SLEEP
(texts extracted from blog.underarmour.com)
8 Bad Habits That Are Ruining Your Sleep
Here are eight common culprits you can fix right away.
If you fall asleep the second your head hits the pillow, you should probably rethink your strategy. “People who do that are sleep-deprived,” says Phyllis Zee, MD, PhD, director of the Sleep Disorders Center at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. “It usually takes a healthy person about 10 to 15 minutes to fall asleep.”
On the other hand, if you’re still staring at the clock 30 minutes — or an hour, or many hours — later, one or more of these nighttime bad habits may be to blame.
1- Consuming caffeine
The cutoff time for coffee is 2 p.m., says James Maas, PhD, author of “Sleep for Success.” If you’re really sensitive, it may be best to limit your caffeine to one cup in the morning. “Caffeine can affect you for six, seven, eight, maybe even more than 10 hours,” Zee says.
2- Drinking alcohol
Sure, a nightcap may help you fall asleep — but it won’t be a sound sleep. That wine or gin will make you wake up during the night, experts say. “It ruins REM sleep, which is key for body and brain restoration,” Maas says.
Feel free to have a glass of wine with dinner, but cut out alcohol within two to three hours before your bedtime, Zee recommends.
3- Using electronics
As if you need another reason to stop being on your phone 24/7… but hear this: Blue light sources like those from your phone, tablet and laptop suppress the production of melatonin, Zee says.
Melatonin is a hormone that controls your body clock, and those levels typically increase as it gets darker in the evening. But if you’re too busy swiping on Tinder or responding to work emails into the wee hours, your melatonin levels won’t rise, and you won’t feel sleepy.
4- Watching TV
The amount of blue light your television emits depends on the type, but no matter what, the light is bright, Zee says. And while you sit farther away from your big screen than you do your phone, you still want to avoid any kind of bright light because it all impacts your melatonin levels.
Plus, something like “Game of Thrones” or even the news might be disturbing or thought-provoking, which isn’t conducive to rest
5- Exercising
Working out can help you sleep better, but you have to time it correctly.
In general, Zee recommends wrapping up your gym session within three hours of your bedtime. However, we’re all different (and maybe the only time you can fit in a workout is later in the evening), so see what’s best for you.
6- Eating spicy foods
Avoid spicy foods and anything else that might upset your stomach close to bedtime. Zee says to stop eating about three hours before hitting the sheets, but Maas says a light snack is OK. If you worry that hunger will keep you up, have some cereal, fruit and nut butter or crackers with hummus.
7- Turning up the heat
Your body temperature drops as you doze, so a cooler room may help you fall asleep faster. The National Sleep Foundation says 15-20°C is the slumber sweet spot.
8- Working
Answering emails on your smartphone after-hours is not only is a source of blue light, it also negatively impacts your performance the next day.
6 Reasons You’re Not Sleeping
There’s a long and varied list of factors that can keep you from sleeping at night, but there’s one thing all sleepless nights have in common: They’re rough. Whether you’re suffering from anxiety, allergies or a chronic form of insomnia, losing sleep can seriously throw you off your game — both at the office and at the gym.
Here are the six most common reasons you’re not getting enough zzz’s and how to fix them.
1. YOUR MINDSET
The issue: Often, those of us who have trouble sleeping can chalk it up to depression or anxiety, says Michael Breus, PhD, a clinical psychologist who specializes in sleep disorders and the author of “The Power of When.” “There’s a level of anxiety that builds and builds as soon as you turn off the lights,” he says. “You finally get into bed and turn out the lights, and as soon as you do that, all of the thoughts from your day start flooding into your brain and there’s no way to stop that.” When that happens, we tense up — literally — making sleep almost impossible.
The fix: The key here is to reduce your anxiety and thereby lower your heart rate, which is a prerequisite for drifting off to dreamland. “I have patients count backwards from 300 by threes,” Breus says. “It’s so mathematically frustrating you can’t think about anything else, and it’s so boring you’re out almost right away.” Reading can also help calm you down.
2. YOUR PHONE, TABLET AND COMPUTER
The issue: There’s a reason experts tell you to unplug before bed: The blue light emitted by your screen can really screw with your sleep cycle since it affects your brain’s ability to produce melatonin (one of the essential sleep hormones), says Breus.
The fix: Make it a point to unplug about an hour before bedtime (which can also help with the anxiety issue). If you want to create a total sleep sanctuary, replace your bedroom bulbs with ones that filter out blue light and emit a softer glow.
3. YOUR BEDROOM
The issue: In addition to not having the right lights, other environmental factors like sounds and smells can have a major effect on your ability to get a good night’s rest. “After light, sound is the second most common environmental reason for contributing to sleep problems,” says Breus. “It can have a huge impact on not only your ability to fall asleep but stay asleep — especially if there’s any emotional content to the sound.”
The fix: Ideally, your bedroom should be a total sleep sanctuary — that means first and foremost investing in the kind of mattress, pillows and bedding you’ll be dreaming of all day. To remedy sound issues, reach for ear plugs or download a white noise app. And finally, look for some lavender. “There’s actually data to show that lavender does in fact help you fall asleep,” says Breus. “It causes a relaxation response in your body.”
4. YOUR DIET
The issue: You’re probably aware that caffeine too close to bedtime is a bad idea, but most people don’t know just how early they should be cutting themselves off, says Breus. “You should be stopping caffeine around 2 p.m.,” he advises. “Most people don’t know that caffeine has a half-life of about 6–9 hours depending on your metabolism, so you want to give your body plenty of time to process it.” Also to be avoided before bedtime are spicy foods and meals high in fat or sugar, as they can up your heart rate or cause digestive issues that will keep you awake.
The fix: Before bed, stick to mild meals and make sure you check your caffeine content.
5. YOUR SCHEDULE
The issue: “The number 1 way to get good sleep is by keeping a consistent sleep schedule,” says Breus. That being said, having a variable schedule during the week or throwing a wrench in things with time zone-hopping travel can cause major sleep issues.
The fix: Do whatever you can to stick to a consistent schedule — even on the weekends. “When you stick to a regular sleep schedule during the week, not only does your body fall asleep faster but your body also gets into deep sleep quicker,” Breus says.
6. YOUR ALLERGIES
The issue: “We know that indoor allergies cause congestion, and congestion causes snoring,” says Breus. Not only can that keep you up, but it can also cause sleep disturbances for your partner — a lose-lose situation.
The fix: If you notice you’re feeling stuffy on occasion, invest in an air purifier for your bedroom and make sure you’re regularly purging your space of dust bunnies. If the issue is more chronic, see your doctor about getting allergy medication.
The Best and Worst Foods for Sleep
Eating and sleeping are basic human needs that go hand in hand in many ways. It’s no surprise that what you eat before going to bed affects the quality of your sleep.
“The foods we eat before bed can give us the nudge we need to make good sleep great — or they can keep us up all night,” says Dr. W. Christopher Winter, medical director of the Sentara Martha Jefferson Sleep Medicine Center in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Here, we explore the best and worst foods to eat before nodding off:
BEST FOR SLEEP:
Melatonin-Rich Foods. For example, cherries, walnuts
A Warm Drink. When you spike your core body temperature with a hot drink, your blood vessels respond by dilating and letting off heat as quickly as possible — the exact same process that naturally occurs as you drift off to la-la land, he says.
High-Glycemic Carbs. For example, white rice, bananas and granola. Insulin spikes actually help induce sleep. Researchers believe high-GI foods may improve tryptophan and melatonin production.
High-Casein Dairy. For example, cottage cheese or greek yogurt. To boost your body’s levels of the drowse-promoting amino acid tryptophan, turn to protein, an even better bet: turn to casein protein. A slow-to-digest form of protein that’s abundant in cottage cheese, casein (consumed before bed) can increase your ability to recover from your workouts and build muscle all night, according to research published in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise.
WORST FOR SLEEP:
Alcohol. Alcohol is one of the biggest body-clock disruptors out there. It decreases the amount of time you spend in the deepest sleep stages and, consequently, your level of wakefulness the next day. For each glass, give yourself at least an hour before attempting sleep.
Fried or Fatty Foods. Eating a fried meal high in fat is likely to sit in your stomach and cause you to experience gastric reflux upon lying down in bed. What’s more, the body tends to shunt heavy proteins like beef toward the production of dopamine, which promotes wakefulness.
Caffeine. Caffeine is all about staying awake. This you known. But you may not realize how sensitive some people can be to caffeine — and that chocolate has more caffeine than you think. A dark chocolate bar contains nearly as much caffeine as a full cup of coffee. Even “lightly caffeinated” teas and and “decaf” coffee can stand between you and your sleep.
Spicy Foods. Spicy foods near bedtime can trigger indigestion and reflux, ultimately waking you up throughout the night. Avoid eating any spicy foods within three hours of bedtime.
The Surprising Habit That Sabotages Your Sleep
Have you ever looked for sleep at the bottom of a wineglass? Sometimes, we’re just so tired and stressed out, minds racing from an endless list of to-do’s, that it seems like a good idea. It may be tempting to knock back a drink (or two or three) to unwind, melt muscle tension and drift to sleepy shores, but, sadly, using alcohol as a sleep aid can really erode sleep quality.
Why We Use Alcohol to Fall Asleep.
As a stimulant, alcohol causes the brain to release more dopamine, a neurotransmitter that trips the reward circuitry, making us feel buzzed after taking a swig. However, alcohol is also a sedative, and it’s this quality that we seek when we want to fall asleep. Science is still uncertain about the exact mechanism of how this works, but they think alcohol impairs our brain’s ability to metabolize glucose, the sugar that is usually our brain’s primary fuel. However it works, alcohol is pretty effective at making us nod off quicker.
4 Ways Alcohol Sacrifices Sleep Quality
Just because you can fall asleep faster after a boozy drink or two doesn’t mean you’ll get quality, restorative sleep. When you slumber, your brain and body undergo many important physiological functions such as muscle growth, tissue repair and memory consolidation. Having alcohol in your system can really thwart some of those processes. Here are four ways that alcohol can be just as disruptive to your rest as repeatedly hitting the snooze button on your alarm clock:
1. You get up to use the bathroom.
Our body meticulously keeps its fluid balanced using a series of hormones, one of which is antidiuretic hormone. ADH is released by the pituitary gland and helps you retain enough water to keep your blood pressure normal. Alcohol blocks ADH’s action; this can result in you waking up midsnooze to bolt to the bathroom.
2. You sweat like mad.
Alcohol is a vasodilator at moderate amounts (Think: 1–2 drinks), meaning it causes your blood vessels to widen, releasing heat. To cool itself, your body starts producing sweat, which can be pretty darn uncomfortable. Night sweats could be another reason why you toss and turn.
3. Your blood sugar takes a nosedive.
Even though you’re sleeping, your body still needs calories to repair cells and maintain normal functions like breathing. During sleep, your body turns to fat to fuel most tissues and to glucose to fuel your brain. Unfortunately, alcohol hampers the body’s processes for generating adequate amounts of glucose for the brain, which will likely cause you to wake up with major carb cravings in the middle of the night.
4. You get a skimpy amount of REM sleep.
Moderate doses of alcohol have been shown to reduce the amount of time we spend in rapid eye movement sleep. Why is this important? Sleep is divided into REM and non-REM sleep. It’s believed that REM sleep is important for learning, memory consolidation and brain development, which is why infants spend more time in this type of sleep than adults do.
The Takeaway
A good night of shut-eye is essential to allowing your brain and body to recharge. It’s important to get a minimum seven hours of sleep per night and to ensure that those hours are as restful as possible. Because alcohol can negatively affect your sleep, try to enjoy it as far from snooze time as possible. If you do want to drink close to bedtime, try to cap it at one standard drink (one beer or one glass of wine).
8 Bad Habits That Are Ruining Your Sleep
Here are eight common culprits you can fix right away.
If you fall asleep the second your head hits the pillow, you should probably rethink your strategy. “People who do that are sleep-deprived,” says Phyllis Zee, MD, PhD, director of the Sleep Disorders Center at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. “It usually takes a healthy person about 10 to 15 minutes to fall asleep.”
On the other hand, if you’re still staring at the clock 30 minutes — or an hour, or many hours — later, one or more of these nighttime bad habits may be to blame.
1- Consuming caffeine
The cutoff time for coffee is 2 p.m., says James Maas, PhD, author of “Sleep for Success.” If you’re really sensitive, it may be best to limit your caffeine to one cup in the morning. “Caffeine can affect you for six, seven, eight, maybe even more than 10 hours,” Zee says.
2- Drinking alcohol
Sure, a nightcap may help you fall asleep — but it won’t be a sound sleep. That wine or gin will make you wake up during the night, experts say. “It ruins REM sleep, which is key for body and brain restoration,” Maas says.
Feel free to have a glass of wine with dinner, but cut out alcohol within two to three hours before your bedtime, Zee recommends.
3- Using electronics
As if you need another reason to stop being on your phone 24/7… but hear this: Blue light sources like those from your phone, tablet and laptop suppress the production of melatonin, Zee says.
Melatonin is a hormone that controls your body clock, and those levels typically increase as it gets darker in the evening. But if you’re too busy swiping on Tinder or responding to work emails into the wee hours, your melatonin levels won’t rise, and you won’t feel sleepy.
4- Watching TV
The amount of blue light your television emits depends on the type, but no matter what, the light is bright, Zee says. And while you sit farther away from your big screen than you do your phone, you still want to avoid any kind of bright light because it all impacts your melatonin levels.
Plus, something like “Game of Thrones” or even the news might be disturbing or thought-provoking, which isn’t conducive to rest
5- Exercising
Working out can help you sleep better, but you have to time it correctly.
In general, Zee recommends wrapping up your gym session within three hours of your bedtime. However, we’re all different (and maybe the only time you can fit in a workout is later in the evening), so see what’s best for you.
6- Eating spicy foods
Avoid spicy foods and anything else that might upset your stomach close to bedtime. Zee says to stop eating about three hours before hitting the sheets, but Maas says a light snack is OK. If you worry that hunger will keep you up, have some cereal, fruit and nut butter or crackers with hummus.
7- Turning up the heat
Your body temperature drops as you doze, so a cooler room may help you fall asleep faster. The National Sleep Foundation says 15-20°C is the slumber sweet spot.
8- Working
Answering emails on your smartphone after-hours is not only is a source of blue light, it also negatively impacts your performance the next day.
6 Reasons You’re Not Sleeping
There’s a long and varied list of factors that can keep you from sleeping at night, but there’s one thing all sleepless nights have in common: They’re rough. Whether you’re suffering from anxiety, allergies or a chronic form of insomnia, losing sleep can seriously throw you off your game — both at the office and at the gym.
Here are the six most common reasons you’re not getting enough zzz’s and how to fix them.
1. YOUR MINDSET
The issue: Often, those of us who have trouble sleeping can chalk it up to depression or anxiety, says Michael Breus, PhD, a clinical psychologist who specializes in sleep disorders and the author of “The Power of When.” “There’s a level of anxiety that builds and builds as soon as you turn off the lights,” he says. “You finally get into bed and turn out the lights, and as soon as you do that, all of the thoughts from your day start flooding into your brain and there’s no way to stop that.” When that happens, we tense up — literally — making sleep almost impossible.
The fix: The key here is to reduce your anxiety and thereby lower your heart rate, which is a prerequisite for drifting off to dreamland. “I have patients count backwards from 300 by threes,” Breus says. “It’s so mathematically frustrating you can’t think about anything else, and it’s so boring you’re out almost right away.” Reading can also help calm you down.
2. YOUR PHONE, TABLET AND COMPUTER
The issue: There’s a reason experts tell you to unplug before bed: The blue light emitted by your screen can really screw with your sleep cycle since it affects your brain’s ability to produce melatonin (one of the essential sleep hormones), says Breus.
The fix: Make it a point to unplug about an hour before bedtime (which can also help with the anxiety issue). If you want to create a total sleep sanctuary, replace your bedroom bulbs with ones that filter out blue light and emit a softer glow.
3. YOUR BEDROOM
The issue: In addition to not having the right lights, other environmental factors like sounds and smells can have a major effect on your ability to get a good night’s rest. “After light, sound is the second most common environmental reason for contributing to sleep problems,” says Breus. “It can have a huge impact on not only your ability to fall asleep but stay asleep — especially if there’s any emotional content to the sound.”
The fix: Ideally, your bedroom should be a total sleep sanctuary — that means first and foremost investing in the kind of mattress, pillows and bedding you’ll be dreaming of all day. To remedy sound issues, reach for ear plugs or download a white noise app. And finally, look for some lavender. “There’s actually data to show that lavender does in fact help you fall asleep,” says Breus. “It causes a relaxation response in your body.”
4. YOUR DIET
The issue: You’re probably aware that caffeine too close to bedtime is a bad idea, but most people don’t know just how early they should be cutting themselves off, says Breus. “You should be stopping caffeine around 2 p.m.,” he advises. “Most people don’t know that caffeine has a half-life of about 6–9 hours depending on your metabolism, so you want to give your body plenty of time to process it.” Also to be avoided before bedtime are spicy foods and meals high in fat or sugar, as they can up your heart rate or cause digestive issues that will keep you awake.
The fix: Before bed, stick to mild meals and make sure you check your caffeine content.
5. YOUR SCHEDULE
The issue: “The number 1 way to get good sleep is by keeping a consistent sleep schedule,” says Breus. That being said, having a variable schedule during the week or throwing a wrench in things with time zone-hopping travel can cause major sleep issues.
The fix: Do whatever you can to stick to a consistent schedule — even on the weekends. “When you stick to a regular sleep schedule during the week, not only does your body fall asleep faster but your body also gets into deep sleep quicker,” Breus says.
6. YOUR ALLERGIES
The issue: “We know that indoor allergies cause congestion, and congestion causes snoring,” says Breus. Not only can that keep you up, but it can also cause sleep disturbances for your partner — a lose-lose situation.
The fix: If you notice you’re feeling stuffy on occasion, invest in an air purifier for your bedroom and make sure you’re regularly purging your space of dust bunnies. If the issue is more chronic, see your doctor about getting allergy medication.
The Best and Worst Foods for Sleep
Eating and sleeping are basic human needs that go hand in hand in many ways. It’s no surprise that what you eat before going to bed affects the quality of your sleep.
“The foods we eat before bed can give us the nudge we need to make good sleep great — or they can keep us up all night,” says Dr. W. Christopher Winter, medical director of the Sentara Martha Jefferson Sleep Medicine Center in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Here, we explore the best and worst foods to eat before nodding off:
BEST FOR SLEEP:
Melatonin-Rich Foods. For example, cherries, walnuts
A Warm Drink. When you spike your core body temperature with a hot drink, your blood vessels respond by dilating and letting off heat as quickly as possible — the exact same process that naturally occurs as you drift off to la-la land, he says.
High-Glycemic Carbs. For example, white rice, bananas and granola. Insulin spikes actually help induce sleep. Researchers believe high-GI foods may improve tryptophan and melatonin production.
High-Casein Dairy. For example, cottage cheese or greek yogurt. To boost your body’s levels of the drowse-promoting amino acid tryptophan, turn to protein, an even better bet: turn to casein protein. A slow-to-digest form of protein that’s abundant in cottage cheese, casein (consumed before bed) can increase your ability to recover from your workouts and build muscle all night, according to research published in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise.
WORST FOR SLEEP:
Alcohol. Alcohol is one of the biggest body-clock disruptors out there. It decreases the amount of time you spend in the deepest sleep stages and, consequently, your level of wakefulness the next day. For each glass, give yourself at least an hour before attempting sleep.
Fried or Fatty Foods. Eating a fried meal high in fat is likely to sit in your stomach and cause you to experience gastric reflux upon lying down in bed. What’s more, the body tends to shunt heavy proteins like beef toward the production of dopamine, which promotes wakefulness.
Caffeine. Caffeine is all about staying awake. This you known. But you may not realize how sensitive some people can be to caffeine — and that chocolate has more caffeine than you think. A dark chocolate bar contains nearly as much caffeine as a full cup of coffee. Even “lightly caffeinated” teas and and “decaf” coffee can stand between you and your sleep.
Spicy Foods. Spicy foods near bedtime can trigger indigestion and reflux, ultimately waking you up throughout the night. Avoid eating any spicy foods within three hours of bedtime.
The Surprising Habit That Sabotages Your Sleep
Have you ever looked for sleep at the bottom of a wineglass? Sometimes, we’re just so tired and stressed out, minds racing from an endless list of to-do’s, that it seems like a good idea. It may be tempting to knock back a drink (or two or three) to unwind, melt muscle tension and drift to sleepy shores, but, sadly, using alcohol as a sleep aid can really erode sleep quality.
Why We Use Alcohol to Fall Asleep.
As a stimulant, alcohol causes the brain to release more dopamine, a neurotransmitter that trips the reward circuitry, making us feel buzzed after taking a swig. However, alcohol is also a sedative, and it’s this quality that we seek when we want to fall asleep. Science is still uncertain about the exact mechanism of how this works, but they think alcohol impairs our brain’s ability to metabolize glucose, the sugar that is usually our brain’s primary fuel. However it works, alcohol is pretty effective at making us nod off quicker.
4 Ways Alcohol Sacrifices Sleep Quality
Just because you can fall asleep faster after a boozy drink or two doesn’t mean you’ll get quality, restorative sleep. When you slumber, your brain and body undergo many important physiological functions such as muscle growth, tissue repair and memory consolidation. Having alcohol in your system can really thwart some of those processes. Here are four ways that alcohol can be just as disruptive to your rest as repeatedly hitting the snooze button on your alarm clock:
1. You get up to use the bathroom.
Our body meticulously keeps its fluid balanced using a series of hormones, one of which is antidiuretic hormone. ADH is released by the pituitary gland and helps you retain enough water to keep your blood pressure normal. Alcohol blocks ADH’s action; this can result in you waking up midsnooze to bolt to the bathroom.
2. You sweat like mad.
Alcohol is a vasodilator at moderate amounts (Think: 1–2 drinks), meaning it causes your blood vessels to widen, releasing heat. To cool itself, your body starts producing sweat, which can be pretty darn uncomfortable. Night sweats could be another reason why you toss and turn.
3. Your blood sugar takes a nosedive.
Even though you’re sleeping, your body still needs calories to repair cells and maintain normal functions like breathing. During sleep, your body turns to fat to fuel most tissues and to glucose to fuel your brain. Unfortunately, alcohol hampers the body’s processes for generating adequate amounts of glucose for the brain, which will likely cause you to wake up with major carb cravings in the middle of the night.
4. You get a skimpy amount of REM sleep.
Moderate doses of alcohol have been shown to reduce the amount of time we spend in rapid eye movement sleep. Why is this important? Sleep is divided into REM and non-REM sleep. It’s believed that REM sleep is important for learning, memory consolidation and brain development, which is why infants spend more time in this type of sleep than adults do.
The Takeaway
A good night of shut-eye is essential to allowing your brain and body to recharge. It’s important to get a minimum seven hours of sleep per night and to ensure that those hours are as restful as possible. Because alcohol can negatively affect your sleep, try to enjoy it as far from snooze time as possible. If you do want to drink close to bedtime, try to cap it at one standard drink (one beer or one glass of wine).
