Too many people have poor quality sleep or a lack of sufficient sleep. \u00a0In our busy life styles we cram more and more into our day (and night) and with the advent of the cell phone we could go on for 24\/7 if our body could keep up with us. \u00a0As humans evolved they would be active during the day, when the sun came up, and they would rest and sleep when the sun went down. \u00a0This meant that in the summer time when days were longer we would be more active, we would eat more food, which was more abundant during the growing season. In the winter time, when days were shorter we would sleep for longer periods which would help conserve our strength, warmth and energy output, when days were shorter and food supplies less abundant. \u00a0As a rule of thumb a healthy individual should sleep approximately 8 hours a day, there are some people who can get by on only 6 hours of sleep, if those six hours are the deep, restful, abundant sleep referred to as REM sleep. \u00a0Don\u2019t confuse sleeping only six hours due to the necessity of getting to work or some motivator other than having a true deep restful \u2013 restorative sleep. \u00a0<\/p>\r\n
If you are anxious, stressed or have an over-active mind you may turn to a sleep aid; this is a drugged form of sleep and will not give you the Restful-Restorative sleep that you require to maintain good health. \u00a0Pay attention to your meal planning; ideally you will want to eat approximately 3 to 4 hours before bedtime, this will allow your body to digest your food before you go to sleep. \u00a0It takes two to four hours for the average meal to digest and requires the energy equivalent to walking approximately five miles. \u00a0Remember your body was designed to slow down once the sun goes down, so your digestive process will now take longer to complete. \u00a0People often complain about waking up very tired in the morning; well if you ate a heavy meal just before bedtime, your liver and digestive system will now take much longer to digest, which means your digestive system has been working most of the night when it should have been resting and restoring its energy. \u00a0<\/p>\r\n
Pay attention to what you drink and how much you drink before you go to bed; do not drink sodas or sugary drinks, caffeinated drinks (including chocolate milk), alcohol in moderation may help you relax, but beer tends to be a stimulant and may upset your sleep. \u00a0 Too much fluid may cause you to get up at night to pee; this becomes more of a problem as we age because the muscle structure of our bladder, intestines, and abdomen become weaker. \u00a0 Constipation is also a contributing factor for incontinence; for men as we age the prostate gland swells restricting the flow of urine causing weak urine control and increased trips to pee at night. \u00a0These problems can be prevented or treated with proper healthcare and lifestyle practices. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n
Be aware of your circadian rhythm, your sleep\/wake cycle which influences our hormones and neurotransmitters that signal our bodies when to sleep; as the sun goes down our hormone melatonin increases stimulating sleep. \u00a0As the sun raises in the morning our melatonin levels drop and our hormone serotonin increases which stimulates our waking\/active time. \u00a0As the sun goes down serotonin levels drop which has a calming effect on the body. \u00a0While we all have our individual circadian rhythms, some wake early and go to bed early, while others may go to bed late and sleep in late. \u00a0And still some may require eight or more hours of sleep while others may do fine on six hours sleep. \u00a0The key is creating your own sleep\/wake cycle that allows you to have a deep, profound, restful sleep which allows you to wake up rested and energetic. \u00a0 If you are overstressed and sleep deprived you will pay the price by weakening your immune system and accelerating the aging process.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n
\u00a0Next pay attention to your physical surroundings, is the room quiet? \u00a0 Is it dark? \u00a0Is the temperature correct? Too hot or too cold will affect the quality of your sleep. Is your bed comfortable, firm but not too soft or too hard? \u00a0 Stress causes surges of our stress hormones cortisol and adrenalin, this can disrupt our cognition, our ability to regulate our emotions, it reduces our brain power and productivity and reduces our concentration and memory and increases anxiety. \u00a0Sleep is the most important thing you can do to improve your performance in life. \u00a0Suggested sleep requirements; Teens 9 \u2013 10 hours, Adults 7- 9 hours.<\/p>\r\n