Melatonin or a new mattress?
Everyone has problems with sleeping, but about 10 percent of the Dutch suffer from chronic sleep deprivation. 20 tips to tackle sleeping problems.
1) Exercise later in the day
Exercising vigorously during the day will help you sleep better at night. The best time to exercise is in the afternoon or early evening, at least half an hour. Although exercise in the morning also has a good effect, exercise should be longer in the morning to have a beneficial effect on sleep quality.
2) Provide plenty of light during the day…
Plenty of light during the day keeps the biological clock sharp and stimulates the production of the sleep hormone melatonin. In the dark season, exposure to a lot of (day) light is extra important. If you are often in a dark room during the day, consider purchasing full spectrum daylight lamps.
3) Dim the light at night
When the light-sensitive cells in your eyes get less light at night, your body produces the sleep hormone melatonin. Bright light or sitting in front of a computer screen until late disrupts your biological clock. Adjust the light level and stop using the computer more than two hours before bedtime.
4) Bedroom: open the window, turn off the stove
According to sleep scientists, 18 degrees Celsius is the best bedroom temperature. Provide good ventilation; you need fresh air for a healthy sleep. In a non-ventilated room, a stuffy climate is created by the carbon dioxide you exhale during the night.
5) How old is your mattress?
It sounds like an open door, but a good mattress that is not older than about 10 years (30,000 sleeping hours), a pleasant duvet, a well-fitting pillow and a nice bedroom form the basis for a pleasant sleep. Small annoyances about the lying comfort make it difficult to fall asleep.
6) Know your sleeping position
If you like your favorite sleeping position you can take measures to make you sleep in that position. You can also try to avoid an unfavorable (tummy) position.
7) Darken your room well
A little light in the bedroom is already disruptive to the sleep cycle. Street lamps, a night light, even the LED light of an alarm clock: every light, however small, not only has a negative effect on the quality of sleep, but also inhibits the nightly repair process of body cells. So darken your room as much as possible.
8) No phone next to the bed
There seem to be studies showing that electromagnetic radiation could disrupt sleep. Especially the radiation from mobile phones could influence the quality of the night’s sleep. Wireless internet (Wi-Fi) and all electrical equipment with electricity also give off electromagnetic radiation. So it can’t hurt to ban phones from your bedroom and switch off equipment as much as possible.
9) Do exercises
It is not always possible to go to sleep in a relaxed manner in our busy lives. And you can’t turn off grinding thoughts. Exercises doing it to relax does help, because you shift your attention to your body. Your body, once relaxed, then influences your mind again.
10) No alcohol
Alcohol helps you fall asleep faster. Research shows that people who drink a glass before going to sleep do not notice any adverse effects themselves, but there are: the required deep sleep is shorter and less good due to alcohol.
11) Also watch out for caffeine during the day
Caffeine, black tea, chocolate and caffeinated colas can keep you up at night, especially if you consume these foods at night. But drinking a lot of coffee and/or cola during the day can also disrupt sleep at night via stress hormones.
12) Sleep Therapy Better Than Medicine
Four million people in the Netherlands suffer from a sleep disorder. About a third of them use sleeping pills, but they can be addictive. Sleep therapy is much better, says the Netherlands Institute of Neuroscience. Ask your doctor about it. Sleep therapy can also be provided online.
13) Consider Melatonin
One way to improve sleep is to take melatonin pills. Melatonin is not a sleep medicine but a supplement that supports the body’s own melatonin. It can be bought at the drugstore or pharmacy.
14) Have milk and/or banana
If you don’t want to take pills, take a glass of milk or a banana half an hour before bed in the evening, or even better a combination of the two in the form of a smoothie. Milk and banana contain substances that favorably influence the melatonin content. Here’s what you can and can’t eat before nightfall.
15) Handle that stress
Chronic stress disrupts your sleep-wake rhythm, making it even worse for you to cope with stress. Break that downward spiral by tackling the stress. Relaxation exercises, exercising more, writing down what you need to do tomorrow so you don’t have to remember it, tackling problems and not letting them simmer, and taking plenty of time for sleep are the best.
16) Put yourself to sleep
In most people, the biological clock starts the sleep cycle around ten o’clock in the evening. Give that clock a helping hand by dimming the light level in the room and turn off the television and computer on time. Do some relaxation exercises and go to bed at a set time. Read a book that isn’t too exciting.
17) Tossing? get out of bed
If you can’t fall asleep and lie tossingThen get up and go do something. Quietly read a book in dim light, do something to clear your mind. You will notice that you are tired after all. Give in and go back to bed.
18) Test sleep deprivation with alarm clock
Taking more time and attention for sleep is necessary if you are sleep deprived. But when are you sleep deprived? According to experts, you already have that if you don’t wake up without an alarm clock. If you have had enough sleep, you should be awake before the alarm goes off.
19) Lose weight against snoring
snoring is a burden for the partner, but also for the snorer himself. Snoring mainly occurs in overweight people, because the walls of the pharynx are thicker. Snoring sufferers sleep worse, which in turn has a fattening effect. If you are fat and snore, you can solve two problems with weight loss.
20) Get up right away
Although many people put the alarm clock on the snooze function to sleep through the night, that does not promote waking up refreshed. It just makes you a little groggy. Get up immediately and go about your business.
