Feb 2021
Jacqui Lewis - BHSc Nutritional and Dietetic Medicine

Sleep Hygiene

‘Sleep hygiene’ means habits that help you have a good night’s sleep.

• Common sleeping problems (such as insomnia) are often caused by bad habits reinforced over years or even decades.

• If you have tried and failed to improve your sleep, you may like to consider professional help.

You can dramatically improve your sleep quality by making a few minor adjustments to lifestyle and attitude.

1. Listen to Your Body Clock

The body’s alternating sleep-wake cycle is controlled by an internal ‘clock’ within the brain. Most bodily processes (such as temperature and brain states) are synchronised to this 24-hour physiological clock. Getting a good sleep means working with your body clock, not against it.

Suggestions include:

Get up at the same time every day. Soon this strict routine will help to ‘set’ your body clock and you’ll find yourself getting sleepy at about the same time every night.

• Don’t ignore tiredness. Go to bed when your body tells you it’s ready.

• Don’t go to bed if you don’t feel tired. You will only reinforce bad habits such as lying awake.

• Get enough early morning sunshine. Exposure to light during early waking hours helps to set your body clock.

• Avoid blue lit screens for at least half an hour before sleep – charge your device outside of the bedroom.

• Darken the room as much as possible – to eliminate any unwanted light. Use lamps and dim lighting in the evening as preparation for sleep.

2. Improve Your Sleeping Environment

Good sleep is more likely if your bedroom feels restful and comfortable.

Suggestions include:

• Invest in a mattress that is neither too hard nor too soft.

• Make sure the room is at the right temperature not too hot - YOU will actually sleep better if you are on the cooler side of things.

• Ensure the room is dark enough - too much light will mean your Melatonin production (the hormone that regulates sleep/wake cycles) can be interrupted. Over time this can lead to disregulated sleep - and also a more depressed mood as it will impact the “happy” hormone Serotonin.

• If you can’t control noise (such as barking dogs or loud neighbours), buy a pair of earplugs.

• Use your bedroom only for sleeping and intimacy. If you treat your bed like a second lounge room – for watching television or talking to friends on the phone, for example – your mind will associate your bedroom with activity.

Overall your bedroom should represent CALM and PEACE - so if it’s messy, full of work related papers, unfinished work, or other unrelated items, it’s time for a cull and a clean. Plus, a clean room is good for your mental health!

3. Avoid Drugs

Some people resort to medications or ‘social drugs’ in the mistaken belief that sleep will be more likely.

Common pitfalls include:

Cigarettes – many smokers claim that cigarettes help them relax, yet nicotine is a stimulant. The side effects, including accelerated heart rate and increased blood pressure, are likely to keep you awake for longer.

Alcohol – alcohol is a depressant drug, which means it slows the workings of the nervous system.

Drinking before bed may help you doze off but, since alcohol disturbs the rhythm of sleep patterns, you won’t feel refreshed in the morning. Other drawbacks include waking frequently to go to the toilet and hangovers.

Sleeping pills – drawbacks include daytime sleepiness, failure to address the causes of sleeping problems, and the ‘rebound’ effect – after a stint of using sleeping pills, falling asleep without them tends to be even harder. These drugs should only be used as a temporary last resort and under strict medical advice.

4. Relax Your Mind

Insomnia is often caused by worrying.

Stressing or worrying makes for a busy mind, and makes sleep harder to establish.

Not only does it take up space, it can impact your body’s chemistry by increasing levels of certain stress hormones that have a range of impacts on your gut, immune system and overall resilience to stress. These same “stress hormones” can also make you feel restless, and “tired but wired”. Here are a few practical tips on managing bedtime stress/ worrying.

If you are a chronic bedtime worrier, try scheduling a half-hour of ‘worry time’ well before bed. Once you retire, remind yourself that you’ve already done your worrying for the day.

Make a list of your concerns, or your things to do list and intentionally put these thoughts somewhere you can't access until the morning.

After all - there are few work / life problems can be solved in the middle of the night.

Try relaxation exercises. You could consciously relax every part of your body, starting with your toes and working up to your scalp. Or you could think of a restful scene, concentrate on the rhythmic rise and fall of your breathing, or focus on a mantra (repeating a word or phrase constantly)

Try the Calm App or Smiling Mind app as an introduction to meditation and mindfulness, use this before sleep or if you wake during the night to re-establish sleep
If stress and over thinking is a regular interruption to your day or night, seek the input of a qualified counsellor to support your concerns, and gain the skills needed to manage stress effectively.

5. General Suggestions for a Better Sleep!

Other lifestyle adjustments that may help improve your sleep include:

• Exercise every day, but not close to bedtime and try not to overheat yourself – your body needs time to wind down.

• Try herbal teas such as Chamomile and Lavender at least one hour before sleep is planned

• Try not to engage in mentally stimulating activities close to bedtime. Use the last hour or so before sleep to relax your mind.

• Don’t take afternoon naps.

• Avoid caffeinated drinks (like tea, coffee, cola or chocolate) close to bedtime. Instead, have a warm, milky drink, since milk contains a sleep-enhancing amino acid.

• Take a warm bath add a cup of Epsom salts and perhaps lavender essential oil for muscle relaxation

• Turn your alarm clock to the wall. Watching the minutes tick by is a sure way to keep yourself awake.

• If you can’t fall asleep within a reasonable amount of time, get out of bed and do something else for half an hour or so, such as reading a book.

• If you have tried and failed to improve your sleep, you may like to consider professional help.

See your doctor for information and referral.

6. Food to Eat and Avoid for a Better Sleep!

NUTRIENTS FOR BETTER SLEEP

Amino acids/protein rich diet helps with building healthy neurotransmitters that help regulate sleep. Specifically, tryptophan – present in dairy foods.

Salmon. This oily fish is also a source of omega-3 fatty acids, which are important for health.

Lima beans chickpeas, black beans, split peas.

Poultry. Poultry includes chicken and turkey.

Eggs. Some ways of cooking and preparing eggs are more healthful than others.

Spinach Seeds Milk. Soy products.

B Group – specially B6, sunflower seeds, spinach, flaxseed.

Sour cherry juice for Melatonin production.

Omega 3

Magnesium – reduce nervous tension and relax tight muscles. Magnesium is a co- factor in up to 300 different reactions in the body.

FOODS TO AVOID

Avoid heavy meals too soon before bedtime, including high protein high-fat meals.

Spicy foods may also impair sleep onset.

Rich desserts too close to bedtime.

Chocolate contains caffeine and sugar and can affect sleep.

Caffeinated drinks/desserts are also best avoided.

Iron deficiency interrupts sleep and makes sleeping through the night nearly impossible.

Restless legs are thought to be related to Iron, Magnesium and Vitamin E as well as Calcium.

Proper nutrition is key to good sleep – good sleep is key to health and wellness.

BN Multi is with you every step of the way in your quest to becoming lean and wholesome with meal measuring tools, weight loss water bottles, absorbable protein to help you stay fuller for longer, and capsule multi-vitamins that help prevent vitamin deficiency after bariatric surgery.

Jacqui Lewis
BHSc Nutritional and Dietetic Medicine