sometimes it is what we eat or drink that can be the right ingredients to quality sleep.
Yes, water is the best drink for the body; however, right before bedtime stimulates your kidneys keeping you awake. But there are other options to drink 90 minutes before bedtime.
Whichever drink you try, remember there are also drinks to avoid at bedtime besides water like caffeine in soft drinks and alcohol. Both can cause low quality sleep or insomnia.
Many people realize that their level of hydration can affect the way they feel and function throughout the day. A lack of fluids can make you sluggish, irritable, and off your game. But hydration also plays a critical role in how well (or not) you sleep at night. Understanding the impact of your daily fluid intake on your nighttime slumber will go a long way to improving the quality of your sleep.
Going to bed even mildly dehydrated can disrupt your sleep. Surprised? Dehydration causes your mouth and nasal passages to become dry, setting you up for sleep-disruptive snoring and a parched throat and hoarseness in the morning.
A lack of pre-bed fluids can also lead to nocturnal leg cramps that may keep you awake. In addition to the frustration of fragmented sleep, being dehydrated during night can compromise your alertness, energy, and cognitive performance the following day.
Even if you start the night reasonably well-hydrated, you’ll lose some body fluids simply by breathing while you sleep. This is especially true if you breathe through your mouth, snore or have sleep apnea. (If you breathe through your nose while you slumber, you won’t lose nearly as much water from your body.) An overly dry or warm bedroom can also lead to extra fluid loss during the night, as can a late-day intense exercise session without sufficient rehydration. Drinking excessive alcohol can exacerbate these fluid-compromising scenarios, which in turn can cause you to feel tired or lethargic the next day.
Good hydration requires more than guzzling a bottle of water before bed. Focus on drinking plenty of non-caffeinated fluids regularly throughout the day. Women need approximately 91 ounces daily from beverages and foods, while men should aim for about 125 ounces. Waiting until bedtime to do your drinking sets you up for multiple nighttime bathroom trips (if this happens frequently to you, it may be a condition called nocturia) making it difficult to achieve quality sleep and making it tougher to wake up in the morning. Practice spreading your fluid intake throughout your day to maximize the odds of sleeping soundly at night.
If you are suffering from any sleep disorder, including insomnia, call our board-certified sleep specialists today at Alaska Sleep Clinic.
Topics: getting beter sleep, hydration, water
