Health: all our advice to improve your sleep

Sleep is an essential element for our good physical and mental health. In order to spend long enough nights of good quality, here are some tips.

Health: 5 tips to improve your sleep

First of all, it is advisable to have a snack and not overeat in the evening. “Taking a good quality snack will promote two interesting elements for sleep. First, it allows you to be less hungry in the evening, therefore to consume less fats and sugars which, taken late, prevent you from falling asleep. Consume fresh, raw fruits such as tomatoes, grapes, apples or bananas at the end of the afternoon also allow the body to secrete melatonin around 9/10 p.m., when it is time to go to bed. , explained psychotherapist Caroline Joutotte recently.

You should also try not to use your cell phone too much, whether at bedtime or during the day.. “For example, you should avoid making a call in the car, on public transport or while walking, but rather stay where you are by putting the person on loudspeaker. This approach has less impact on the brain, and therefore less sleep,” continues Caroline Joutotte.

A recent study also revealed that you need to ventilate your room, even when it’s cold. Researchers found that higher ventilation rates were associated with better air circulation and lower carbon dioxide concentrations, which promote deeper, less disturbed sleep.

In order to sleep well in the evening, we also invite you not to exercise too late. A meta-analysis published in the journal Sleep Medicine Reviews has in fact demonstrated that it is better to avoid any high-intensity physical exercise in the two hours before falling asleep, otherwise you will not be able to fall into the arms of Morpheus.

Finally, if you wake up at night, several things can help you get back to sleep. “First of all, you must not try to get up immediately, in order to give the brain time to go back to sleep. But if you ever start to feel a hint of nervousness and you find the time long, I advise you to leave your bed to refresh it, change rooms and start a soporific activity, such as reading. of a book describing landscapes or listening to soft music”, explains psychiatrist specializing in sleep disorders Isabelle Poirot.

Health: some tips on sleep to improve it

The amount of sleep needed for each individual is very different and is genetically programmed. It can therefore vary between less than 6 hours and more than 9 hours.

“Sleep will also be very different depending on age both in terms of duration and organization,” specify Professor Christelle Monaca-Charley, neurologist responsible for the sleep disorders unit at the hypersomnia and narcolepsy competence center, as well as Dr Lise Lanvin, vice-president of the French Society for Sleep Research and Medicine (SFRMS).

Lack of sleep weakens the immune system, encourages snacking, leads to drinking alcohol, triggers the desire to smoke tobacco, lowers the level of concentration, reduces the ability to learn or accomplish goals, achieves our ability to take a step back from situations increases irritability, stress and anxiety.

Sleep disorders can also lead to cardiovascular illnesses. We are talking here, for example, about atherosclerosis, heart rhythm disorders, myocardial infarction, heart failure or even strokes.