eating before bed Archives - Better Sleep Council | Start every day with a good night’s sleep

Winter Sleep Survival Guide

Josh Farmer — Tue, 03 Dec 2019 20:47:41 +0000

’Twas a night close to Christmas, and all through your house,

Nobody’s awake. Not your kids. Not your spouse.

It’s late in the evening. And your day is a wrap.

So you settle in for a long winter’s nap.

But you’re tossing and turning. Your brain’s all a scatter.

“I’m wide awake! Ugh! What’s the matter?!”

It’s been tougher to sleep. There must be a reason.

Turns out your problems may be caused by the season.

Like it or not, the changing seasons impact your sleep. Now that winter is near, you’ve got some new challenges to face. Here’s a quick guide on some factors that can hamper sleep in winter and what you can do to survive the season.

Gingerbread Cookies. And Eggnog. And Ham. And Christmas Ale. And …

From Thanksgiving through New Year’s Eve, we’re surrounded by tasty foods and delicious beverages. Changes in your eating habits during the holidays, like having meals later than normal or consuming extra caffeine throughout the day, can disrupt your sleep with heartburn, indigestion, insomnia or just a few extra middle-of-the-night bathroom visits.

It’s not just you that can suffer from holiday overindulgence. Alcohol relaxes your muscles, including those in your mouth and throat, which can compromise your airways. Translation: loud snoring and a sleep partner who’s wide awake.

SURVIVE IT: To avoid sleep Scrooges, like insomnia and heartburn, be mindful of what and when you eat. Try limiting caffeine, alcohol or heavy meals to the early evening. (Still tossing and turning at night? Try a sleep aid.)

A Season-Long Dry Spell

Cold air is drier air. Dry air leads to chapped lips, itchy skin, scratchy throats and dry noses. At best, these uncomfortable conditions can annoy you when you’re in bed trying to get to sleep. At worst, they leave you vulnerable to colds and infections. And we all know how hard it is to get restful sleep when you’re sick.

SURVIVE IT: Try using a humidifier in your bedroom to keep your nasal passages moist. (We like models with aromatherapy capability. Especially when used with lavender essential oil.) Drink plenty of fluids. Take warm, not hot, showers and apply lotion right after you towel off to lock in moisture for your skin.

Chill Time

The frigid temperatures and whipping winter winds outside drive us inside, where we immediately kick up the thermostat to 72°F or more. (Guilty, as charged.) That’s fine when we’re awake. But our body temperature naturally falls when we sleep. Rooms that are too warm can disrupt this biological sleep pattern, keeping us awake.

SURVIVE IT: The ideal bedroom temperature is around 65-67°F. Set your programmable thermostat to drop to that level shortly after your usual bedtime so you’re cozy and warm when your head hits the pillow, but cool as a snowman once you’re asleep.

Shedding Light on Melatonin

Melatonin is a sleep-promoting hormone produced by your brain in response to darkness. Gloomier days and earlier sunsets in winter can trigger melatonin release throughout the day, leaving you feeling groggy in the morning and fatigued by mid-afternoon.

Unfortunately, you may also feel more awake at bedtime because you never got the distinct, intense release of melatonin that you did during summer when long, sunlit days turn to dark nights.

SURVIVE IT: Regulate your melatonin and your internal clock by getting ample exposure to daylight during the winter. Sit by a window right after you wake up. Bundle up and take a walk at lunch.

Don’t be sleepless this winter. Learn how to survive the season with sleep tips from @BetterSleepOrg.

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This blog provides general information about sleep and sleep products. The words and other content provided in this blog, and in any linked materials, are not intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified heath care professional. This blog should not be construed as medical advice or used to diagnose, treat, prevent or cure any disease or condition. If the reader or any other person has a medical concern, he or she should consult with an appropriately-licensed physician or other health care professional. This blog is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment, and should not be relied upon to make decisions about your health or the health of others. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this blog or elsewhere on bettersleep.org. If you think you may have a medical emergency, immediately call your doctor or dial 911.

5 Bad Sleeping Habits to Break Immediately

Josh Farmer — Tue, 23 Jul 2019 17:25:51 +0000

You’re tired of being tired. We get it. Plenty of people notice the effects of poor sleep – everything from inability to concentrate to irritability to weight gain – yet they don’t know where to begin to reverse the cycle of poor sleep. Take a look at your bedtime routine: You may be ruining your chances for sleeping soundly before your head even hits the pillow.

Bad Bedtime Habit #1: Bingeing before Bed

No, we’re not talking about watching your favorite show nonstop (we’ll get to that in no. 5), we’re talking about dinner … and dessert … and nighttime snacks. Your body needs time to digest all that food before you lie down, otherwise you’re likely to have indigestion and heartburn, which can interfere with sleep. Why? When your stomach is really full, acid can creep into your esophagus (hello, heartburn). Lying down compounds the problem since gravity isn’t there to aid in keeping the stomach acid in place.

Break the habit: Try to eat dinner 2 to 3 hours before you go to bed.

Bad Bedtime Habit #2: Overdoing the Nightcaps

Sorry. It’s just not true that consuming alcohol before bed helps you sleep better. While alcohol may make you feel drowsy, numerous studies point out that it disrupts your ability to go into and remain in a deep, restful sleep state.

Break the habit: Try limiting your alcohol consumption to the early evening (or not at all). Beyond this time, your body won’t be able to digest it before you hit the sack and you’ll be disrupting your ability to snooze. (Nix coffee or other caffeinated drinks in the evening too, because they stimulate your body and keep you up.)

Bad Bedtime Habit #3: Working up a Sweat before Bed

Rigorous exercise, like taking a long run before you snooze, can make it difficult to sleep. Intense exercise raises your body temperature and triggers the release of endorphins, plus it can raise levels of cortisol. Any other time of day, no problem. In fact, people who exercise regularly report sleeping better. But your core body temperature needs to go down for you to sleep well. And all those endorphins bouncing around in your brain may keep you buzzing, making it harder to unwind and fall asleep.

Break the habit: Hey, exercising is good for you so keep it up. Just save the heavy-duty workouts for at least 1 to 2 hours before bedtime. You might also consider exercises you can weave into your bedtime routine that will help you unwind, like yoga or easy stretching.

Bad Bedtime Habit #4: Giving in to Your Inner Night Owl

It’s tempting to stay up an hour or two thinking you can get more done that way. But sliding into the habit of going to bed later and later can have disastrous results on your health. Night owls not only sleep less, but may be at a greater risk for developing poor eating habits and diseases like type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

Break the habit: Get into a sleep routine. This can be a hard one, especially for diehard night owls, but try to stick to the same bedtime and wake-up time every day (yes, weekends too). Your body will thank you. Ease into this routine by going to bed 15 minutes earlier for a week and rise 15 minutes earlier. Keep up this strategy until you’ve reached your desired bedtime.

Bad Bedtime Habit #5: Sleeping with Your Screen

Your smartphone is part of your life. It’s your newscaster, travel planner, organizer, entertainer, alarm and more all rolled into one. Yet your brain is wired to react to what it sees on the screen. It acts as a stimulant, as opposed to helping lull you to sleep. That one last check of your email before bed? That sends your brain into problem-solving mode, not sleep mode. And the light from those screens can negatively impact your sleep too, again signaling to your brain it’s still time to be awake, as opposed to releasing sleep-inducing hormones.

Break the habit: Pay attention to your screen time before bed. Try to avoid checking your phone once you’re in bed. Instead, try reading a book (an actual book, not one on your phone) before bed. Still having trouble resisting the urge to check your phone? Consider keeping it in another room and using an old-fashioned clock as your alarm instead.

These five tips can easily help you improve your sleep habits, but remember, the foundation for a great sleep routine is a great mattress. If your current one is giving you aches and pains when you wake up every morning, you may want to consider purchasing a new one.

Time to spill – what’s your worst bedtime behavior? Tell us your dirty sleep secrets on social media using #MyBadBedtimeHabit.

Don’t ruin your chances for a good night’s rest before your head hits the pillow! Here’s the top 5 bad bedtime behaviors from @BetterSleepOrg and how to stop doing them. #BSCSleepTips

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