So how exactly do stress and anxiety interfere with your sleep? Stress and anxiety might be causing you to get less sleep, more restful sleep, or make it hard to fall asleep at all. Plus, not only does stress and anxiety make getting a good night’s sleep hard, but they can also worsen existing sleep conditions. Here are some of the ways stress interferes with your sleep, and what to do about it.

Your mind never stops racing

If you’re stressed about something in your day, these thoughts will undoubtedly bombard you right as your head hits the pillow. You can’t help but run through tomorrow’s to-do list, think about what you could have done differently in that meeting at work, or think about that impending due date that is hanging over your head.

You wake up a lot during the night

Stress may make it harder to fall asleep in the first place, and it also makes it harder to get a restful night’s sleep. According to the Anxiety and Depression Foundation of America, seven out of ten adults with persistent stress or excessive anxiety say they have trouble sleeping. In addition, the average American only gets 6.6 hours of sleep a night, which is down from the average in 2005 and less than the recommended 7 – 8 hours of sleep.

So what can you do if stress and anxiety are plaguing your sleep? Here are a few helpful tips to hopefully get you snoozing.

How to ease your stress and anxiety to sleep better

Set aside the time

Too often, we’re busy living our lives, getting dinner cooked, doing a little work, or taking care of the kids and the clock quickly reaches 11 pm or midnight. We know we have to get up early the next day, so our sleep quickly diminished. To avoid this problem, set aside time at night to start getting ready for bed and winding down. You can set a reminder on your phone an hour or so before you want to be in bed to remind yourself. Stay accountable with your schedule and set aside the time for a solid night of sleep.

Turn off the screens

Experts agree that using your phone or computer or watching TV right before bed is one of the worst things you can do for your sleep. These screens emit blue light, which disrupts the part of our brain that’s responsible for winding us down for sleep. Make a promise to yourself that you’ll turn off all screens an hour before bedtime. You can read, draw, or listen to music instead! [Also read Computer vision syndrome: Strained sight]

Try meditation

Especially for people who suffer from stress and anxiety, meditation is a great tool to help you sleep better. Your meditation practice doesn’t have to be an extensive, involved, process, but it could be as simple as spending 10 or 20 minutes before bed doing breathing exercises and relaxing. Meditation lowers your heart rate, helps clear your mind, and tells your body that it’s time for bed. Being mindful and in the moment is a skill that translates outside of sleep, as well!

Start exercising

According to the Sleep Foundation, “regular exercisers fall asleep faster and sleep more soundly. In fact, even a single moderate-intensity workout, like a brisk walk, can improve sleep among people with chronic insomnia.” This is likely because exercise triggers an increase in body temperature, decreases symptoms of depression and anxiety, and improves our circadian rhythms (or internal clock). Plus, your body will be much more tired after a long workout, and you can’t help but hit the hay!

Stress and anxiety may interfere with your sleep, but there are many things you can do to counteract these symptoms. If you think you have a more serious sleeping condition, talk to your doctor.

The post How Stress and Anxiety Interfere With Sleep appeared first on Complete Wellbeing.

Proper sleep raises our body’s immunity against viral infection and protects against higher risks of cardiovascular disease [heart attacks and strokes], type II diabetes, obesity, cancer, early onset of Alzheimer’s disease, depression, irritability, stress and anxiety.

Restful sleep also enhances cognitive performance, including memory, creativity, reaction-time, critical thinking and even athletic performance. That is a pretty good bargain for a pleasurable healthy experience with little effort on our behalf!

One way to ensure good sleep is to try sleeping with your best friend—your pet dog, cat or  any other four legged being. How many of us enjoy sharing our bed with a 4-legged family member? A good way to ensure good sleep is to sleep with your best friend, whether it is your dog, cat, or any other four-legged creature. Please do not forget to provide our furry companions with the loving care they deserve, and secure pet insurance for when necessary.

Benefits of Sleeping With Your Dog or Cat

Statistics show around 41 percent of surveyed pet owners who allowed their pet to sleep in the bedroom or on the bed said that they did not find their pet disruptive, and they even reported sleeping better. Here is why:

• A big advantage of sleeping with your 4-legged family member is they help with your emotional wellbeing. A pet offers you a feeling of companionship leading to decrease in feelings of loneliness.
• Pets lower your stress level, and ease depression. Studies suggest that the presence of pets increases the flow of oxytocin, the love chemical.
• Sleeping with your dog gives you an increased sense of security, especially for women.
• Pets promote coziness and warmth, and not just for humans. Our pets love to be next to their human companions and it reduces their anxiety that might be triggered by seeing animals on your TV screen [scores of TV commercials show pets], hearing environmental noise and having reactions to thunder and lightning. Win-win for both you and your faithful animal companions.

A Few Disadvantages

One disadvantage of sleeping with your fur baby is that it could negatively affect your love life, so you will probably want to have an alternative plan in place for them to sleep where they feel safe and you aren’t distracted. Thank god most animals can’t talk [beware the smart observant parrot!]

If you have allergies, co-sleeping with your pet might trigger or aggravate your condition.

While some people sleep better with a dog or cat because they feel calmer and more secure, others might have their sleep interrupted by pets moving around or snoring. So If you are a light sleeper, you might not enjoy your pet sleeping on your bed next to you.

Some pets—a large dog, for instance—may cause disruptions to your rest just by simply taking up a large space in your bed or trying to sleep on top of you.

Ideal Setting for Sleeping With Your dog or Cat

The ideal bedroom temperature for you and your pet is between 65 and 68 degrees Fahrenheit. Also your sleeping quarters should be quiet and dark. A white noise generator can be peaceful and mask a noisy environment, but make sure the gadget is one that generates white noise rather than just playing a tape recording [which can interrupt sleep].

Keeping an air purifier in the bedroom will cut down on dust, dander and dog hair. Spraying lavender on pillows and sheets will aid your sleep and mask pet odors.

While there some sleep disturbances to humans, dogs and cats are just as much at risk when it comes to co-sleeping with their owners. People readjust and move around in their sleep without fully waking, so it could be dangerous to your 4-legged friends if you were to roll over on them or smother them with your blankets and comforters.

On the other hand, if your dog has some jerky leg movements, eye movements and maybe even some whimpering or barking, and cats show whisker twitching, rest assured they might be in REM sleep, the stage in which dreams most often occur in humans and animals.

Sleep well and sweet dreams!

The post Should You Be Sleeping With Your Dog or Cat? appeared first on Complete Wellbeing.

Melatonin is a hormone which plays an integral role in circadian cycles and the regulation of sleep onset. Studies have proven judicious melatonin dosage is effective in easing jet lag and shift work sleep disruptions, maintaining sleep patterns in children with neuro-developmental disabilities and in older adults with natural melatonin deficiencies.

In addition to sleep regulation, melatonin functions as an antioxidant, preventing cell damage and inflammation through elimination of free radicals. Recent studies have shown that melatonin, by virtue of these free-radical scavenging properties, could even be responsible for reducing neuronal damage in cases of stroke, chemical toxicity, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease.

With all of this evidence stacked up in its favor, why not head for the pharmacy to stock up on the supplement? Wait!

Possible Side Effects of Using Melatonin Supplements for Sleep

First, it’s important to recognize that your body produces its own melatonin. This endogenous supply is produced primarily by a small gland just above the center of your brain, the pineal gland. Retinal [eyes], epithelial [skin], and intestinal cells also produce melatonin, but not in the form that regulates circadian rhythms. While external melatonin, whether from natural food sources or a supplement, interacts with your brain in the same way as the bodily form, the influx of the hormone can flood your system and offset your natural melatonin production.

When you purchase melatonin as a supplement in the pharmacy, you typically get a dose between 1 and 10mg. This is a dramatically large range which reflects the lack of regulation on production and sales. Melatonin is the only hormone in the United States available for purchase without a prescription. And the United States is one of the only western nations that allows non-prescriptive sales of the hormone. Because melatonin can be obtained through natural food sources, it is designated as a dietary supplement alongside vitamins and minerals. This designation absolves melatonin sales from FDA regulation, meaning that the factory-produced, synthetic hormone makes it to the shelf in doses that are much too large and with incredible variance in purity between brands.

According to the National Sleep Foundation, a melatonin dosage of 1mg to 3mg can increase its blood levels to up to 20 times their normal value. This is problematic because in excess, this hormone can cause grogginess and sleep inertia the following day. Sleep inertia is the physiological condition that persists between sleep and wakefulness, characterized by impaired cognitive, sensory motor acuity and persistent drowsiness. Melatonin production by the pineal gland is a single element in an eloquent symphony of hormonal regulation; cranking up the volume on any one contributor will throw off the balance of the entire ensemble and offset your body’s natural cadence. In most cases of insomnia and delayed sleep onset in adults, there is not enough evidence, particularly for long term intervention, to support supplementation.  It is far safer and more effective to promote the body’s natural ability to produce the hormone on its own.

So How Do You Make Your Body Produce the Right Amount of Melatonin?

In order to synthesize melatonin, your body needs access to all the right ingredients, the main one being tryptophan, an amino acid. You may remember hearing this funny word around Thanksgiving, when turkey is held responsible for the drowsiness after the Thanksgiving meal. And there’s something to this. Turkey, like chicken, eggs, cheese, meat, is rich in tryptophan. In a series of reactions, tryptophan is converted to serotonin, which is then converted to melatonin. But tryptophan isn’t the only ingredient needed to synthesize melatonin. Other key players include vitamin B6 and co-enzyme A, a derivative of biotin and amino acid L-lysine.

Both tryptophan and lysine are essential amino acids, meaning they cannot be synthesized by the body and therefore must be obtained in the diet.  Foods such as nuts, seeds, beans, lentils, poultry, and eggs all contain high levels of tryptophan, lysine, and vitamin B6. You can also use supplements to obtain a balanced mix of these crucial ingredients. Adhering to a healthy diet rich in melatonin precursors will optimize your body’s ability to synthesize melatonin and naturally regulate consistent sleep-wake cycles.

More Reasons to Break the Bad Habits

For as much emphasis as you place on putting healthy fuels into your body, equal care should be given to keeping unhealthy substances out. Caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol suppress melatonin production and will result in disrupted sleep patterns. Additionally, surges in blood sugar cause cortisol levels to spike and melatonin levels to plummet. So if you’re trying to kick a sweet-tooth induced habit, this is one more reason to do so. And if you’re accustomed to grabbing a late-night snack, avoid the sweets and make sure it’s low in carbohydrates. Human physiology is dynamic and resilient. Give your body its best shot at wellness and self-regulation by breaking these habits.

Exercise During the Day, Cut the Lights at Night

In general, exercise will improve the quality of your sleep, but exercising at night can decrease melatonin production and delay or prevent sleep onset. If possible, exercise during the morning [not at the expense of your sleep quantity] or in the afternoon. Adopting a consistent schedule will assist your body in regulating hormonal balance and maintaining circadian rhythms.

The most important way to promote your circadian rhythm and your body’s melatonin producing abilities is through regulation of light exposure. Light, registered as an electrical impulse, passes along a bundle of nerves from the eye to the brain, signaling and synchronizing circadian processes throughout the body. This electrical impulse deactivates the pineal gland, inhibiting melatonin.  However in the absence of light, the pineal gland is able to operate in high gear producing melatonin and promoting sleep onset and maintenance. It is important to establish a regular schedule that involves exposing yourself to bright light every morning and avoiding daylight spectrum and blue light within an hour of bedtime.  This means no TVs, tablets, phones, computers, or bright households lights.  Dim the lights and put away the electronics to set the stage for a sound night’s sleep.

Related » Daytime strategies to help you sleep better

Conclusion

While it is a key element in sleep physiology, it is essential to consider supplemental melatonin dosage with proper discernment.  If you regularly travel internationally, work night shifts, or if you’re over the age of 60 and have difficulty sleeping, with the consultation of your doctor, a melatonin supplement could be an effective alternative to prescription sleep aids. However, before visiting the pharmacy, give your body a chance to produce and regulate an endogenous supply of melatonin by adopting a healthy diet, maintaining a regular schedule, and regulating your exposure to light.

The post How to Improve Melatonin Production Naturally and Sleep Better appeared first on Complete Wellbeing.

1. Establish a regular sleep-wake schedule

The single most effective strategy for improved sleep is establishing a consistent schedule. Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day. Pre-deadline days, weekends, birthdays, and holidays are no exception; your circadian rhythm does not, unfortunately, accommodate your social life or your professional obligations. It is vital to maintain consistency despite the occasion.

Inconsistent sleep schedules correlate with poor sleep quality, increased sleep latency [time it takes to fall asleep], and shortened sleep duration. To establish consistency in your sleep routine, start by determining your sleep need. The majority of the adult population requires 7.5 to 9 hours each night for optimal performance and alertness the following day. However, this need fluctuates with age and activity level, and is largely specific to the individual.

Studies show that most people overestimate their actual sleep and underestimate their sleep need [you would have thought it’s the other way!], so choose a realistic schedule that fulfills your true sleep need and stick to it. Adding one to two more hours can dramatically change your health, your mood, and your daytime performance.

2. Ditch the snooze button

If you’re getting enough sleep and keeping a regular schedule, you should have no use for an alarm, much less the snooze button. It’s not an issue of mind over matter, it’s a physiological necessity. If you’re not getting enough sleep or if you’re waking up in the middle of a sleep cycle, you’re going to feel drowsy, but pressing the snooze button won’t help.

Pressing it affords you only a few minutes of fragmented rest, which leaves you feeling more groggy than you would otherwise. Either set your alarm later to maximise quality sleep or bite the bullet and wake up on the first alarm and plan for a power nap or an earlier bedtime.

3. Expose yourself to bright light every morning

Your body’s physiological [circadian] rhythm is a symphony of physiological and behavioral patterns conducted by the suprachiasmatic nuclei [SCN], a 20,000 neuron area in the brain’s hypothalamus. Through electrical impulse, the SCN controls the crescendos and decrescendos of body temperature, hormone production and release, neural activity, and resultant patterns of drowsiness and alertness. These cycles maintain a pattern that is nearly 24 hours in length, but they depend on external stimuli, namely light, to keep the cycle in sync with the 24 hour progression of the external world.

Start your day by exposing yourself to bright [ideally natural] light for at least 15 minutes first thing in the morning to “sync” your circadian rhythm and activate the systems that keep you awake and active.

4. Avoid light exposure within one hour of sleep

Melatonin is a hormone chiefly responsible for coordinating your circadian rhythm. Its release is dependent on the absence of light. The absence of light triggers melatonin release, which initiates the onset of sleep and is integral to every stage of sleep thereafter.

Electronic devices like TV and iPads emit daylight spectrum light. As long as you’re in front of a screen or under bright household lights, you’re inhibiting melatonin release and sleep onset. It’s important to avoid light exposure for an hour before going to sleep or wear blue light blocking glasses to prevent retinal stimulation. This cues your body to release melatonin and ready itself for sleep.

5. Cut caffeine from late afternoon to bedtime

It takes at least six hours to metabolise caffeine, so it’s a good idea to stop drinking energy drinks, sodas, coffee, and tea from late in the afternoon until bedtime. Also avoid other caffeine sources, including chocolate or java flavoured desserts and protein bars, and more surprising sources including some weight-loss pills and pain relievers.

The final caffeine caveat is to mind your decaffeinated beverages. The FDA designates decaffeinated coffee as containing 2-5mg of caffeine per 5oz cup. This concentration alone can disrupt sleep and considering that most retailed decaf coffee contains levels far exceeding this limit, it’s wise to completely cut coffee consumption from mid afternoon.

6. Avoid alcohol consumption within three hours of bedtime

If you’re one to partake, you know that alcohol, being a depressant, can make you drowsy. But don’t let this sensation fool you into believing that alcohol consumption aids sleep. Alcohol, in fact, does just the opposite. It disrupts your circadian rhythm, causing mid-night awakenings and preventing restorative REM sleep.

Aside from disturbing your physiological sleep rhythm, alcohol can increase snoring and sleep apnea by decreasing muscle tone and it will likely cause disruptive trips to the restroom [not the kind of rest you want or need].

Avoiding alcohol consumption within three hours of bedtime ensures a restful and uninterrupted snooze.

7. Exercise regularly

Regular exercise reduces the incidence of insomnia, decreases snoring and sleep apnea through weight loss, and improves overall restfulness through improved respiration and circulation.

Body temperature is an important component of circadian rhythm. Core body temperature spikes during exercise, then plummets approximately five hours later. Coordinating this with the natural rise in body temperature in the morning or the natural drop in body temperature preceding sleep optimises the onset, quality, and duration of sleep.

Morning and afternoon exercise are therefore optimal, while evening and late night workouts are likely to delay the onset of sleep. However, if you opt for a morning workout, be sure not to compromise your nocturnal sleep requirement.

8. Eat a balanced, anti-inflammatory diet

When it comes to diet, the major aim is stabilising blood sugar, obtaining necessary micronutrients, and balancing consumption of protein, fibre, and healthy fat. Doing so will promote healthy hormone production and release, avoid inflammation, equip your body with adequate fuel, and ultimately contribute to optimal sleep latency, quality, and duration.

Stabilise blood sugar by eating meal low in glycemic index every five hours. Avoid processed foods and added sugar. This will help regulate cortisol levels, preventing disruption of REM sleep.

Build your meals up from a base of vitamin and mineral rich veggies, clean proteins, and healthy fats. This will provide the necessary precursors for sleep inducing hormones, while minimising inflammation and spikes in blood glucose.

Begin curbing difficult-to-digest foods three hours before bedtime. This includes spicy, fried, and high protein foods. Instead, opt for fruits such as cherries, kiwis, and bananas, which are readily digestible and packed with potassium and magnesium for muscle relaxation.

9. Quit smoking

Cigarette smoke is a multifaceted sleep thief. Nicotine, a stimulant, inhibits the onset of sleep and causes insomnia and increased awakenings. Individuals who smoke cigarettes are also 2.5 times more likely to suffer from obstructive sleep apnea due to inflamed tissues in the nose and throat.

Smoking alters the expression of genes that facilitate circadian rhythms and may permanently hamper the quality of your sleep. Quitting relieves symptomatic sleep problems and avoiding cigarettes altogether places you among the soundest sleeping demographic.

10. Practice mindfulness

Maintaining a prayer life or cultivating a meditation or yoga practice has been linked to healthier sleep habits and sounder sleep. These practices maintain stress hormone levels during the day that otherwise accumulate to disrupt the onset and depth of sleep come nighttime.

Meditation enhances neural plasticity and network synchronisation, which allows for seamless transitions into and out of deep sleep.

The post Daytime strategies to help you sleep better appeared first on Complete Wellbeing.

When you’ve lain in bed for hours, tossed and turned until your body aches, glanced at the clock more times than you can count, tried every mantra, meditation, and visualisation you’ve ever learned to no avail, insomnia has you in its clutches.

Hopefully, it’s a passing phase prompted by external circumstances like an impending exam, a recent breakup, or financial problems. Most people go through periods of difficulty sleeping. But one in ten people struggle with sleeplessness night after night, month after month, sometimes for years, beset by chronic insomnia.

Sleep is fragile

Sleep is remarkably fragile, despite its persistence and universality. All manner of conditions can fray its fabric, and little works to restore the weave once it’s lost. Heat, cold, good food, bad food, solitude, company, noise, silence, new love, the loss of love—you name it—can banish sleep from the bedroom.

There are many things we can do to sleep better, or a little longer. We can cool and darken our bedrooms, establish a regular sleep schedule, avoid stimulants, alcohol, and electronics before bed, take calming teas, supplements, or medications, and learn to control our catastrophising thoughts. These are good things to do, but they rarely crack the nut of habitual insomnia.

Too awake to sleep

One of the most surprising discoveries to emerge from 21st century sleep research is that insomnia is not just a problem with sleep; it is a disorder of our waking lives as well. Scientists have learned that people who struggle with ongoing insomnia tend to live in a state of hyper-arousal characterised by higher body temperatures, faster heart rates, stronger high-frequency brain waves, increased levels of cortisol and adrenaline, and lower levels of melatonin 24 hours a day, whether they are awake or asleep. These folks are remarkably quick and sharp, but their nervous systems run on high alert as if living in a war-zone. Simply put, they are too awake to sleep. In fact, many are somewhat awake even when sleeping!

Eons ago, in our evolution as human beings, our bodies developed the capacity to mobilise in the face of danger, enabling us to respond quickly and forcefully when necessary. If your child runs out into traffic, you need that ability to charge out and grab him or her out of harm’s way immediately. It has an obvious evolutionary advantage. Once your child is safe, your heart will hopefully stop throbbing, your breathing will slow down, and the stress hormones coursing through your blood will return to normal levels.

However, if you are genetically inclined towards anxiety, have experienced long-term stress, repeated traumas, or life-threatening insecurities, your body may gradually lose the knack of calming down, even when resting. The brain simply stays busy and the heart keeps racing regardless of what is happening. When hyper-arousal becomes the norm, rather than the exception, it’s nearly impossible to get good sleep.

Even if you aren’t predisposed towards anxiety, and haven’t experienced major traumas, the pace, pressures and insecurities of contemporary life in the 24/7 global economy may be pushing you into hyper-arousal without your knowing. We are surrounded by bright lights and street noises throughout the night, encouraged to consume stimulating foods and drinks, rewarded for being alert, quick and aggressive, and often required to work longer hours.

No quick fix

How can our bodies remember how to relax enough to sleep under these conditions?

One thing is certain: there is no quick fix. We have to cultivate our abilities to calm down, let go, and go within to counteract the tendencies to gear up, grab on, and get ahead that are so encouraged in our society. Lowering arousal levels is a gradual process that requires many small shifts in the ways we go about our days and nights as we weed out old habits that interfere with sleep and develop new ones to restore calm.

The process is also very individual; there are no standard answers. What helps one person may not help another, or in some cases even make things worse. For example, a family pet may be soothing to one family member and stressful to another. Each of us needs to experiment with lifestyle changes, observe the results, and adapt accordingly.

Here’s what you can do

Here are some things that have helped others:

• Develop a meditative practice that you can do on a regular basis. That can be something as simple as walking to work, listening to music before bed, even closing your eyes and taking three deep breaths a few times a day. Or you could join a weekly meditation group, take a yoga or t’ai chi class, or sing in a choir. Many of these activities involve breathing more fully, which works to calm down the nervous system.
• Practise putting aside your worries, even if you plan to pick them up later. Anxiety is the enemy of sleep. Make a list of what you need to address later, fold it up, and tuck it away. Our unconscious minds mull over our problems while we sleep, and often pose solutions the next day that we couldn’t figure out on our own. A friend of mine likes to imagine that all her anxieties are written out on a large chalkboard; when she lies down to sleep, erasers wipe them away. Napoleon used fall asleep by seeing himself pushing away his concerns as if closing the drawers of a bureau, one by one. When I was a child, I was so anxious about taking tests that I often couldn’t sleep beforehand. Finally, one sleepless night, I had a fantasy that I was an eighty-five-year old grandmother looking back over my life. Did I care how well I did on that math class in third grade? No! Realising that the things that worried me at the time were insignificant in the big picture enabled me to relax and get some sleep.
• Make a point of spending time with people whose company you enjoy. You can comb and braid your children’s hair, or read them bedtime stories, join a soccer team, go out dancing or play cards with friends at the club. We need trust and a sense of safety to unwind. As social creatures, we derive that sense of safety from the people who care for us, look out for us, and have our backs. Money in the bank and locks on the doors can help, but there is nothing like the comfort of relationships.
• Finally, if you can’t sleep, get up and do something. Read, draw, email friends, water plants, have a cup of tulsi [basil] tea or warm milk, whatever. Abraham Lincoln and Charles Dickens used to take long walks when they couldn’t sleep. My grandmother typed Braille books. Doing something will distract you from the effort to sleep, and probably help you to fall asleep later. Besides, it is fine to sleep in stretches of a few hours at a time. Naps are efficient forms of sleep. The key is to remain calm and trust that the sleep you get, however little, is enough.

Remember: climbing back off the ledge of insomnia takes time. Every little step you take to calm your nerves, day after day, night after night, gradually restores the peace that enables sleep.

The post Is insomnia sucking the joy out of your life? appeared first on Complete Wellbeing.

The drive to sleep is strong enough to override the drive to stay awake and the result is that napping becomes a possibility. Food can be an added pro-nap factor. Eating a large or heavy meal at lunchtime causes an insulin response that leads to a temporary drop in blood glucose. This, in turn, promotes drowsiness. However, the primary reason that siestas are both attractive and possible is clearly circadian. Even someone who skips lunch can end up wanting a nap because of accumulated sleep pressure combined with low levels of wakefulness signals.

The pros of napping

Is taking a siesta a good idea? Quite a lot of people have thought so, including Napoleon Bonaparte, Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, and Winston Churchill. And lab studies back them up. After a nap, people are more alert and productive, less tired, and more positive in their mood. Their logical reasoning and decision-making skills improve, and if they have been learning something new or practising a new skill, they retain it better after a nap. There is even research suggesting that regular napping reduces the risk of heart attack, stroke, diabetes and obesity. What’s not to like?

It turns out that alertness and cognitive skills improve after as little as 10 minutes of napping

The cons of napping

Still, some cautions are in order. It matters when we nap and how long we nap. Studies in which people were encouraged to take naps at different times of day confirm what most of us probably already suspect. For adults with a normal sleep-wake pattern, the best time to nap is in the early afternoon, about halfway between morning wake-up time and evening bedtime.

Napping later in the day, however, may have an unfortunate impact in the evening or night. Naps deplete sleep pressure, and the later that happens, the less time there is for sleep pressure to build up again by bedtime. Sleep pressure and the circadian cycle have gotten temporarily out of sync, and until they get back in harmony, you will have trouble falling asleep.

How long a nap is best?

Researchers have also studied the effects of varying the length of naps. Surprisingly, it turns out that alertness and cognitive skills improve after as little as 10 minutes of napping. That is enough time to relieve fatigue, too. Naps of 20 minutes or half an hour do not provide any greater benefits, and they are also more likely to set off a period of grogginess or sleep inertia. Those who take longer naps, of an hour or more, build up even more sleep inertia. There may be other gains from their deeper sleep, such as more creative problem solving, but it takes them even more time to return to full alertness and effectiveness.

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Though most adults need 7 – 8 hours of sleep to feel alert and energetic through the day, the need for sleep is as unique as our fingerprints. For you, it can be eight hours, for your spouse, seven hours, while your best friend could do with just six-and-a-half hours. If you’re looking for a magic number then there isn’t one, but there is some recent evidence that sleeping less than seven hours per night can be harmful in the long run.

Why should you aim for at least seven hours

Until recently we did not have a clear-cut, evidence-based recommendation regarding the duration of sleep needed for a healthy life. But, in June 2015, after reviewing 5314 scientific articles, a panel of 15 experts from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society concluded that adults need seven or more hours of sleep every night.

Here are their specific recommendations:

1. Sleeping less than seven hours each night is linked to adverse health conditions such as weight gain, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke and depression. It is also associated with lowered immunity, increased sensitivity to pain, impaired performance, increased chances of errors, and greater risk of accidents.
2. Sleeping more than nine hours per night on a regular basis may be appropriate for young adults, individuals recovering from sleep debt, and those with illnesses. For others, it is uncertain whether sleeping more than nine hours per night is associated with any health risk.
3. People who are concerned that they are sleeping too little or too much should consult their healthcare provider.

Life is so precious. Why waste one third of it sleeping?

One question that many people often ask is, “I’ve achieved so much in my life by sleeping less, can I not just continue that way?” The answer is: “No, you cannot. Not for long.”

Dr Van Dongen and colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania studied participants after four, six, and eight hours of sleep for 14 days and found a significant dose-dependent decline in their neurological and cognitive performance. Thus, by sleeping less, you may read more, but you will remember less. You may check more e-mails, but your responses will not reflect your true leadership skills. You may interact with more people, but you will be less perceptive. You may work on more problems, but your solutions will be less creative. In short, if you are sleeping less, you might be a liability, as opposed to an asset.

So, by compromising on your sleep you not only increase your risk of diseases mentioned above, but also impair your executive function—creativity, problem-solving, communication, and goal-directed behaviour. These are the reasons why business giants like Warren Buffet, Bill Gates and Satya Nadela try to get 7 – 8 hours sleep despite their busy schedules.

Bill Gates says he gets at least seven hours of sleep a night because “that’s what I need to stay sharp and creative and upbeat.” Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, says, “I’m more alert, and I think more clearly if I’ve had eight hours’ sleep. I just feel so much better all day long if I’ve slept that much.” Marc Anderson, co-founder of Netscape, admits to needing eight hours. He says, “I can get by on seven-and-a-half hours without much trouble. Seven, and I start to degrade. Six is suboptimal. Five is a big problem. Four means I am a zombie.”

What about people who claim to do well with little sleep

What about Indira Gandhi, Margaret Thatcher, Indra Nooyi and the likes, who claimed to sleep only 4 – 5 hours a night? Do they carry a short-sleeper gene? Well, Dr Ying-Hui Fu and her  team at the University of California, San Francisco, did find that short-sleeper gene, a rare mutation, is present in three per cent of the population. But it has not been confirmed if there are other health risks of carrying this short-sleeper gene and sleeping so little.

Motivation cannot happen in the absence of creativity, flexibility and the right mood. All of which get hampered due to lack of sleep

My overworked colleagues continue to argue against sufficient sleep. Here is a list of arguments made by these sceptics and my responses:

1 “I don’t need eight hours of sleep.”

Studies have shown that restricting sleep to four or six hours [compared to eight hours] for 14 days causes a decline in your executive function.

2 “I can fight sleep deprivation with strong motivation.”

Motivation cannot happen in the absence of creativity, flexibility and the right mood. All of which get hampered due to lack of sleep.

3 “I have achieved a lot by sleeping less.”

You could achieve even more by sleeping more.

4 “I don’t perceive the deficit in my performance.”

Sleep deprivation adversely affects the prefrontal cortex [area of the brain called “the executive centre”], which is essential for successful self-evaluation. This makes us unaware of our deficit.

5 “I am highly productive even with less sleep.”

You have increased your output as a worker at the expense of leadership output. You are compromising the quality at the expense of quantity.

Sleeping eight hours but it still seems less

I have made my case for 7 – 8 hours of rest every night, but what if you are feeling sleepy and tired despite sleeping eight hours every night?

First, make sure you are getting quality sleep by following good sleep habits—keeping a regular sleep schedule even on weekends, exercising 30 minutes a day, not working in the bed, avoiding caffeine after 1pm, not eating a large meal before bedtime, not consuming alcohol within three hours of bedtime and most importantly, praying or meditating for a few minutes before retiring to bed. Then, make sure you do not suffer from depression or Obstructive Sleep Apnoea, a disease characterised by loud snoring and cessation of breathing for 10 or more seconds all night long.

In conclusion, invest richly in sleep and get the most out of your limited stay on this beautiful earth. Make a commitment, as a family, to get 7 – 8 hours of rest every night. Enjoy lasting alertness, energy, vigour, and vitality; and live a healthy, happy, and a long life.

I leave you with a favourite shloka of mine from the Bhagvad Gita [Chapter 6, Verse 17]

yuktahara-viharasya yukta-cestasya karmasu,
yukta-svapnavabodhasya, yogo bhavati duhkha-ha
(Translation: A person who is temperate in eating, resting, working and recreation can mitigate all material pains by practising yoga.)

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No matter your age, your job, how many children you have or how much you have to do, this shouldn’t be a description of your morning routine. You shouldn’t need an alarm to jolt you out of deep sleep. You should expect to feel restored and refreshed when you awake, ready to take on the day. And if you can’t even remember what that feels like, take heart—and take notes.

Sleep: are you getting it?

According to the National Sleep Foundation, appropriate sleep durations are as follows: Young adults [age 18 – 25] 7 – 9 hours, adults [age 26 – 64] 7 – 9 hours, older adults [age 65+] 7 – 8 hours. Due to a genetic variant, only a very few people are short sleepers—no more than five per cent of the population can get by on less than these recommended amounts.

So for the majority of us, getting the recommended amount of sleep is essential for optimum physical and psychological health, overall wellbeing and quality of life. Making a commitment to getting adequate sleep on a consistent basis will make your mornings better, your days better and your life better.

The best way to ensure sufficient sleep is to make your sleep requirement a non-negotiable part of your schedule. You may even find it helpful to extend your sleep time beyond your normal requirement if you have been accruing sleep debt. It’s also helpful to track your sleep—many apps and wearables are available—or simply keep a handwritten sleep diary [templates are available online]. As the saying goes, if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it. This holds true for sleep.

Since we spend a third of our lives catching those important ZZZs, high thread-count sheets, a quality mattress and comfortable pillows are a worthwhile investment that will help you look forward to getting that all-important sleep.

Own your evening

Reorganise and reprioritise your evening routines to accommodate your need for sufficient, quality sleep. For instance, make the mornings less hurried and more relaxed by packing lunches, setting out clothes, and putting briefcases and book bags by the door.

Set a consistent bedtime that starts about eight hours before you need to wake up. Avoid “bedtime procrastination”—putting off bedtime to watch TV, surf the internet or catch up on work—it’s not a good trade-off. Setting an alarm for bedtime as a reminder is quite helpful for keeping bedtime on track.

Bedtime routines are just as important for adults as they are for children because they serve to transition your mind and body from wake to sleep. Keep the lights low as you prepare for bed. Keep your bedroom cool to help you fall asleep. Turn off electronics a good hour before bedtime, and make time for a relaxing bedtime activity—yoga, meditation, reading [print only, with a low-wattage reading light], colouring, a jigsaw puzzle—something quiet, not stimulating. Consider journaling or keeping a list of things you are grateful for. Several studies have shown that gratitude helps people sleep better. Aromatherapy is another helpful sleep strategy for some. The scents of lavender and chamomile have been shown to help induce relaxation. In fact, findings from a 2012 study suggest that night-time exposure to lavender aroma actually helps relieve sleepiness upon awakening.

Own your morning

A positive wake-up routine is as important as a positive bedtime routine. It will make you look forward to waking and set the tone for the day, enhancing your mood, productivity, and energy level. Set your alarm for the absolute last minute you must get out of bed—not 20 minutes earlier so you can keep hitting the snooze button. That fragmented sleep only leaves you feeling lousy when you finally get out of bed. In fact, you should not need a morning alarm if you are getting enough sleep. If you need a conventional alarm clock, place it across the room so you have to get out of bed to turn it off. Wake up to your favourite music instead of a buzzer. Open the curtains and let the sunlight in upon awakening; bright light in the morning helps regulate your body clock. There are even alarm clocks that simulate the sun rising in the morning, or put your lights on a timer.

If you have a programmable thermostat, a warmer temperature will also help you wake up. Stretch or do a yoga pose while still in bed. Do some light exercise while the coffee brews or you’re preparing breakfast. Make your bed. An unmade bed is less conducive to sleep in the evening than a made one, so make this three-minute chore a habit.

Then plan your daily activities according to your chronotype. If you are most alert and creative in the morning, do your intellectually demanding work first instead of doing chores, running errands, or going to the gym. If you are more of an evening type, plan to do your best work then. Do you crave exercise in the evening? Recent studies show that late-day exercise does not necessarily interfere with sleep.

Do I look tired to you?

Bad sleep habits, poor lifestyle choices, or even sleep disorders may be robbing you of sleep and making your mornings miserable. Don’t ignore sleep problems. Always discuss sleep at doctor visits and seek help from a sleep specialist for any persistent sleep problems, especially feeling tired upon awakening and excessive daytime sleepiness.

Manage and track your sleep and have a daily schedule that accommodates sufficient sleep. Make getting adequate sleep a personal and family value and respect your need for sleep as well as your family member’s need for sleep. Sleep, diet and exercise comprise the very foundation of health. Give them all equal priority for the best life—and best mornings—possible.

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Sleep myth 1: During sleep, your brain rests completely

Most people think of sleep as a passive, dormant part of their daily lives. Wakefulness contains only a single brain wave. To be physically, psychologically, and emotionally at your best, you have to experience five different types of brain waves every night during sleep. That’s how much work your brain does while you are asleep. The sleeping brain regulates endocrine, immune, and hormonal functions essential for healthy living. It is also a critical period for memory consolidation.

Sleep myth 2: Sleeping longer makes you gain weight

The opposite is true. Lack of sleep can stall your weight loss efforts. By adding one extra hour of sleep every night, you can lose up to half kg per week. Sleep deprivation causes leptin levels to decrease and ghrelin levels to increase, leaving you craving for sugars and junk food. That’s how, contrary to popular belief, regular and sound sleep can actually help you lose weight.

Sleep myth 3: You can condition yourself to need less sleep

You may want to believe that but you cannot convince your body of it. You can condition yourself to wake up after just a few hours of sleep, but it does not change your need for adequate sleep. Your sleep requirement is hard-wired! Determine the amount of sleep that will permit you to be energetic and alert all day long. You must condition yourself so that the hours in bed correspond to the sleeping phase of your circadian rhythm and the hours out of bed correspond to the waking phase. Therefore, establish a regular sleep/wake schedule, Monday through Monday, including the weekends.

Sleep myth 4: A boring meeting, warm room, or low dose of alcohol helps you fall asleep

Not true, unless you are sleep deprived. These factors simply unmask the sleepiness that is already in your body. If you are not sleep deprived, you may be restless and fidgety, but not sleepy.

Sleep myth 5: Snoring is not harmful

If left untreated, heavy snoring can lead to a higher risk of high blood pressure [heart attacks and strokes]. Heavy snoring with repetitive pauses in your breathing, followed by a gasping for air, is indicative of sleep apnoea. This life-threatening breathing disorder is commonly treated non-surgically by wearing a mask at night that delivers continuous, positive airway pressure through the nose to keep the airway open. Without the mask, these individuals may stop breathing up to 600 times a night and must wake up for a microsecond each time to resume normal breathing.

Sleep myth 6: Not everyone dreams at night

All of us dream every night, although many do not remember having done so. Most dreams occur during rapid eye movement [REM] sleep that occurs every 90 minutes. If you sleep for eight hours, approximately two hours will be spent dreaming.

Sleep myth 7: The older you get; the lesser sleep you need

As you age, the ability to maintain sleep becomes more difficult. This is due to hardening of the arteries or the result of taking medications for rheumatoid arthritis, hypertension, or type II diabetes that may interfere with sleep. We need almost as much sleep in our senior years as we needed when we were of middle age or younger.

Sleep myth 8: Most people know how sleepy they are

The majority of sleepers overestimate the amount they actually have slept by about 47 minutes.

Sleep myth 9: Raising the volume of your radio, air conditioning or drinking coffee will help you stay awake while driving

None of these “remedies” will help prevent drowsiness or falling asleep at the wheel for a person who is sleep deprived. Drowsiness is a red alert—get off the road and take a 20-minute power nap in a safe area. At best you will have another 30 minutes of driving.

Sleep myth 10: Sleep disorders are mainly due to worry

There are 89 known sleep disorders whose causes range from neurological issues to biochemical imbalance and physiological problems. Examples are sleep apnoea, narcolepsy, restless leg syndrome, nocturnal myoclonus, enuresis, sleepwalking, sleep talking, and REM sleep behaviour.

Sleep myth 11: Most sleep disorders go away without treatment

Sleep disturbances that last for more than three weeks typically require professional treatment, ranging from learning good sleep hygiene practices to medicines and psychotherapy.

Sleep myth 12: Men need more sleep than women

On the contrary, women tend to need more sleep than men, especially during premenstrual, pregnancy, and premenopausal stages. Women sleep lighter than men and are more susceptible to bouts of insomnia.

Sleep myth 13: By playing audiotapes during the night, you can learn while you sleep

If you are asleep you cannot acquire new knowledge. However, sleep enables you to process and retain information learned during wakefulness and recall it better the next day.

Sleep myth 14: If you have insomnia at night, you should make up by sleeping in the day

If you wish to cure your nocturnal insomnia you should never nap during the day.

Sleep myth 15: The best time to exercise is early in the morning when you are most alert

Exercise is good for promoting the quantity and quality of sleep whenever done during the day. However, early morning exercise is only suitable for people who have met their nocturnal sleep requirement. Furthermore, it’s best to avoid heavy aerobic exercise within an hour of bedtime.

Sleep myth 16: Sex at night will arouse you and keep you up, delaying sleep onset

Satisfactory sex might help you to go to sleep fairly quickly. However, concerns about performance and unsatisfactory sex can delay sleep onset and make sleep more fitful.

Sleep myth 17: A sound sleeper rarely moves during the night

Most people move 40 – 60 times during the night although they might be unaware of having done so.

Sleep myth 18: A glass of wine before bed helps you fall asleep

A nightcap might put you to sleep but any alcohol within three hours of bedtime is likely to disrupt ensuing REM sleep. Alcohol in large amounts is a stimulant, not a sedative.

Sleep myth 19: Sleeping in late on the weekends is a good way to catch up on lost sleep

You have one biological clock—not one for the workweek and one for the weekends. You must go to bed and get up at the same time Monday through Monday. To do otherwise would have the same effect of dieting or exercising only on the weekends—it doesn’t work.

Sleep myth 20: It is not normal to awaken several times a night

It is rare that people can sleep uninterrupted for long periods of time. However, if you wake up during the night and cannot get back to sleep within 20 minutes, this is indicative of insomnia. Often such awakenings will last for an entire 90-minute wake period before you will be able to resume sleep.

Sleep myth 21: Cozying up under heavy blankets will make you go to sleep faster

An ideal sleeping room temperature is between 65 – 67 degrees Fahrenheit. Being too warm may lead to awakenings and emotionally laden dreams.

Sleep myth 22: You are a good sleeper if you can fall asleep within five minutes

The well-rested sleeper will take about 20 minutes to fall asleep. Going to sleep as soon as your head hits the pillow is a sure sign of sleep deprivation.

Sleep myth 23: Sleeping pills are absolutely safe if taken in correct dose

Many sleeping medications can be harmful, causing memory loss, daytime grogginess, depression, cancer and even death. Cognitive behaviour therapy for solving sleep problems is a much better long-term treatment for insomnia.

Sleep myth 24: Sleep cannot help you improve your athletic skills

In the last quartile in an 8-hour night, the brain secretes calcium into your motor cortex. This permits well-rehearsed good athletic moves to be consolidated into motor muscle memory, improving athleticism, reaction time, and situational awareness.

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Why you shouldn’t eat less

There are some scientific reasons why under-eating can produce sleep disturbances. For one thing, limited human studies show that short-term fasting reduces melatonin production. Whether or not the same effect is seen in chronic calorie restriction is unclear, but it is plausible. And for another thing, even mild chronic calorie restriction can alter hormone levels and patterns, including thyroid hormones, cortisol and adrenaline. One common pattern among those who under-eat is for stress hormones to peak early in the morning causing waking and anxiety or stressful feelings.

Often, sleep disturbances attributed to under-eating can be temporarily alleviated by eating, especially something with easily digested sugar and perhaps a bit of salt in order to suppress stress hormone production. Therefore, I find that eating a bit of honey is often enough to help people get to sleep or return to sleep.

I find that eating a bit of honey is often enough to help people get to sleep or return to sleep

However, in the long run, increasing caloric intake and especially making sure that one isn’t restricting carbohydrates too greatly, tends to be essential in order to improve sleep duration and quality. For most people, that means eating a minimum of 2500 calories a day, though sometimes requirements may be higher [men, young people, pregnant or breastfeeding women, sick people and active people in particular may have significantly higher caloric requirements]. In some cases it is necessary to eat significantly more calories during a recovery phase, sometimes upward of 4000 calories a day for many months, in order to restore balance. So what I have found, again, in my unscientific study, is that people I communicate with tend to sleep better when they eat more rather than less, and many people are surprised to find that they have been eating too few calories.

Increase your carbohydrate intake

Under-eating is a major cause of sleep problems from what I’ve seen, but it certainly isn’t the only nutritional factor in sleep problems. Carbohydrate restriction is another major contributor; carbohydrates help to get some nutrients into the brain to produce the hormones necessary for sleep; they also provide glucose, which is one of the two primary fuel sources of the body, and by most accounts, the preferred fuel source. Certainly, the brain requires glucose and if you fail to eat enough carbohydrates your body will produce glucose from other things to keep your brain alive.

People tend to sleep better when they eat more rather than less, and many people are surprised to find that they have been eating too few calories

The brain is fuelled using glucose that comes from stored energy in the liver. That stored form of glucose is called glycogen, and the liver can only store about 100 grams give or take, which means that if the liver is not well supplied, it is possible that sleep can be interrupted because of the stress of running out of the main reserve of brain fuel. People often find that eating substantial amounts of carbohydrates in the evening benefits their sleep.

There are other factors that are shown to influence melatonin levels, though it isn’t always clear that the effects will be substantial enough to influence sleep. For example, one study showed that eating orange, pineapple or banana significantly increased blood levels of melatonin, but was probably not enough to influence sleep. [Melatonin is present in the blood during daylight hours in small amounts, serving as an antioxidant and performing other functions, but the levels are much lower than at night.]

What to consume for better sleep

Vitamin B6 and folic acid

Vitamin B6 and folic acid are necessary for the formation of serotonin and so might be helpful for sleep when supplied in adequate amounts in your diet. This is sensible, and so adequate amounts are a very good idea, but there doesn’t seem to be any evidence that more is better. So if you eat a varied diet that includes meat [especially some organ meat], dairy, fish, potatoes, bananas, oranges and some green vegetables, you’re most likely covered when it comes to B6 and folic acid. Studies show little benefit from taking supplements, though. Of course that doesn’t mean that some people might not benefit. But most won’t. If you supplement with either of these vitamins, do not take more than the recommended daily allowance and use the active forms, which are less potentially toxic. Still, be cautious when taking supplements, particularly B6, since excess can lead to neuropathic symptoms.

Magnesium and zinc

It has been theorised that magnesium and zinc may also help convert serotonin to melatonin. However, studies don’t show any benefits from taking supplements of these as long as people have adequate dietary levels. If you eat some meat, especially red meat, and/or seafood, you’re likely getting enough zinc. Magnesium, on the other hand, may be more challenging to acquire through food, and, reportedly, many people are deficient. If you eat fish, dairy and green vegetables, you may get enough magnesium in your diet. If you choose to supplement, then you can opt for oral or transdermal supplementation.

• Oral magnesium supplements are often poorly absorbed, leading to gastrointestinal discomfort and loose stools; so look for the well absorbed forms such as magnesium citrate, malate, or glycinate and start with small amounts, increasing slowly to avoid gastrointestinal problems.
• For transdermal supplementation, one of the most relaxing and least expensive options is to soak in a warm Epsom salt bath. Soaking in an Epsom salt bath before bed can be very relaxing for many people and often improves sleep quality.

Omega-3 fatty acid

Although there aren’t any studies that show that an omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acid ratio affects human sleep, there is reason to suspect that it might. When omega-6 fatty acid levels are high, inflammation can be high. Therefore, reducing omega-6 fats in the diet [corn oil, soy oil, canola oil, and other vegetable oils excluding olive, coconut, and palm] and including some omega-3 fatty acid source such as fatty fish [sardines may be the best because they are lowest in mercury of all fish] may help to improve sleep.

Sleep and your wellbeing

Is sleep a solution to all your problems? It is not. But getting sufficient sleep over time can have surprisingly positive effects. And if health problems were caused by insufficient sleep in the first place—whether those are heart problems, blood sugar problems, mood problems, energy problems, or any other sort of problems—then replenishing your sleep stores and maintaining an adequate quantity and quality of sleep can work miracles in some cases. Even if getting enough sleep won’t solve everything, it can provide a necessary foundation for health and wellbeing.

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