Eat the Right Diet
Your diet can have a lot to do with the quality of sleep that you get at night. If you find yourself frequently eating foods full of sugar and refined carbs, you could be putting your blood sugar on a roller coaster, which can be detrimental to your sleep cycles and could keep you up at night. By cutting down on these foods and taking care to avoid them before bed, you can help improve your sleep quality.
Beyond that, you should also be introducing more foods into your diet that can actually help you sleep better. There are a wide range of fruits and vegetables that can be great for this, and making sure that you get plenty of fiber and lean protein is a good idea as well. If you don’t always feel that you can get all the nutrients you need from your diet alone, though, adding a supplement like propower plus coupon can be beneficial as well.
Avoid Certain Substances
Many love their morning coffee because it gives them the energy to get their day started, but what they may not realize is that while coffee gives them energy during the day, it can also keep them restless and cause them to be unable to sleep at night. By limiting your caffeine intake to the earlier hours of the day only, you can help to avoid this issue.
Alcohol may seem like a great way to unwind at night to some, but the reality is that it can be very disruptive to sleep cycles. This means that while you may be able to fall asleep easily after drinking alcohol, you may struggle to stay asleep and will probably wake up throughout the night. While a drink or two occasionally may not cause a lot of issues, frequently consuming alcohol can be problematic for your sleep, so cutting down your intake could be helpful.
Stick To a Regular Schedule
When trying to get better sleep, sticking to a schedule can be important. This is because your body has its own internal clock that it follows, which is sometimes referred to as its circadian rhythms. These rhythms like to follow patterns and stay regular, and because of this it is much easier to fall into a deep sleep when you go to bed at the same time every night. While it may not always be possible to stick to a strict schedule, going to bed around the same time every night, even on the weekends if possible, can make a big difference for your sleep quality.
Have a Comfortable Sleeping Environment
The environment that you sleep in can have a big impact on how well you are able to sleep throughout the night. If you have a bedroom that is too bright, noisy or hot, it can make it hard for you to sleep like you need to. Some ways to change this are to make sure that your room is dark, cool, and quiet. Room darkening curtains or blinds can be great for keeping light out. Also, turning down the temperature or using a fan when you go to be can be helpful as well. If there is too much noise to deal with throughout the night, trying a sleeping mask that also covers your ears or some ear plugs could be good options.
Have a Nighttime Ritual
Having a relaxing night time ritual can be a good way to get into the right headspace for sleep every night, and signal to your body that it is time for rest. Some good pre-bedtime activities can include taking a hot bath, meditating, reading a book or journaling, as they can all be calming activities. Additionally, it is important to avoid activities that may seem calming, but that can actually keep you up at night, like watching television or scrolling on your phone. While they may seem like relaxing, passive activities, the reality is that the blue light from TVs and other devices can actually signal to your brain that it is time to wake up, and can disrupt your sleep cycles.
Get Plenty of Exercise During the Day
What you do during the day can have a big impact on your ability to sleep at night. The more active you are, the more that you can use up excess energy, and ensure that you will be tired when bedtime comes, rather than feeling restless. Exercise is also great because it can balance hormones, which have a direct impact on your sleep quality. Working out also helps reduce some issues like anxiety and depression, which can be big sleep disruptions and can cause insomnia. The good news is that it doesn’t matter what kind of exercise you do during the day, as long as you get your body moving for at least 15 to 20 minutes 5 days out of the week you can improve your sleep quality.
Get Your Vitamin D
The amount of sunshine you get each day can also have an impact on your ability to sleep well at night. This is because sunlight can have a direct impact on your circadian rhythms, so getting sun during the day helps your brain to know when to be alert, and when it needs to get rest. Beyond that, your brain also has many vitamin D receptors, and when these receptors don’t get adequate levels of vitamin D, it can be hard for you to sleep properly.
One of the best ways to get adequate amounts of vitamin D is of course to spend time outside in the sun. For many, as little as 15 to 20 minutes of sun exposure is enough to boost D levels properly. If you can’t get outside for that amount of time each night, taking a vitamin D supplement can help. However, it is important to make sure that you are taking your vitamin D supplements during the day time, so as not to interfere with sleep cycles.
The Takeaway
The quality and amount of sleep you get each night can have a direct impact on how you feel each day. While it may not always feel easy to get all the sleep you need, the good news is that improving sleep quality can often be as simple as making a few lifestyle changes like improving your diet or exercising more.
If your sleep isn’t improving with some lifestyle changes, you may have sleep apnea or another sleep disorder. Take the quiz below to find out.
