There are overwhelming studies on the importance of good-night sleep on our overall health and fitness. If you are lacking restful sleep, take a look at the things that can be influencing it.
1. Cleverly hidden substances
You could be unaware of the effect of certain substances you usually consume before going to sleep. However, we should mention the obvious first - coffee. Some people enjoy this beverage in the late afternoon, but the effects of caffeine could easily last for hours, not allowing you to fall asleep. If you regularly consume supplements for your health, check the ingredients label - maybe some of them contain stimulants such as ginseng and guarana - these substances have effects similar to caffeine. Another surprising fact - various medications contain caffeine or other stimulants, including medications for a headache, steroids, and beta-blockers. If you suspect any of these things, talk to your doctor about switching them.
2. If it's night - there can't be light
People have an internal clock that controls our need for sleeping and its time. But we are creative in ways of disrupting it. One way is exposing ourselves to bright lights in the late evenings, making it harder to fall asleep when it's due time. It can be many things - a too brightly lit room, looking at a computer or a TV screen, and even looking at your smartphone. In short, these artificial sources of light are just no good for us the evening. It is better to create a relaxing evening atmosphere.
3. One glass too many
Ok, maybe in some cases one small glass of wine could help you relax in the evening, but in general, drinking alcohol at night just isn't a good idea. Drinking alcohol may make you feel drowsy and cheerful, but once you fall asleep, the alcohol level in your blood will drop in a couple of hours. This will probably wake you up at some point during the night, preventing you from falling into the deep sleep state and the result in the morning is - you, sleepy and cranky, possibly with a headache.
4. It's not me, it's a medical thing
Sometimes it's not about what you do in the evening. There are conditions you may not even be aware of. The most frequent cause is sleep apnea - if you snore at night or sometimes gasp for air, you should visit a doctor. This condition can be really annoying, as you often lack sleep and feel tired throughout the day because your sleep is shallow and frequently interrupted. Luckily, many people dealt with this condition successfully through functional rhinoplasty that makes sleep apnea less severe or even completely gone.
5. To eat or not to eat, that is the question
This is an age-old debate - if you feel hungry before bedtime, what should you do? Maybe you are trying to lose some weight, so you will deprive yourself of eating late, but the fact is it will probably disrupt your sleep. So, it would be wiser to have a small, carefully made snack, just to subside your hunger. Otherwise, it could easily happen that you end up with your head stuck in the fridge in the middle of the night, which would be bad both for your sleep and your weight. When you decide to have a snack before you go to sleep, choose dairy products rich with L tryptophan that improves your sleep, and definitely avoid spicy, acidic or protein-rich food.
Final comment
Of course, there could be more causes to your lack of sleep - these were the most frequent ones. The point for you is to listen to your body and monitor the changes every evening - you should find the cause of the problem in a couple of days.
Nina is a lifestyle blogger, yoga aficionado and a travel enthusiast with a distinctive taste for home decor. She's passionate about learning new things and sharing meaningful ideas. In her free time, she loves to design clothes and furniture. If you wanna see what she's up to you can find her on https://twitter.com/NinArtSimo ns and https://www.facebook. com/nina.simons.92372
Nina is a lifestyle blogger, yoga aficionado and a travel enthusiast with a distinctive taste for home decor. She's passionate about learning new things and sharing meaningful ideas. In her free time, she loves to design clothes and furniture. If you wanna see what she's up to you can find her on https://twitter.com/NinArtSimo ns and https://www.facebook. com/nina.simons.92372
