When is the best time to go to bed?
Why, after a good night’s sleep you can feel broken and tired, and after a sleepless night — full of energy? What to do when you cannot sleep and how many hours do you need to sleep? Neurologists explain why it is so important to sleep well.
What is the best time to fall asleep and wake up?
According to the circadian rhythms (human biological clock — ed.), the best time to fall asleep is at 22:00. There is a version that somatotropin–the growth hormone, which handles the body’s recovery, is released only at night from 01:00 to 03:00 am. And in order for all the processes to recover, you need to sleep soundly before 01:00 am.
You need to wake up when your body wakes up — this is the ideal option. Your body knows when to get up. But if you fall asleep at 22:00, it’s better to get up at six or seven in the morning.
The best time to fall asleep is when it gets dark, about two hours after the sunset. It’s not always suitable for everyone though, especially in winter when the days are shorter.
The best solution is to listen to yourself and find your perfect time for sleep: if you fall asleep at midnight, wake up at eight in the morning, and feel great — you should not force yourself to wake up at six.
What you should and shouldn’t do before bedtime in order to improve its quality?
No social media scrolling before going to bed because this mental activity makes the brain excited — otherwise you can say goodbye to good sleep.
You should not eat before bed, especially heavy food — meat or pastries. The best time for dinner is two hours before bedtime.
With movies or books before bedtime, think about the emotions they evoke. If it’s too interesting and emotional, then you won’t be able to sleep until midnight. For that very reason, is better to choose something boring and without a bright emotional color.
The same goes with the music — slow calm music has a hypnotic effect and can help you fall asleep faster.
It is also important to provide comfortable sleeping conditions: the temperature in the room should not be too high and well aired. It will also be useful to take a walk before bedtime. The brain falls asleep better when it’s relaxed.
Is it necessary to sleep eight full hours?
If we talk about healthy adults, then normal sleep really should last about eight hours. If seven or nine are enough, this is also perfectly normal.
The most important criterion is the state of health after sleep, a person should feel cheerful and in a good mood. Then it means that there was as much sleep as needed.
Can you train yourself to sleep less?
You can sleep less, but why? You should understand that the lack of proper sleep does not pass without consequences. Everyone perceives the lack of rest in their own way: someone just becomes irritable, someone will have digestive problems, and someone — has hormonal disorders.
There are several studies that have shown a direct relationship between sleep duration and life expectancy. The shorter the duration of sleep in humans, the more likely it is that they will die faster because of cardiovascular disease. Insufficient sleep can also increase the risk of cancer. Therefore, proper sleep is very important and scientifically proven. But it is possible that there are people who sleep two hours a day and live up to 100 years.
Sleeping less than you need is a mockery of yourself and your body. You should not experiment with the duration of sleep. For example, sleep for an hour every three to four hours. A healthy person will live in this mode for some time, but later problems will begin.
The norm is eight hours of continuous sleep. You cannot divide these hours during the day.
The dream has several phases and we recover most intensively in the fast phase. Then we have dreams. It does not come immediately, but in stages: first — slow sleep, then — fast, and so on during the night. If you force yourself to wake up an hour after sleep, the rapid phase will not occur and the body cannot recover normally. That is why it is so important that sleep is continuous.
Why can a person feel tired and sleepless after a good night’s sleep, and after a sleepless night — be active?
Fatigue after sleep can occur because of incorrect body position or incorrect mattress. The person is in an awkward position for a long time. The back muscles clamp and blood does not fully reach the brain. Therefore, we may feel broken after sleep, the head will be heavy, the neck will become numb and the face will swell. These are all signs of poor blood exchange between the brain and the body.
Regarding activity after a night without sleep. One version is that lack of normal sleep causes dehydration due to water in the blood. This reduces the amount of blood circulating in the body. The heart reacts to this — a mild tachycardia occurs: the heart muscle pumps blood more actively, and this gives a surge of energy. But this period does not last long and then we still want to sleep.
After a sleepless night, a person can indeed be energetic for a few hours, but this rarely lasts long. Then there is lethargy and drowsiness. It is impossible to deceive the body, and even if a person does not sleep at night, he will compensate for it later, during the day or the next night.
Can external factors affect sleep quality?
Sleep and its quality are most affected by light — dimmed or absent. Air temperature and the amount of oxygen in the room also affect sleep, but not so much. Because brightness relates to the production of the hormone melatonin, which regulates our cycles of sleep and vitality.
In order for a person to fall asleep quickly, there should be light stimuli in the background: dimmed light or light noise. If you go to bed in dead silence, any sound, even your own thoughts, will seem very loud. And when something works in the background — it will help to mute your thoughts or emotions and fall asleep faster.
Snoring — is it ok?
Snoring is ok when it doesn’t bother anyone. It can occur in respiratory diseases, such as sinusitis or rhinitis, in the elderly and after drinking alcohol. Snoring disappears if you turn to the side.
If snoring is so severe that it does not allow a person and those around you to sleep properly, see a doctor.
What to do when it is difficult to fall asleep?
Everything we talked about before: turn off the lights, take a shower, take a walk, reduce the emotional impact, for example, don’t watch a touching or dramatic film. Monotonous actions are also captivating. I would recommend reading a paper book, especially an encyclopedia.
If you do everything recommended for a good night’s sleep, but it does not come: get out of bed, walk around the apartment, read a book or watch a boring program on TV. The more you force yourself to fall asleep, the more likely you are to fall asleep. You need to distract yourself from the situation, do something monotonous — and the dream will come.
Why does insomnia occur, and can you overcome it on your own?
Insomnia is a disease. There are many reasons for its occurrence. It can also be a symptom of another disease.
Insomnia comes in many forms, but not every sleep disorder can be called insomnia. If sleep problems occur after severe stress — this is a completely normal reaction of the body, you just need to calm down and sleep will return to normal. Isolated cases of sleepless nights should also not be a concern. Cases of long-term sleep problems should be alarming.
When we talk about healthy sleep, it should be continuous, even if it is five or six hours. If you sleep 10 hours but wake up every 15 minutes — it’s insomnia.
Is it useful to get some sleep on the weekends?
If you not getting enough sleep in the middle of the week, the body should sleep on the weekend. This is especially true of dreams: a lot of dreams usually appear on the weekends, and they are usually negative.
If you sleep longer on the weekend and really want to sleep, then I would advise you not to wake until the body wakes up. This is especially good for mental health.
Sleep is self-organizing — it will be as much as the body wants at some point. It may be less because someone, for example, waking you up. But a healthy person can not have more sleep.
Doctors say there are a few things you can’t do in advance: eat, drink and sleep. Therefore, to make up for sleepless nights on the weekend is not quite possible. Of course, it is better to sleep more than not to do it, but it will not be a full-fledged replacement for sleep, which was not for a week.
Daytime sleep for adults — useful or not?
If it is possible to sleep well at night, it is better to get some sleep. You need daytime sleep when nighttime sleep is clearly lacking. For example, when a person is engaged in heavy physical labor. But you should not replace a full night’s sleep with a day’s sleep, it can only be an addition.
