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Doctors and scientists have long touted the benefits of sleep for the brain and body. It’s true—sleep is an important part of maintaining overall well-being. When you’re well-rested, your mood improves, your stress levels decrease, and you feel more productive.
Beyond the amount of sleep, research shows that the quality your sleep is also important. While the current guidelines recommend adults get in between seven and nine hours when it comes to sleep, more than a third of Americans don’t get the minimum. It’s so easy to put too much motivational activity at your fingertips—hello, TikTok—instead of turning off the lights. Minutes of scrolling through social media before bed turn into hours, and screens make it harder to shut off the brain and get ready for a good night’s rest—heard of revenge procrastination at bedtime?
Less sleep is associated with an increased risk of chronic health conditions such as heart disease and stroke. Lack of sleep also puts people at risk of mental health problems such as anxiety and depression. One study found older adults gain five or fewer hours sleep is at risk of developing many chronic conditions. In addition, lack of sleep increases the risk of car accidents which can result in injury and death. Therefore, improving sleep can improve our lives. Even following some sleeping habits can increase your life expectancy, per study.
Sleep basics
How much sleep do I need?
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), adults need at least seven hours of sleep. For those 65 and older, the CDC recommends between seven and eight hours of sleep each night.
Why is it harder to sleep for the elderly?
As people ageit may be more difficult to maintain the quantity and quality of sleep. Age-related brain changes can lead to more nighttime awakenings and a more challenging time falling asleep and staying asleep. Experts recommend turning off screens before lights out, relaxing before bed, and moving throughout the day.
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How can I sleep well?
- Consider investing in one of the highest quality, best mattresses in the market. While a new bed isn’t always the cheapest option, your decades-old mattress can disrupt sleep and cause some aches and pains.
- Create a wind-down routine: Maintain nighttime habits that bring you calm for 30 minutes to an hour before bed, such as reading, journaling, taking a bath, listening to music, or getting your clothes ready for the morning. Wind-down time can also be simply relaxing, such as National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute recommends establishing an hour of “quiet time” before bed to maintain a healthy circadian rhythm or natural body clock.
- Limit screen time before bed: Limiting arousal from screens before bed can help people sleep better. Consider placing a time limit on your screens to signal that your winddown is near, or put your phone in a drawer so you won’t be tempted to check it while in bed.
- If you’re traveling and experiencing some jet lag, you may want to consider a sleep aid to help reset your circadian rhythm. Consider one of the best melatonin supplements to get your sleep schedule back.
- Avoid heavy meals: Eating a large meal before bed can make it difficult to sleep when your body is digesting. In addition, diets full of inflammatory foods associated with poor sleep. Avoid constant consumption of chips, cookies, soda, and fried foods. When it comes to an evening snack, consider grabbing something anti-inflammatory, with nutrients and fiber to keep you feeling full. Experts recommend:
- FRUIT
- Nuts
- Yogurt
- Whole grains
- Maintain an optimal sleep temperature: Sleep experts recommend that your bedroom stays between 68 and 72 degrees. You can also keep your room cool by opening windows, using fans, wearing light clothes, or asking about a cooling mattress, such as an Available.
- Maintain the same bedtime and wake-up time: Having a consistent schedule helps alert your body to fatigue at night and wake up in the morning at the same time. To harmonize with your body’s natural release of melatonin, turn off the indoor lights two to three hours after sunset. And going to bed before midnight ensures that you spend enough time in deep sleep. A study published this year found that sleep regularity helped predict mortality risk more than sleep duration (If you work non-traditional hours that tend to fluctuate and struggle with sleep quality, you may want to consider talking to a sleep specialist who can help prescribe additional medications).
- Limit alcohol use before bed: While alcohol may help you fall asleep, it does not contribute to adequate sleep quality. Sleep disturbances are a critical symptom of alcohol abuse disorder. While there is no amount of alcohol that is beneficial for health outcomes, national guidelines recommend that drinkers limit drinkers to two drinks per day for men and one drink per day for women.
- Wake up calm: Instead of making noise alarm tone signal a busy start to the day, try a progressive sound or a song you enjoy. “You don’t want to start your day on a stressful note,” Dr. James Giordano, professor of neurology and biochemistry at Georgetown University Medical Center, previously said luck. “The days are stressful enough.”
- Monitor coffee: Experts recommend ending caffeine intake six to eight hours before bed, although the effects vary from person to person. Trial and error is the key.
Sleep troubleshooting
How can I sleep when I’m stressed?
- Allow time to worry: It is impossible to tell our brain to turn off the noise and the worries. Wendy Troxel, a sleep scientist at the Rand Corporation and author of Sharing the Covers: Every Couple’s Guide to Better Sleep, recommends taking 10 to 15 minutes to worry. Write it down, and then close the lid literally and figuratively.
- Practice every day concern: Feeling stressed at night is often due to leftover feelings from the day. Practice mindfulness during the day, such as five to 10 minutes of meditation during lunch or a 4-7-8 breathing exercise. The best meditation apps can help you get started.
- Use gratitude before bed: Thinking or writing gratitude can help you feel calm and grateful before you go to sleep—refocusing your attention on the things that are good for you over the things that make you feel stressed. What you tell yourself affects how you feel about yourself, and your ability to sleep.
- Don’t be too hard on yourself: Lying awake in the middle of the night can be painful. But it’s worse to feel disappointed in yourself because you can’t sleep when you feel like everyone else is asleep but you. It’s normal that you can’t sleep, especially when you’re stressed. Give yourself grace.
Get more tips to sleep if you stressed.
Does sleep improve sleep?
If you are a lover of siesta, a common daily practice in Italy and Spain to rest after lunch and before the evening hours, don’t worry. Sleep helps increase rest during the day. However, there is a long sweet spot that will help you without harming your night’s sleep.
The Romans had something, because the slowness of the noon focus seems to work like a clock at about 3 pm An expert says that a successful. the siesta is between 15 to 25 minutes to ensure you have a peaceful night’s sleep. “If we sleep longer, we may drift into deeper stages of sleep, which may make it harder to wake up,” Alaina Tiani, PhDa clinical psychologist at Cleveland Clinic Sleep Disorders Centersaid before luck.
Power naps may also be better for brain health and delay brain shrinkage.
Should I take melatonin?
Melatonin is the natural hormone in our body that is released when it’s time to sleep. Acquisition a melatonin supplement helps shift your circadian rhythm and signal your body that it’s time to go to bed earlier than you normally would. Therefore, it helps people sleep earlier and longer.
However, experts recommend between one and five milligrams of melatonin for adults, and many brands sold in pharmacies do not have clear dosage labels.
And what’s more, short-term use is not associated with complications, but the supplement has not been studied for long-term use in adults.
Read more about melatonin.
What can I do after a bad night’s sleep?
- Get moving: Getting some sunlight right away can help wake up our bodies even after a bad night’s sleep. And if you wake up before your alarm, it’s okay to get up and move around before falling back asleep.
- Eat: Eating a nutritious breakfast full of protein and fiber will help us stay energized throughout the day.
- Breathing: Deep breathing and calming our mind and body can help us stay focused after a bad night’s sleep.
Read more about how to recover after a not sleeping well at night.
How do I know if I have a sleeping disorder?
Most experts say that if you notice you’re having trouble falling and staying asleep more than three times a week for three months or more, it’s important to see a sleep specialist to review any potential diseases at play. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is often used to treat insomnia, and sleep medication is prescribed as needed.
