7 Tips to Sleep Better at Night

Having trouble falling asleep? Find yourself waking up over and over throughout the night, or waking up unsatisfied and tired? Fixing these problems might be as easy as changing up your nightly routine. Eliminate some of your bad nightly habits or implement new sleep strategies to ensure you sleep better at night.  Check out our seven tips sure to provide you with a timely, consistent, deep sleep you deserve, every night.

Consistency

One of the quickest ways to a better night’s sleep is to keep it consistent. Set a sleep schedule and stick to it. Go to bed and wake up at the same times every day; this will help your body develop a rhythm and make it easier for you to fall asleep at night. Also, designate your bed as a place only to sleep and don’t interrupt your sleep zone with anything else, including electronics, food or drink, or reading. Let your body know it’s time for sleep and not a time for anything else when you go to bed.

Melatonin

Melatonin is a natural hormone produced by your body that helps regulate your sleep cycle. If you are experiencing interrupted sleep or having difficulty falling asleep, you can take supplemental melatonin in addition to your consistent sleep schedule to help your body regulate your sleep.

Tryptophan

Tryptophan, most commonly recognized as turkey’s partner that helps you fall into a coma after stuffing yourself at Thanksgiving, is an amino acid found in protein-rich food. The body doesn’t make its own tryptophan, so you need to supplement it with your diet. It’s no myth, tryptophan does help your body produce melatonin and therefore, will help put you to sleep. Eating a light snack with tryptophan packed protein 45 minutes before bed will help induce sleep.

Daily workout

Not only is working out daily instrumental in living a healthy life, but it also leads to a healthy night’s sleep. Exercising will help you fall asleep and help you experience a deep, uninterrupted sleep. You don’t have to exercise like a madman, even a light workout, any time of day, will help you fall asleep quicker, improve your sleep quality, and lengthen your sleep time.

Avoid alcohol

Even a small amount of alcohol disrupts sleep. Alcohol inhibits your brains functions during sleep and interrupts the healthy sleep cycle, making it difficult for you to fall into your normal REM sleep; either shortening the duration or completely skipping the REM cycle.

Avoid electronics

Laptops, TV’s, and cell phones all give off light that engages the brain. Falling asleep is extremely difficult when your brain is fully engaged. We recommend that you avoid all electronics for the last hour leading up to your bedtime and implement a relaxing ritual before bed, like reading with light from a lamp instead of light emitted by electronics.

Avoid long naps

Although a power nap ranging from 10-20 minutes may be just what you need to get through the afternoon, you should avoid taking long naps. A cat nap helps combat that all too familiar drowsy filled afternoon, but naps 30 minutes and over can confuse your brain and body and disrupt your internal clock. Long naps make it difficult to fall asleep at your regular bedtime and obstruct your first few hours of sleep.

Take Action

Still not experiencing a satisfying sleep or falling victim to the same sleepless nights? The problem may be more than a hiccup in your nightly routine. You may be suffering from obstructive sleep apnea; over 80% of Americans’ sleep apnea goes undiagnosed. Don’t let sleep apnea steal your good night’s sleep. Arrange a visit with your physician today and conduct your home-based diagnostic testing with Vitalistics.