Healthy Restorative Sleep
Good sleep is essential for our physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing. The average adult needs seven to nine hours of sleep each night. Even one night of poor sleep causes daytime sleepiness, trouble with memory and concentration, and impaired performance at school and work.
Sleep is another powerful weapon your body uses to fight disease.
Healthy sleep decreases your hunger hormones and cuts carbohydrate cravings. You will have a lower blood pressure, feel less stress, be more alert and have greater resilience dealing with day-to-day problems.
Healthy sleep promotes healing on a microscopic level. During deep sleep, the brain circulation increases glymphatic flow to remove harmful waste products- like the beta-amyloid proteins that accumulate in Alzheimer’s.
There are many factors that affect one’s ability to have quality sleep.
Adults need 7-8 hours per night. Presently, 20% of adults get less than 6 hours; 37% of young adults get less than 7 hours; up to 1 in 4 Americans may have obstructive sleep apnea and 60 million adults have difficulty sleeping.
Do these things for healthier sleep:
- Avoid electronics, alcohol, smoking, eating and any stimulating activity 2 -3 hours prior to sleep time. (Believe it or not, for me it was knitting- I could knit all night “just to finish one more row.”) Avoid caffeine 8 hours before bedtime.
- Make sure the sleep room is a comfortable temperature, quiet, and dark.
- If you are having difficulty sleeping, don’t hesitate to see your physician. There are different types of sleep disorders and most can be treated very successfully! (A snoring individual definitely needs a medical evaluation.)
The 6 Pillars of Lifestyle Medicine all work together to promote and support restorative sleep!