How your habits and behaviours during the day will impact on your sleep at night, and some steps if you need to some better quality sleep which is essential to health and wellbeing. As a nutrition and wellness coach it is key to understanding how you are performing in your daily life.
Stick to a regular routine, even at the weekend. Aim for between 7 to 9 hours sleep as recommended by sleep experts.
Avoid eating late in the evening, if you can finish eating by 7pm and not eat again until 7am your body will also get the benefits of an overnight fast too. This is great for gut rest and repair whilst you are sleeping. Avoid alcohol this will help you drift off but will interfere with the important sleep cycles that the body works through overnight.
Make sure the bedroom is a place to relax, clear the clutter! Invest in the best bed, mattress and pillows that you can. You spend one third of your life asleep so make it comfortable. Don’t make your bed to quickly in the morning, pull back the duvet and and get the windows open to get rid of pesky dust mites that like to share the bed too! Remember to change your pillows every couple of years and wash your bedding weekly.
Turn off overhead lights in the evening, dim the light and let the brain know that it is time to unwind and switch off. Avoid devices for at least 30 minutes before sleep and put into blue light mode.
Exposure to daylight for at least thirty minutes each morning is important even on a cloudy, dull day. The light going into the eyes will help the body to regulate the circadian rhythm, this is the sleep, wake cycle. It will also cause the production of serotonin which is mainly manufactured in the gut and is a neurotransmitter which regulates mood, appetite, memory and sleep. Also the sunlight will help the body to get it’s vitamin D which is difficult to obtain enough from a healthy diet and in the Autumn and Winter in the UK it is recommended to take a supplement of vitamin D of 10 micrograms.
Ideally avoid caffeine upon waking and finish any caffeinated drinks between 12 noon and 1pm.
Sleep well and feel well.
