Too little sleep has been shown to rev up hunger hormones, increase inflammation (a known trigger of premature aging and disease), increase the risk of obesity, depression, type 2 diabetes and heart disease, and negatively impact emotional well-being, mental abilities, productivity and performance. Yikes!
If you’re like me you may think, “I don’t have time to sleep!” but getting even a little more can result in a big health pay off (including your weight loss results). Inadequate sleep creates a "sleep debt," which is much like being overdrawn at a bank. Eventually, your body will demand that the debt be repaid, and until then a cascade of side effects continue to wreak havoc on your health.
Despite how normal you may feel, research shows that the human body isn’t very good at adapting to a lack of sleep. Sleep-deprived drivers perform as badly as or worse than those who are intoxicated. Sleepiness also affects negatively memory and can lead to mood swings and digestive problems. So what can you do? Here are eight effective strategies. Try to actively work on at least one at a time:
- Create a sleep-conducive environment. Ideal sleep conditions include a dark, quiet room comfortable that’s fairly cool (temperatures above 75 degrees Fahrenheit and below 54 degrees will disrupt sleep).
- Use your bedroom only for sleep and sex – working on your laptop in bed is a known trigger for insomnia.
- Fit in some sort of physical activity – my favorite is walking. In my new book S.A.S.S! Yourself Slim: Conquer Cravings, Drop Pounds and Lose Inches I dedicate an entire chapter to falling in love with walking and explain why I think it’s the perfect form of exercise.
- Establish a regular, relaxing bedtime routine, like a bath followed by reading a book or listening to soothing music.
- Finish eating at least 2 hours before your regular bedtime.
- Avoid caffeine (e.g. coffee, tea, chocolate) at least 2 hours before bedtime.
- Avoid alcohol close to bedtime. Although many people believe a glass of wine or a cocktail will help them fall asleep, research shows it actually disrupts sleep by causing you to wake up in the middle of the night and not sleep soundly.
- Maintain a regular sleep and wake time schedule including weekends. I know this is a really tough one. It’s the most difficult for me since I don’t have a fixed work schedule, but I’m trying!
One of the reasons I went back to school to get a second master’s degree in public health with a major in community and family health was because I knew that nutrition isn’t the only piece of the health puzzle. In this section of my site you’ll find articles that deal with aspects of wellness beyond nutrition, including fitness, social support, and emotional health. I hope you’ll come back and email me (through the contact tab on the top right of the screen) to let me know about the type of content you’d like to see here.
Let me leave you with a fun fact: prior to the invention of the light bulb, we slept about 10 hours a night. Today, Americans average 6.9 hours of sleep on weeknights and 7.5 hours on weekends.
