Sleep disturbance also impacts cognition by altering stress hormones. Numerous research over the years have shown a connection between irregular sleep habits and the fat percentage in our body. According to the study, individuals who consistently get less than seven hours of sleep each night are more likely to develop obesity and a higher body mass index (BMI). Researchers found that less sleep makes us fatigued which can influence our capacity to engage in physical activity and uphold a healthy lifestyle.
High blood pressure is one of the risk factors for heart disease. Getting enough sleep each night enables the body to naturally control blood pressure. All said and done, you may be thinking about how to improve sleep patterns to have a healthy and long life – here’s how.
Relax and Meditate
Do remember that your sleep routine begins even before you go to bed. We recommend scheduling a time each night for winding down. Try to avoid using any electronic devices such as phones, an hour before heading to bed. If you are unable to sleep, try reading a book, listening to some soft music, or meditate.
Plan Your Next Day
Stress, worry, and anxiety can all have an impact on our ability to sleep. Fortunately, there are daily strategies you can use to help you manage your anxieties, such as writing down your problems in a journal or speaking with a trusted friend. Making a list of the things you need to get done the next day before going to bed is a good habit to inculcate. This will help you relax and take away the stress building inside your mind.
Create a Sleep Environment
The ideal sleeping environment is personal for everyone, you can test several things to find what works best for you – to each its own. Generally speaking, it’s better to fall asleep in a calm, chill and dark space. For most of us, a quiet place is essential for sleeping, so you may maintain a calm environment by using earplugs or setting your phone to airplane mode to improve your sleep. By keeping phones on silent and drawing the blinds, you can maintain a quiet and peaceful environment. Ensure that the room temperature is ideal and is well-ventilated to help you improve your sleep. If not, you can try using a humidifier.
Healthy Diet and Exercise
A healthy diet and consistent exercise aids in better sleep. Heavy meals right before bed may disrupt our sleep cycle and cause bloating or acid reflux. If possible, avoid using stimulants before bed, like coffee, alcohol, nicotine.
Frequent exercise promotes better sleep, but if you find that it keeps you up at night, avoid anything too stressful during the ninety minutes before heading to bed.
Sleep Gummies
Incase you are having serious issues trying to clock in 8 hours, you may want to consider sleep gummies. Yes, they’re non habit forming and only offer a short term solution but its a start. These gummies commonly consist of 1-3 mg of melatonin, sometimes it’ll also have chamomile (helps with anxiety) and other sleep inducing ingredients. Although, health experts recommend not using these for long term (one to two weeks max) as they can mess up the body’s circadian rhythm or mask an underlying disorder that may require treatment so consume responsibly.
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