How to manage your sleep?

We have discussed in detail about biological clock in our earlier blog on circadian rhythm. Sleep plays an important role in maintaining our biological clock.

Due to our busy life schedule & unwanted stress, our sleep often gets disrupted. On numerous occasions, we hit our coach for a blissful & peaceful sleep but it gets disturbed by bad dreams.  Some nights are lucky when we have sufficient sleep while some are pretty bad when we get up in the middle of night & find it difficult to get back to sleep. Have you ever wondered why this disruption happens? We are going to discuss some disruption that impacts our sleep & therefore our entire circadian rhythm. Needless to mention that disturbance in our circadian rhythm has been linked to the advent of chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases & thyroid( in name a few).

Let us delve into detail on what happens when our sleep gets disrupted. We have discussed in detail earlier about the science behind our sleep & how our body functions when we are sleeping. When we sleep, we pass through different stages of sleep right from light to deep. When your sleep is disturbed at any stage, your circadian rhythm gets distrubed & your body has to reset its biological clock to get back on standard sleep-wake cycle. Interrupted sleep can impact your mood, irritate you, and lower your energy level the very next day. It also impacts your cognitive skills in the long run.

Important aspects that  disturbs your sleep include:

1. Irregular eating habits: Looking forward to daily dinner with your family is one thing you watch out for specifically when you have relishing food on the table. However, it is important to remember that having spicy & oily food at night close to your bedtime not only leads to putting that extra kilos but also results in digestive issues & imbalances including acid reflux & inflammation, thereby making your night worrisome. Strive to have a light & fibre rich diet at least 2 to 3 hours before you hit your couch & follow this practice consistently. The high fibre diet would also ensure that your gut bacteria are fed properly & improves your gut diversity. The consistency will make sure that your body adapts to it & sets your sleep cycle accordingly. This is the reason why people who travel across time zones often face bloating, digestive discomfort & even attractive Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Having late night desert on one day & skipping on the other day can make you crave for it at night, & wake you in middle of night to attack that cake or ice-cream.
2. Late evening exercise: Strive to wind up your workout 4 to 5 hours before your sleep. When you run or lift weight, your body temperature increases, your heart rate is elevated & you experience an adrenaline rush, signalling your brain for increased activity rather than relaxing. This disrupts your sleep schedule impacting quality of your sleep. This if followed regularly can even lead to insomnia. However, if you have a tight schedule during the day & you can workout only during late evening hours, the best pick you have to take is a cold shower post workout. This will help you lower down your body temperature & would make your nerve cells relax.
3. Sleeping empty stomach: While having a big meal can disrupt your sleep, empty stomach can have similar effects. Take a meal at night that satiates your hunger & keeps you full till morning. If you experience getting up early because of that early morning hunger, then supplement your dinner with snacks such as energy bars.
4. Fatigue during the day: Most of us believe that fatigue during the day would ensure restful sleep during night. However, this is far from true. However, rather than hitting the couch after a tiring day, try to relax by spending some quality time with family. Such activities can loosen your tiring muscles signalling the brain that it is time to sleep.
5. Caffeine intake: Regular caffeine of 1 to 2 cups a day is good for our body however depending upon our genetic predisposition to caffeine consumption we may moderate our intake. However if you are looking to close your day & sleep, caffeine can actually have the opposite impact. The energy stimulating elements of caffeine negatively provokes sleep inducing elements & negatively impacts sleep scheduling patterns. You are likely to wake up during the night disturbing your deep sleep.
6. Body temperatures: Body temperature-both internal & external impacts our sleep. Lying on bed with too many layers can increase your body temperature, causing sweating & disturbing your sleep. Our body sleeps best at low temperature
7. Late night drinking: Avoid alcohol & toxic drinks late night or close to dinner. It can lead to fragmented sleep during midnight, impacting your circadian rhythm.
8. Mobile phones /Tablets: As discussed in our blog on circadian rhythm, our sleep is impacted by natural/artificial light received by the brain which signals the brain to stay alert. On the other hand, darkness signals the brain to unwind & sleep. When light from any device reaches the brain through eyes, it tells the brain to be active & alert. The best strategy is to switch off your devices at least half an hour before you go to the bed & keep them away from vicinity of the bed.

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