Most studies recommend 7 to 8 hours of sleep each night. Obviously there are people who need less and people who need more, but that is the recommended amount. More importantly, the sleep you get needs to be of a good quality. You can sleep 10 hours a night but if you are waking every hour and never get any deep restorative sleep, you’re not going to feel refreshed.
10 Consequences of Not Sleeping Well
If you are struggling with sleep quality, and none of the tips below are helping, you need to discuss it with your doctor. If you aren’t sleeping well, your long term health will be affected: your body becomes stressed and puts you at a much higher risk for having a heart attack or developing other health conditions like high blood pressure or diabetes, as well as increasing inflammation that increases the risk of cancer and can lead to premature aging!
You will find yourself struggling to lose weight or gaining. Not being rested means you will be more like to make bad choices for snacks, snack more to provide quick energy boosts and you’ll grab fast foods for lunch or dinner instead of making time to cook nutritious meals, and additionally feel exhausted and have no energy for exercise. Whether the bad choices or the lack of sleep, you’ll also find yourself depressed or anxious.
You might find yourself unable to remember things, can’t focus and feel more stressed. Sleep is the time we rest and recover. It is critical for proper functioning of the body and repair of the major organs and tissues, while allowing time for the brain to process experiences and give us the rest we need to face the next day, unstressed, with more energy and more productive.
3 Stages of Sleep
While you sleep your body goes through a number of sleep cycles
that are thought to last approximately 90 minutes moving between light and deep
and REM stages, waking briefly between or during stages. Light and deep sleep
can be subdivided but are generally groups as NREM (non-REM) sleep.
Initially as you fall asleep you might experience some muscle
jerks or spasms, and can be easily awakened by sound or movement. Slowly as you
lapse into light sleep, your heart rate slows and your body temperature drops
slightly and eventually you become harder to wake as you are about to enter
deep sleep. Light sleep is less refreshing than deep sleep, but is important
not only as a step towards deeper sleep but because it allows the body the
opportunity to unwind, and begin cell repair and the processing of memories
from the day. As you get older you tend to have longer light sleep periods,
which is why the older you get the more tired you are when you wake.
This is the sleep phase where the body is at its quietest, not
easily woken. It is more likely to occur earlier in the night when you are most
tired, with deep sleep phases becoming shorter as the night goes on. During
deep sleep, your brainwaves slow, the body repairs and regrows tissues and
muscle, bones grow and your immune system begins to restore itself. This is the
stage of sleep most beneficial to restoring your mind and ability to learn, and
especially your body.
During REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, your brain processes experiences, thoughts and memories, usually in vivid dreams. If you are woken during this stage, you are likely to remember dreaming. Aside from your eye movement, your breathing and heart rate increase. Periods of REM tend to increase through the night, replacing the periods of deep sleep as you become more and more rested. Interestingly, the body is largely immobile during this time. The theory being that a body able to move would be likely to thrash and move quite significantly in response to dreams. Aside from memory processing, perhaps storing memories in long term memory, REM is helpful in regulating mood levels and refreshing the brain for learning.
6 Tips for Improving your Sleep
Make your room as dark as possible, perhaps investing in blackout
curtains if your bedroom faces east. The body is well trained to wake with the
sunrise, but that was only a good idea, when we went to sleep shortly after
sunset!
Keep your surroundings quiet so that you are more likely to stay asleep.
Even small sounds can disrupt your sleep, especially during the lighter sleep
phases. If you live in a noisy area, consider a “white noise” machine.
Try turning the temperature down as the body tends to sleep better when
it is cooler.
- Avoid things that prevent you falling asleep or wake you during the night
Try to minimize your late night exposure to the blue light of mobile
devices like cellphones and tablets, as well as the flickering images of
television. Remember tea and coffee both contain caffeine that will keep you
awake, as well as waking you to go to the bathroom during the night. If you
find yourself waking regularly for bathroom visits, consider how late you are
having your last beverages of the day.
Another consideration might be avoiding a heavy meal right before
bedtime as this can make for an uncomfortable, unsettled night, and also rich
and acidic foods that might cause heartburn. Alcohol can also disrupt sleep
patterns; although helping you fall asleep, it has a stimulant effect later in
the night.
Perhaps more important, or at least equally important is having a routine and consistent schedule. This is pretty much what I suggest for exercise too. Exercise regularly at a set time, it doesn’t matter what time suits your routine best, just do it regularly and don’t skip or you will lose momentum. It’s the same with sleep. Go to bed at the same time every night, or at least within an hour of a regular bed time. So if you decide 11pm is your perfect time, be in bed between 11 and 12 every night. Ideally between 11 and 11.30 if you can! Don’t stay up late on weekends, don’t sleep in too often. I have to admit I go to bed about half an hour later on Friday and Saturday, but I sleep in about an hour later as catch up for the week. Not ideal, but I really don’t get enough sleep during the week (around 7 hours, whereas I love my 8 hours).
Also if you struggle to fall asleep try to have a pre-bedtime. The body
learns the routine and starts expecting sleep so it makes it easier to fall
asleep. Depending on how much you want to have in your routine, about an hour
before lights out, put your phone aside and turn off the TV, fill the coffee
pot, and make lunch boxes. Do whatever you need in the way of having a bath,
brushing your teeth, getting into your pajamas and maybe get into bed. Try listening
to soft music, or reading a book or magazine. If you regularly wake up during the
night remembering things that have to be done (I call it stress waking!), then
maybe you can try spending 10-15 minutes making a list of things you need to do
in the morning so you can let go and sleep through, knowing you are on top of
things; although for some people that might just get them thinking and
worrying, so see what works for you.
- Talk to your doctor about a sleep study
If you are waking up tired even after 7 to 8 hours sleep, consider seeing a doctor and doing a sleep study. My husband was always tired and I complained he snored a lot, so he went to find out and came home with a device to wear to measure his sleep quality. We found out he was suffering from sleep apnea and was spending the entire night going through phases of sleep, snoring, stopping breathing, then startling awake to catch a breath. Most times he was completely unaware but as a result he was never reaching the restorative, restful sleep stages. He reluctantly signed up for a CPAP machine. He tried the over the nose one, but because he often has congestion and needs to breathe through his mouth he late upgraded to the full nose/mouth mask. It took a while to get used to, but he now sleeps considerably better and wakes up feeling like he got some sleep.
Go get some sleep!
If you do end up doing a sleep study and needing a CPAP and if you happen to have the same sort as my husband, these are the replacement parts he finds the best. Also a great book on the topic of sleep! If you happen to buy something, I may earn a small commission on your purchase.
