I’m willing to bet you already know that it is important that you get enough sleep.  It is like most things in life.  Many understand that something is good for them, but actually doing it is another story.

Sleep is one of those things that while most understand it is important, I don’t think they realize just how important it is.

In this post I want to share some of the science behind why sleep is so crucial for your health, but more importantly share some habits that you can start to pay attention to in order to actually get better sleep.

Unfortunately, many are under the assumption that lack of sleep is a badge of honor.  That somehow they are tough enough or just don’t need that much sleep and still can function.  Short term our body will adjust and allow us to get by on a lack of sleep.  But this debt will build up over time and lead to serious health issues if not careful.

The amount of sleep we need will vary from person to person.  We have all heard 8 hours is needed.  This is an average and the exact time you require may vary.  Usually most people will fall into the 7-9 hours of sleep per night window.  This is something you should experiment with to see how much sleep is ideal for you.

One of the most known effects of chronic sleep deprivation is obesity.  One study showed that those that slept less than 6 hours per night were more likely to have excessive body weight and those that slept 8 hours had the lowest body fat in the group.  Another study even showed that babies who did not get enough sleep were higher risk for developing childhood obesity versus those that slept the recommended amount.

Lack of sleep alters the body’s physiology including energy metabolism.  When we do not get enough sleep there is a disruption in fat metabolism and impair insulin regulation.  We also see changes in hormones that effect hunger and ultimately increased caloric intake.  One study even showed subjects that were deprived sleep ate nearly twice as much carbohydrate and fat.  This is why we also see the association with sleep deprivation and diabetes.

Another effect of lack of sleep is cardiovascular disease.  One study showed that 6 hours of sleep per night was associated with increase risk of coronary artery calcification which is a predictor of future heart attacks.  Lack of sleep also leads to chronic inflammation which also contributes to hardening of the arteries.

One of the big issues with not sleeping enough is its effect on brain function.  When we sleep, there is an increase in cerebrospinal fluid.  This helps wash away debris and build up in the brain.  This is especially important for the clearance of waste products that are associated with dementia.

Sleep is also when we transfer short term memory to long term memories.  Adequate sleep helps improve memory, improve decision making, and improve communication between neurons.  These are all crucial for neuroplasticity and your brain function.

Hopefully, this reinforces the importance of sleep.  Again that isn’t the hard part.  The hard part is what can you do to improve your sleep?

Now there are many sleep conditions and issues that are beyond the scope of this article.  If there are any conditions that are leading to lack of sleep, it is important to consult with a professional to help aid in this process.

Now before I give too many tips on improving your sleep.  The first question you have to ask is why are you having issues?  If you know what is causing your sleep problems, do what you can to solve that.  For example, if you have pain that is effecting sleep, a snoring partner, loud neighbor, etc.  It sounds obvious, but if those are the types of things that are causing sleep problems, do what you can to address them.

Now sometimes you are just having a hard time falling asleep or staying asleep.  In these cases, you can practice good sleep hygiene that may help your ability to sleep.  These are things that are typically in your control.  You can control your environment to the best of your ability to make it more likely to sleep better.

It sounds funny to think we need to practice good sleep hygiene, but with modern technology and daily stress, it is something that many will have to focus on.

Routine

The first step is to create a routine.  You can use many of the tips discussed here or a few.  The important thing is to train your body to sleep.  Our body works in cycles and loves routine.  Even the hormones that prepare us for sleep and wake work in cycles each day.  Find a routine that works best for you but do the same things every day and approximately at the same time.  The key for all of this is to get your body back on its circadian rhythm to make it easier to fall asleep and be more awake during the day.

You may have to set an alarm in your phone for an hour before you want to go to bed so you can do everything you need to do to get ready for bed.  This will take planning and some trial and error, but this can be a game changer for many.

Activity

You ever have one of those days where you just hit the bed after a long hard day and are out?  There is something to be said about that.  I am not saying you have to go crazy and workout all day, but when you are moving around all day, you tend to be much more tired at night.  When you are sitting around not doing much, you still have too much energy by the end of the day.

This is just another important reason to get regular exercise in.  Not just exercise, but being active in general.  Find as many excuses as possible to move your body.  The more you move the easier it tends to be falling asleep.

Make sure you are exercising most days of the week and getting 7,000-10,000 steps per day.

Environment

Make sure your room is set up for optimal sleep.  The two important areas to focus on here is light and temperature.

One of the reasons many have issues sleeping is because of so much artificial light we are exposed to at night.  Artificial light may disrupt melatonin release which is the hormone that preps us for a good nights sleep.

We are exposed to light, especially blue light, through many of our devices.  Watching television or staring on computer or phone screens before bed, may be causing sleep problems.  While we most likely can’t eliminate all artificial light, we can reduce it.  Avoid screens 1-2 hours before bed and if you have to use your phone or computer, you can install programs that limit blue light that may be helpful.  Check out F.Lux and install it on your devices.

Examine your room and see if there are any devices near your bed that have lights on as well.  You can cover them up to make it darker in the room.  Black out shades may have a huge impact too, if light is coming in from outside.

Temperature is another important factor.  To help our body prepare for sleep we should see a decrease in body temperature.  Due to the temperature outside or even how your body tends to be, you might need additional help with this.  Cold pads for the bed have become very popular and many will swear by them.  These are pads you sleep on that run cold water through and you can use your phone to control the temperature and different times during the night.  Check out The Chili Pad here.  Just do everything you can to make the temperature a little cooler at night.

Nutrition

The final piece is paying attention to the foods and beverages you consume, especially towards bedtime.  Of course pay attention to caffeine.  Especially if you are a slow caffeine metabolizer you will want to avoid any products with caffeine in the evening.  Most likely avoid these products any time after 12pm to you have plenty of time to get it out of your system.

The foods you consume may influence sleep as well.  Eating too much food right before bed might lead to heart burn or an upset stomach.

Certain foods might help increase melatonin levels.  These include mushrooms, pineapples, oranges, bananas, and tart cherry juice for example.  Try to include these regularly in your diet.

Kiwi has also been shown to improve sleep since it helps with serotonin levels.  The amino acid tryptophan is also necessary for serotonin.  Tryptophan depletion leads to sleep disturbances so getting foods high with tryptophan are important like meats, oats, nuts and seeds, beans, milk, and cereals.

For tryptophan to get into the brain it is necessary to consume carbohydrates with it, so if you are on a very low carbohydrate diet, this may be impacting your sleep.

I know this is a lot of information to review, but that is because there are so many factors that influence sleep.  This is not an easy thing to change, but if you take the time to implement some of these strategies, it will help.

Don’t overwhelm yourself.  Start with making 1 or 2 simple changes and start to develop a routine.  As you develop habits you can stick with you can start to implement more changes to help.  There rarely will be one thing to fix everything.  But a few little changes can make a big difference.