A healthy lifestyle is a time consuming process. We need
to find time and energy to plan our meals, perform physical activities, and minimize
our daily stress. How can we find energy, if we are awakened by an alarm clock?
We hit the snooze button multiple times because we are not ready to start our
day. We hope that an extra five minutes will give us enough rest but instead
these minutes make us late for work or school. We start our day rushing and
feeling stress. There is no time for the most important meal of the day, which
is breakfast. During the day, we are irritated, feel tired, cannot focus, and
hope to catch up on sleep at night, but in the evening our anxiety keeps us
from falling asleep and the whole story repeats itself.
A sleeping schedule
There is another way for us to wake up feeling fresh and well
rested without using an alarm clock or snooze button. A sleeping schedule makes
it possible. Every baby has a sleeping schedule. At one point of life, we had
this sleeping pattern, when we were babies. As we get older, we are in the
habit of staying up late and skipping our normal sleeping hours. We tend to stretch
our daily activity hours by reducing our sleep. It becomes our normal routine,
which negatively affects our overall health. Inadequate sleep hours for a long period
of time can lead to serious illnesses such as cardiovascular disease, type 2
diabetes, and obesity.
Cortisol
Sleep deprivation results in high level of the stress
hormone cortisol. This hormone is produced as an outcome of the “fight-or-flight”
response of the sympathetic nervous system to threats, danger or stress. A high
cortisol level increases appetite, escalates the glucose supply to muscle
tissues, elevates blood pressure, and at the same time constricts blood vessels
to boost the delivery of oxygenated blood. In other words, cortisol mobilizes
our body to get ready for action. If cortisol levels are chronically elevated,
the body tends to become more insulin-resistant and exhibits frequent arterial
constriction, resulting in high blood pressure that may damage blood vessels and
produce arterial plaque.
Cortisol is not a bad hormone. It plays an important role
in our health. It just needs to be activated at a right time of the day and be
at the optimal level to keep us mentally sharp and motivated.
Cortisol and Melatonin Balance
Cortisol should be increased during the daytime, and then reduced
in the evening, so other hormones such as melatonin can be stimulated.
Melatonin controls sleep and wake cycles. Its level should begin to rise in the
evening, remain high for the whole night, and then drop in the early morning.
Basically, cortisol and melatonin need to be balanced to improve the quality
and quantity of our sleep. If the cortisol level does not decrease by evening,
the body cannot produce enough melatonin and it will result in a sleepless
night.
Five Things to Improve Our Sleep
Normal sleeping hours are the best way to balance
cortisol/melatonin hormones. Sleep is a healing process and we all need it for
our wellness.
According to Michael Breus, PhD, who is a Clinical
Psychologist, there are five things that can improve our sleep.
1) Go to bed at a consistent time, including weekends. Every person requires a unique number of sleep hours. Some people need 5 hours of sleep and others may require 9 hours of sleep. On average, people need between 7 and half to 8 hours of sleep each night.
1) Go to bed at a consistent time, including weekends. Every person requires a unique number of sleep hours. Some people need 5 hours of sleep and others may require 9 hours of sleep. On average, people need between 7 and half to 8 hours of sleep each night.
To find out how many hours of sleep you need, for
10 days straight, try to go to bed at the same time. For example, if you need
to wake up at 7am and an average person needs 8 hours of sleep, you should be
in bed by 11pm. It typically takes approximately 20 minutes for a person to
fall asleep. If the person falls asleep right after his/her head touches the
pillow, this person is probably sleep deprived. After several days of this
sleeping schedule, your body will start awakening on its own. If it is
happening around 6:30am, this means that you need 7 hours and 30 minutes of
sleep every night. You can adjust your bedtime schedule and go to bed at 11:30
pm rather than 11 pm.
2) Stop caffeine intake by 2 pm. Dr.
Breus provides scientific evidence showing that the caffeine half-life lasts between 5 and 8 hours. It depends on your age, genetics, body weight and the ingested amount of caffeinated drink.The caffeine peak time is approximately from 15 to 45 minutes after consumption and is associated with a burst of energy.
3) Stop alcohol consumption 3 hours before
bedtime. It may seem that alcohol makes us sleepy, but it
actually disturbs our sleep after the feeling of intoxication is gone. In
general, one hour is needed to metabolize one serving of alcohol. More then two
servings of alcohol are not recommended.
4) Stop exercising 4 hours before
bedtime. Physical activity tends to increase our body
temperature slightly for a period of several hours. After three to four hours,
the temperature drops to a normal range. This decrease in body temperature
helps our body to get ready for bedtime and fall asleep.
5) Try to get 15-20 minutes of direct
sunlight in the morning. It
is very important that our body, face, and eyes get exposure to sunlight.
Direct morning sunlight helps to increase the production of serotonin. This
hormone helps regulate our mood, appetite, memory and sleep. When morning light
hits the eye, the protein melanopsin signals the brain that it is daytime. Hooray!!!
This
beautiful tradition can brighten your day! I keep a regular sleeping schedule
and prefer direct morning sunlight to a noisy alarm clock with an irritating
snooze button. What will be your choice?
Health, Happiness, and Harmony
Kay
References
Breus,
M. (2017, March 24). The Diabetes Summit 2017 [Skype interview by Dr. Brian
Mowll].
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