We all know how important it is to get a good night’s sleep. Sleep allows our bodies and minds to rest, it allows our brains to function properly, and it even allows our bodies to be able to fight off illnesses. Unfortunately, not everyone is able to get a good night’s sleep. Three of the most common sleep disorders are sleep apnea, insomnia, and narcolepsy, which causes interrupted breathing during sleep, the inability to fall asleep/stay asleep, and the inability to control sleep, respectively. While some sleep issues may require counseling and/or medication, many others can be cured by simple changes in your routine and lifestyle.

Stop Doing These Things Before Bed

A lot of issues with sleeping actually stem from bad habits. 

Drinking Coffee/Other Caffeinated Drinks

Our bodies have natural sleep cycles and biological cycles in general. As the day goes on, our bodies wind down to prepare us for sleep. Consuming coffee, tea, and soda keeps our nervous system stimulated, preventing our bodies from truly resting.

Drinking Alcoholic Beverages

Like caffeine, consuming alcohol before going to bed causes sleep issues. One of those issues is sleep apnea, which is interrupted breathing during sleep. Sleep apnea symptoms can be alleviated with the help of a CPAP machine, but unfortunately, there has been a recall on those machines recently.

Eating and Exercising

Late-night snacks aren’t always a good idea before bed, though some particular snacks may have some benefits for sleep. Both eating healthy and exercising are good to do, but exercising right before bed can negatively affect your sleep. Exercise produces the adrenaline hormone, which can cause you to have trouble falling asleep. On the other hand, exercising earlier in the day helps you sleep better, and can even help with symptoms of insomnia.

Using Your Phone

By now, everyone has heard at least once in their lives that screen time before bed isn’t good, and this is true. The reason is because of blue light: our smartphones and many other devices release a high amount of bluelight which can trick our brains into thinking it’s daylight and we’re not supposed to be asleep yet. Fortunately, there are ways to reduce blue light exposure that don’t require us to not use our phones. Two examples are to wear blue light glasses that completely block blue light or to change the lighting of our phones to “nightshift” which significantly reduces the amount of blue light.

Consider Supplements

Sometimes supplements can be effective in helping to get a better night’s sleep. Melatonin is probably the most popular sleep aid, because this hormone naturally occurs in the brain to help with sleep. This is another treatment that is known to treat insomnia (the inability to fall and/or stay asleep). Other natural herbs and nutrients that have been shown to help improve sleep quality include:

• Glycine (amino acid)
• Lavender (herb)
• L-theanine (amino acid)
• Magnesium (mineral)
• Valerian root (herb)

Other Remedies

Studies have shown that white noise is an effective sleep aid. White noise is the combination of different high, medium, and low sound frequencies, which is effective at masking all other sounds. These sounds are associated with beach waves, waterfalls, fans, and air conditioners. There are actually other colors of noise, such as red noise, which is made up of more high frequencies. Surprisingly, and many people prefer it over white noise; other colors can also be beneficial for sleep.

Conclusion

Another factor that can be effective in helping with sleep is to change some things in your bedroom. A bedroom should be a relaxing place, and the darker it is in the room, the easier it will be to fall asleep. Temperature is another factor in your room that can either positively or negatively affect your sleep: experts say 70 degrees (fahrenheit, 20 degrees celsius) is the most comfortable temperature for the majority of people, but it’s okay to go with your preferences. Finally, make sure that your mattress, pillows, and bedding are all comfortable. If you would like to know more about super king mattresses in a box be sure to visit Sleep Republic