There are a few things people take on a regular basis that can
absolutely destroy their sleep cycles without them knowing it. And some
of those substances might come as surprise to you because you may think
they usually help you relax and fall asleep. But the opposite is true.
Not only are those substances bad for your health in general, but they
also are bad for your sleep.
Listen, if you want to improve your
sleep dramatically and you are currently doing one or more of the things
listed below, I urge you to stop doing them. And if you can't stop,
find some help. But it is absolutely critical that you get rid of those
bad habits. So here is a list of what not to do, and why you shouldn't
do it.
1. Alcohol: Yes I know exactly what you are thinking
and I can already here you. "But I have a glass of wine or two at night
and it actually helps me sleep". False, false and more false. Alcohol,
after stimulating you, will make you sleepy, drowsy and might help you
pass out faster, but you will remain in the first phases of sleep (light
sleep), and never enter deep restorative sleep. Because of its sedating
effect, people with sleep problems tend to drink at night. But even
though you may think the results are positive because you were able to
fall asleep faster, they are in fact rather negative, because alcohol
will actually disturb your sleep cycles and phases. Plus alcohol should
not be something you rely upon to fall asleep.
Here is another
interesting fact: if you thought drinking earlier in the day would not
affect your sleep well think again. According to the National Institute
on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (
http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/aa41.htm)
"Alcoholic beverages are often consumed in the late afternoon (e.g., at
"happy hour" or with dinner) without further consumption before
bedtime. Studies Roehrs, T., and Roth, T. Alcohol-induced sleepiness and
memory function. Alcohol Health Res World 19(2):130-135, 1995) show
that a moderate dose of alcohol consumed as much as 6 hours before
bedtime can increase wakefulness during the second half of sleep. By the
time this effect occurs, the dose of alcohol consumed earlier has
already been eliminated from the body, suggesting a relatively
long-lasting change in the body's mechanisms of sleep regulation"
Landolt, H.-P., et al. Late-afternoon ethanol intake affects nocturnal
sleep and the sleep EEG in middle-aged men. J Clin Psychopharmacol
16(6):428-436, 1996; Vitiello, M.V. Sleep, alcohol and alcohol abuse.
Addict Biol (2):151-158, 1997.)
Another interesting fact about
alcohol, is that it actually inhibits the secretion of a hormone called
ADH (Anti Diuretic Hormone), which when in normal levels makes you
retain the appropriate amount of water. But when you drink alcohol, this
hormone stops being produced, and therefore your body looses more water
than it should. This is called dehydration. So what does it mean for
you? Well the more alcohol you drink, the more your body will dehydrate
and this has 2 consequences:
1. When you are dehydrated, you can't sleep well and wake up thirsty in the middle of the night.
2. You wake up in the middle of the night with the urge to urinate.
So
here are 2 more ways alcohol disrupts your sleep. Knowing all this, we
can come to the conclusion you will be better off without drinking
alcohol at all. Does that sound too hard for you? Well you make the
choice: the pleasure of booze or restful healthy deep restorative sleep.
2. Nicotine:
Do you smoke? Do you find you need that last cigarette at night
otherwise you just can't relax from the busy day you had and won't be
able to fall asleep. Maybe as you are reading these words it's late, you
can't sleep and you have a cigarette between your fingers. Well let me
tell you something interesting: just as I said it with alcohol, you'd be
better off without it. So put it out right now! Yes you heard me; that
last cigarette of the day that is supposed to relax you, will in fact
have just the opposite effect.
If you are under the impression the cigarettes you smoke actually help you relax, you have been fooled. Nicotine is a stimulant!
Nicotine
stimulates your nervous system, and instead of helping you sleep, it is
going to keep you awake and tossing and turning in bed. It has the same
effect as drinking a cup of coffee.
Smokers will usually stay in a
light sleep and spend less time in deep restorative sleep, and may not
even enter deep sleep. Nicotine also reduces the amount of REM sleep.
You should now be well aware of the health dangers this leads to.
Nicotine withdrawal (the decrease of nicotine level in the body and the
need to replenish it) usually tends to wake up the smoker 3 to 4 hours
after falling asleep. Long-term chronic smokers may also develop
respiratory problems and cough, which greatly interferes with sleep. I
remember a man I had met some years ago, a chronic smoker; he had been
smoking 1 pack and a half a day for many years. He would cough so much
at night he wouldn't sleep; he couldn't lay down more than 10 minutes
without coughing and also had trouble breathing. The scary part is he
was only 45 years old. So if you are a smoker and would like to improve
your sleep, you know what to do! I am not telling you to quit cold
turkey; you could at least stop smoking 1 or 2 hours before going to
sleep. I know to some of you this seems impossible; well would you
rather remain with your sleep problem?
A last word on cigarette
smoking: even with all this information available to you, if you decide
to keep smoking, and can't give up that last cigarette of the day,
please make sure you do not smoke it in bed, or fall asleep with your
cigarette lit in your hand. Every year many, many people are injured,
and others die in fires caused by someone who fell asleep with a lit
cigarette. Be responsible, and you may save lives.
3. Caffeine:
If you didn't know it yet, caffeine is, according to wikipedia.com "the
world's most popular psychoactive drug". It is widely used for its
stimulating effect, to stay alert, and fight sleepiness. It is therefore
absolutely logical caffeine should be avoided in all its forms as we
get closer to the end of the day. But logic is not always followed. Have
you ever found yourself drinking a caffeinated drink less than 6 hours
before going to bed? Well if you have this bad habit, change it right
away because it can take up to 6 hours for caffeine effects to wear off.
Here are some of the known effects of caffeine:
-Stimulates the central nervous system
-Increases alertness
-Increases heart rate
-Diuretic (makes you urinate more)
-Raises body temperature
Another
little known fact is that caffeine is not just found in coffee. As a
matter of fact it is contained in many other common foods and it also
has different names such as:
-Guaranine
-Mateine
-Theine
And here is a list of the foods we can find caffeine in:
-Coffee
-Soft Drinks
-Chocolate
-Energy drinks
-Tea
-Some Diet Pills
Of
course not all theses foods contain the same amount of caffeine.
Chocolate for example has a low caffeine content. But did you know that a
serving of soft drink contains 10 mg to 50 mg of caffeine, when an
average serving of coffee contains 40 mg. You see soft drinks are as
much of a stimulant as coffee is. Also know that "decaf" does contain
caffeine, but in smaller amount. Odds are, you know you shouldn't drink
coffee at night and therefore you avoid it.
But are you avoiding
soft drinks as well? If you are drinking a couple of cans of soda within
6 hours of going to bed, you are increasing the caffeine in your body,
which in turn stimulates your nervous system, and will make it harder
for you to either fall asleep, or stay asleep. You may toss and turn in
bed with your eyes open for hours and wonder why you just can't relax
and go to sleep; the answer may lie in those cans of soda you had a few
hours ago, or even the cup of coffee you had after dinner.
As a
rule of thumb, if you have trouble sleeping at night, you should avoid
all caffeine containing food within 6 hours of going to bed. You will
dramatically increase your chances of going to sleep and staying asleep,
you will find it is much easier to relax, turn your mind off and
finally get the rest you need.
A side note on caffeine: Some
people consider caffeine as a substitute for sleep. They will just
disregard their lack of sleep and "compensate" with one cup of coffee
after another to stay awake and alert. Knowing what you now know about
the importance of sleep, I am sure you understand this is not something
you should do. Your body will accumulate fatigue, will not be able to
repair itself and will eventually breakdown (disease).
There is
absolutely NO substitute for sleep. If you are not sleeping enough,
drinking coffee, soda or taking caffeine pills to keep you awake and
"functioning" is not a solution. It can become a vicious cycle, leading
to addiction: someone does not sleep well at night, wakes up tired
without energy and decides to drink coffee all day long to "stay awake".
Caffeine accumulates in the system and when the time to sleep comes,
this person can't relax and stays wired due to all the coffee drunk
during the day. The next day, he wakes up tired again and starts the
process over. If this is happening to you, your health could be in
serious danger and I would recommend you find a way out of the
addiction, and stop relying on coffee. You will be tired at first, maybe
even completely exhausted, but your body isn't a machine!
4. Sugar:
Sugar is not technically a stimulant but its effects are similar. The
intake of sugar will cause a raise in your body insulin level to
metabolize it, leading to a surge of energy. Amongst other things sugar
stimulates the release of dopamine, which can lead to hyperactivity.
Knowing this, you will probably want to stay away from all high sugar
content foods, especially refined white sugar. This means no sodas
(again), ice cream, candy bars, cookies and many other things!
The
average soda, for example, contains about 40 mg of refined sugar, which
is equivalent to about 10 teaspoons of sugar. Not only does sugar
interfere with sleep but it also leads to obesity, diabetes, and tooth
decay. From now on, make a conscious effort to avoid refined white
sugar, and yes you will have to change your habits, but there can't be
any results without change. You body will thank you for it.
5. Exercising at night:
You must know that exercising at night or shortly before bedtime can
have the opposite effect and keep you up. To prevent this sort of
problem, you should always avoid exercising close to bedtime. As a rule,
do not exercise 3 hours before going to bed. It is much better to
exercise in the morning, and if you don't have time, you could start
waking up 30 minutes earlier.
As you become familiar with your
sleep, understand your natural rhythms, and start getting good quality,
deep restorative sleep, you will notice that waking up earlier is
actually easy and gives you more energy. Take advantage of this extra
time to exercise instead of ending the day with it.
So there you have it 5 sleep killers revealed to you. You know what to do!
