And rightly so. A good night's sleep can be truly transformative, and a lack of it can cause all sorts of havoc with your mood, health, and even weight. Yikes.
The thing is, many of us are unknowingly sabotaging our sleep with these following bad habits.
Here is what a sleep expert claims you should
Hands in the air, how many of you are guilty of using your phone as an alarm clock? I know I do. The thing is, according to US sleep pathologist Sharon Moore, this is a detrimental mistake.
“Never,
never, allow screens to be in the bedroom,” Moore recently told
Mydomaine.com. "The blue light of digital screens switches off melatonin and wakes up the brain."
2. Watch TV
There is no denying that the majority of our waking life now involves some sort of device, but be warned that experts are now calling this out to be a huge problem for both our minds and bodies.
"Avoiding screen time when you get home from work for the day could benefit your quality of sleep," explains Moore.
At a minimum, TV screens should be switched off an hour before you hit the hay to give your brain a chance to wind down.
3. Drink too much water
Much as we are told to up our water intake, it would seem it is better to make sure we are drinking enough earlier in the day, and not right before we are due to go asleep.
"I don't recommend big drinks less than an hour before bed," Moore says.
4. Stray from your routine
According to Moore, successful sleepers all have at least one thing in common: a consistent nighttime ritual. "The body's chemical signals that induce sleep are strictly associative, [so] routine is really important," she explains.
Aside from routines like reading a book, taking a bath or hanging out your clothes for the next day, studies have also shown that it can be beneficial to your sleep cycle that you go to sleep and wake up at the same time every day.
What this means, guys; is that the aul' cathing-up-on-lost-sleep come the weekend might actually be doing you more harm than good...
5. Eat too much
If your body is still busy digesting dinner when you are trying to fall asleep, chances are you won't. Or you will have a very restless sleep, anyway.
"Your digestive system is winding down and processing nutrients," explains sleep expert Nancy Rothstein to Mydomaine.com. "The ideal time to eat is at least three hours before you go to bed."
6. Drink wine
I know, I know, wine is supposed to calm us down and make us more drowsy, making you think it is the perfect nighttime drink, but no, unfortunately not according to those in the know.
In fact, according to a five-year study by the University of Missouri School of Medicine, researchers found that alcohol actually
interferes with your body's internal timer that helps regulate when you feel tired and when you wake up. What this means is that while a glass of wine or two might make you feel more sleepy, it could actually lead to a more disrupted and restless sleep.
7. Work out
Keeping physically active is very important for your overall health, including your sleep cycle. But according to the experts, you should avoid raising your heart rate too much right before going to bed.
A study by the Brigham Young University in Utah found that
participants who exercised at 7 a.m. each morning woke significantly fewer times during the night and spent less time in REM sleep, the light phase the body enters when you first fall asleep.
What this means, of course, is that you might be better off scheduling your kettle bells class for first thing in the morning as opposed to at night.
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