Sleep hygiene is all the craze lately! It should have been more of a focus before now, but medicine appears to be going back to the basics and focusing more directly on the natural systems of the human body and holistic functional approaches to physical problems. It’s no longer the amount of sleep that people are focusing on, but the quality of sleep as well. But why all of a sudden is everyone so focused on sleep patterns?
If you are having trouble sleeping, you aren’t the only one!! 60 million Americans have chronic sleep disorders such as insomnia, sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome, narcolepsy, etc. It is hardly a small problem! So what is the problem with missing out on a few Zzzz’s? Most people would think of missing out on sleep as no big deal or even maybe be proud of how productive they are and how little time they have to sleep, but, if it is happening regularly, it begins to lead to sleep deprivation.
Sleep deprivation is no joke!! It causes its own set of serious potential problems such as:
- Weight gain from increased cortisol (stress hormone) levels
- Higher levels of anxiety
- Higher levels of depression
- Impaired cognition
- Interruption of circadian rhythm
- Higher risk of stroke x 4 times
- Higher risk of heart disease
- Higher risk of breast cancer
- Higher risk of diabetes
- Unhealthy cravings and increased obesity due to a higher tendency to eat higher calorie and high carb foods
- Higher risk of injury due to decreased coordination
As you can see, sleep deprivation has been linked to several health problems. At the very least, it causes mood changes, difficulty making positive decisions about personal safety and food, and can affect concentration which is bad for school/job performance and driving safety.
You can imagine that because all of these BAD things are caused by lack of sleep that there MUST be really good things happening when we DO sleep!! There are!! Sleep is when the brain gets a chance to rest from external stimulus in your environment and detox. The brain actually rewires while you sleep based on what it learned that day. It is when all the muscle cells repair from a hard workout. Repair is not only for the muscles, sleep is also when repair and upkeep is done to your immune system which fights off everything from a cold to cancer. Not only that, but you also have an increased release in growth hormone as well as a decrease in ghrelin (hunger hormone) which helps to suppress your appetite during the day.
Science of sleep
There are several things that should be considered when talking about a better night’s sleep. Obvious first step is analyzing bedtime. It is important to go to bed at the same time every night to maintain circadian rhythm. Circadian rhythm is the natural internal clock in your brain that controls sleep/wake cycles. When you are going to bed at regular intervals, the circadian rhythm functions well and you are able to achieve a more restful sleep. If you are going to bed at different times each night, this can throw off the circadian rhythm and cause sleep deprivation, due to the poor quality of the sleep you are getting, which leads to all the trouble mentioned above.
Second thing is to look at is how you are feeling each day. Are you sleeping 8 hours, but waking up groggy and ready to go back to sleep? This could be caused by the sleep quality that you have and just how restless your night’s sleep is. If you are not getting a restful sleep, you are not achieving deep healing sleep which increases chances of cardiovascular problems in the future. If you aren’t getting a good sense of how restless you are when you are sleeping, I found it very helpful to wear a health tracker. I started with wearing a Fitbit and currently wear an apple watch that works with an app. The info that I get from the health trackers really help to create awareness of what I may be doing to improve or hinder my good sleep. Personally, it has made a tremendous difference for me with feelings of anxiety and has improved my overall level of concentration during daily tasks.
Average sleeping heart rate is the third thing that can be affecting your sleep. A slower average for the resting heart rate is indicating less risk for cardiovascular issues and better overall health in the future.
As well as having a low heart rate while sleeping, you also want your heart rate to dip at least 10% from the resting heart rate that you maintain all day. This is a good sign of the heart’s ability to recover. Truthfully, the way to affect both average sleeping heart rate and sleeping heart rate dip is to exercise regularly for about 30 mins a day minimum. This is one of the ways that exercise can help make a positive effect on your day to day health as well as your projected health.
What do I do to correct this?
The best thing to do is start slow and change a few things at a time.
1. You can start by eliminating lights in the room and blue light from phones and TV right before bedtime.
2. Get a sleep and activity tracker.
3. Increase your daily activity level to work on your resting heart rate.
4. And, of course, the easiest thing is to set a bedtime and stick to it especially during the week when physical and mental demands of work and family can be the toughest.
5. Check out my post on 15 more sleep tips for you to try.
If you attempt these easy changes and still notice that you haven’t been getting proper rest, it may be time to talk to your doctor. He/She may want to do a sleep study on you to determine if there are bigger issues going on with your sleep and your health. Remember that positive proactive changes that you make now can affect you in the long run!! Happy sleeping!!
