Oh sleep, I have such a love/hate relationship with you. I love when I can get enough, good quality sleep, and I HATE when I can’t. The best part is there doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason behind me sleeping well or not. At least, not that I can find. Before I sign up for a sleep study, I wanted to see if there’s anything out there I might be missing….
Quick refresher: the CDC recommends 7 hours of sleep a night OR MORE for adults 18 years and older. Now, not everyone needs 7; there are some people out there who need less (or a lot more), but it’s a good starting point. How do you know if you’re getting enough sleep? The theory is, if you’re getting enough sleep you’ll be well rested and won’t even need an alarm in the morning; you’ll naturally wake up. Bonus, you won’t be dragging during the day trying to figure out how to squeeze in a nap. Sounds glorious, but definitely not me…
So to figure out when you need to wake up, say 6am, work backwards- that would be a 10pm bedtime when counting backward 7 hours. Give it a go for a week. Still tired when 6am comes around? You probably need to go to bed earlier. Wide awake by 5:30, you might be able to run on a little less.
Now that you have an idea about what time you should be going to bed, let’s run through the common tips to help promote a good night’s sleep.
- Go to bed at the same time and wake up at the same time. Even on weekends (that’s the hard part!). A study in 2018 found that an irregular sleep pattern was linked to a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, greater obesity, hypertension, fasting glucose, hemoglobin A1c, and diabetes, as well as increased stress and depression. The study isn’t saying that one late night here or there will mess up everything, but chronic late nights or varied bedtimes and wake times can take its toll. So, just like a kid, start sticking to a bedtime.
- Make your bedroom conducive to sleep. Ditch the TV in the room and hide the computer in a cabinet; your bedroom is for sleep and sex ONLY. Per the Cleveland Clinic, your room should be between 60 to 67° F as well as dark and quiet (think of it like a sleeping cave). Side note: try to clean up a little; clutter can keep you awake.
- Limit light exposure. “Exposure to light suppresses the secretion of melatonin, a hormone that influences circadian rhythms. Even dim light can interfere with a person’s circadian rhythm and melatonin secretion” according to Harvard Sleep. The Sleep Foundation recommends turning off all electronics 30 minutes before bed (and I’ve seen up to an hour before bed from other sources…). TV, iPad, phone, computer, anything with a screen. Blue light from these screens can trick your body into thinking it’s still daylight and keep you up. While you’re at it, invest in some good black out curtains to keep out the street lights and morning sun if needed.
- Don’t eat too much or too little before bed. Confusing right? Let’s work backwards again, if bedtime is 10pm, 3 hours before is the ideal time to eat- so 7pm. That allows proper time to digest your meal. But if you eat early, maybe around 5:30/6pm, you might need a night time snack. Think: small bowl of cereal, yogurt, a few crackers with cheese, ½ a sandwich. This can help stabilize blood sugars during the night, but it’s also not too much to cause acid reflux or digestion issues while you’re sleeping. On the other hand, if you’re just home for dinner around 8 or 9pm and bedtime is fast approaching, you probably shouldn’t eat as much as you normally would earlier in the evening. Think ½-⅔ of your typical dinner.
- Avoid caffeine and alcohol before bed. Dr. Deirdre Conroy recommends cutting off caffeine about 8 hours before bed, though does note that caffeine affects everyone differently (for this girl I cut it off about 10 hours beforehand; I think it’s a placebo effect, but if I have anything after noon, I swear it keeps me up ALLLL night). The recommendation for alcohol is 3 hours before bed. Alcohol can help you fall asleep, but it’s not a restful night’s sleep, so stick to the recommended 1 serving for women and 2 servings for men.
- Exercise. Looks like about 30 minutes of exercise per day and you’re good to go. A review done in 2017 of over 30 studies found “mounting evidence that physical exercise is an effective intervention for those who do not experience adequate sleep quantity or quality”. Researchers aren’t sure why exactly, but the link is there. Like most things, the timing depends on the person. It’s generally not recommended to do heart pumping exercises, like running or HIIT workouts, right before bed, but some people can without any effect on their sleep. Worried it might keep you up? Try yoga, strength training, or stretching.
Doing all of the above and still having trouble falling asleep, or worse (in my opinion) staying asleep? Here are some other, more interesting things I’ve come across that might help.
- Set up a bedtime routine. 30-60 minutes before bed start doing the same thing every night, in the same order. This is going to signal to your body that you’re getting close to bedtime. It might include turning off the TV and putting down the phone. Then brushing your teeth and doing a skin care routine, then some light stretching before bed followed by a book or crossword puzzle. This works in a few recommendations- going to bed at the same time and limiting light, boom!
- Check your mattress. Is it old? Did you pick it? Are you sharing it with a partner who might not sleep the same way as you? You sleep (on average) ⅓ of your life, so time to start investing. Look into a sleep number mattress if you need 2 different types of bed (think soft versus hard). Have you tried a memory foam mattress, what about an adjustable bed. Comfort is key here.
- Perhaps you need some sensory deprivation. Is your room not quite dark enough? Try a sleep mask. A little too noisy? Try a white noise machine. OR level up and try a sleep mask with headphones! (Full disclosure, I’m not promoting them, just throwing them out there as an option). Even a little light or the occasional noise can wake people up (snoring…cough cough)
- Try again. If you take longer than 20-30 minutes to fall asleep, or fall back asleep, get out of bed and try a quiet activity with minimal light for 15 or so minutes to try and get tired again. Then go back to bed. Try not to lay there staring at the clock saying “If I fall asleep now, I’ll get this many hours… (no just me?)
- Meditation- as in turn your brain off. This research is a little limited/new, but it makes sense. Learning to turn your thoughts off, or letting them go, can help promote sleep. If you find yourself sitting awake at night thinking about to-do lists, stressing about work, randomly remembering things that could just wait till morning, this might be just the ticket. If you want to try, there are meditations specific to helping you fall asleep AND help you fall back asleep. Apps like Calm and Headspace can make it really easy for you (just be sure to set your phone to Night or Dark mode to limit light).
- Have you heard of a worry journal? Maybe meditation is a little too out there for you, or it sounds a little daunting, so try a worry journal! Before bed, up to several hours before bed, grab a pen and paper and write down anything on your mind. There are specific journals you can buy for this, but a good ol’ composition book or legal pad (or post it note if you write small) will do just fine. The idea is to get your worries out of your head and onto some paper. You don’t have to solve them, just recognize them and say, ok, tomorrow (cause we know they’ll just be there tomorrow whether we worry about them or not). One suggestion is to do it a few hours before bed, then you might even be able to take a step back and acknowledge some aren’t that important (like do I HAVE to clean the bathroom tomorrow, or can it wait a day), or maybe find a better way to deal with some worries (delegate!). Can’t hurt to try right?
- Change up your bedding. Did you know there is something called a cooling comforter if you run hot? Me neither, until recently. Check out some here. Or try a weighted blanket if you like the feel of 19 blankets on top of you, like I do! You might need to ditch the jersey sheets for cotton, or swap cotton for silk. And don’t get me started on pillows! There are pillows specifically for the position you sleep in-like side vs back, there are different types of fill, different firmness levels. And get this, you’re supposed to replace your pillow every 1-2 years! (Oops!)
- Scents to soothe you to sleep. Chamomile, sandalwood, jasmine, and lavender can be used to help people fall asleep. Try a diffuser, mist oil on your pillow, or rub a few drops on your skin before bed. Breath deeps and soon you’ll be fast asleep…maybe?
- Get sleepy with a drink. Cherry juice (look for no sugar added) can be tart, but it contains melatonin, a lovely sleep hormone we need to drift off. Milk contains tryptophan (an amino acid we use to make melatonin) as well as melatonin itself. Sleepytime tea is another option. It’s made with Chamomile, which like we mentioned above can help promote sleep. Plus, the ritual of drinking tea can be relaxing, and relaxed is just what you need to be to fall asleep. So try one about an hour before bed as part of your bedtime routine!
Sleep can be elusive, come one night, not the next, but most of my research points to the same thing- be consistent. Try to eat healthy during the day with some exercise sprinkled in, go to bed at the same time, set up a routine to prepare your body for sleep. Your room should be the same (dark and cool) every night. But if you’re doing all those things and you’re still struggling, maybe some of the more interesting tricks might help…worth a try, right?
Stay Happy, Stay Healthy
This blog was written by Chris Henigan MS, RD, LDN, co-founder of Simple Start Nutrition. For more blog posts and nutrition information follow @simplestartnutrition on Instagram and Facebook. Also feel free to contact us, by visiting our website (simplestartnutrition.com) to schedule an appointment to discuss your nutrition related needs.
