7 Items You Need for Better Sleep
How do you sleep? If you’re one of the rare unicorns that can sleep soundly every night, we applaud you. However, you’re definitely the exception, not the rule. Studies have found that 70 percent of adults report struggling to sleep at least one night a month, and 11 percent report insufficient sleep every night. Sleep issues affect 50 to 70 million Americans. No wonder those late night infomercials do so well…we’re all awake! A study published by the app Sleep Cycle showed that February is the worst month for getting quality sleep. “This may be because the hormone melatonin is important for sleep and you need sun exposure to produce melatonin,” says Seema Sarin, MD, Director of Lifestyle Medicine, EHE Health. “So, you have less melatonin during the dark winter months and this affects your sleep.” And, we all know how important sleep is to our physical and mental wellbeing. The good news is that there are tools to help you not only fall asleep faster, but stay asleep. We spoke to sleep experts to share their favorite items that we can all try. A Proper Mattress “A good mattress is probably one of the most important tools in a good night’s sleep. You need a mattress that is both firm, for maximum spinal alignment and soft, for optimal pressure relief on your hips and shoulders. The problem is that every choice you have out there requires you to compromise. You have to choose either a firm mattress or a soft one. Intellibed uses the Gel Matrix technology that gives you both firm and soft at the same time. It is an engineering phenomenon and truly does provide you with both. While a mattress supports your body, technology like Sleep Genius prepares your mind for optimal sleep.” —Collin House, sleep expert for Intellibed Try: Birch Natural Mattress, starting at $1,299; and Sleep Genius Smart Base, $2,400 Upgrade Your Linens “I recommend getting allergy covers for your mattress and pillows even if you don’t have allergies just to keep dust and other particles out of your bedding. If that’s not in your budget, at least aim to wash your sheets once a week! Is there anything better than getting into a freshly made bed with clean sheets?” —Lauri Leadley of Valley Sleep Center TRY: Luxome Bamboo Sheets, $129 Diffuser, Air Purifier and White Noise Machine “Ideally, your bedroom should be comfortable and be reserved for sleep and intimacy so that you associate the space with sleep. The temperature should not be too hot or cold. Make sure that the room is dark and there aren’t any shining or flashing lights. I recommend you invest in a great white noise machine, air purifier and diffuser.” —Seema Sarin, MD, Director of Lifestyle Medicine, EHE Health TRY: CHI Egyptian Aromatherapy Ultrasonic Essential Oil Diffuser, $25; Guru Nanda Essential Oil Diffuser and Humidifier, $80; and Pure Enrichment Wave Sleep Therapy sound machine, $30 Blackout Shades & Orange Light Bulbs “Get the lighting right. I use a combination of black out shades and a bedside lamp with orange tinted light bulbs. I love this combination because I get a warm candlelight glow in my room at bedtime but can open the blinds first thing in the morning to bring in the daylight.” —Lauri Leadley of Valley Sleep Center TRY: Redi Paper Shade, $45 and Amber Lightbulb, $20
How to Calm Your Mind at Night
Tell us if this sounds familiar. You’re exhausted and can’t wait to get into your cozy bed, yet the moment you try to settle in, your mind starts to go over all the things you didn’t get to that day. Or, you wake up in the middle of the night worrying about the following day. The next thing you know, it’s been two hours and you’re still awake. Our busy brains can be one of the biggest sleep saboteurs. These unprecedented times are adding heightened anxieties that can exacerbate the issue. To make matters worse, researchers at the University of California Berkeley have found that a sleepless night can trigger anxiety up to 30% versus a full night’s sleep which can calm emotions. This leaves us with a tricky conundrum. We need sleep to keep our anxiety at bay, yet our anxiety is keeping us up. So, what do we do? We talked to leading sleep experts to get their top tricks to calm our minds at night. HOW TO CALM YOUR MIND AT NIGHT Create a Nightly Bedtime Ritual You all know we love a bedtime routine, so it bears repeating. Just like you would do for a child, you want to go back to basics and set up your own nighttime rituals. “Do the same things before bed so your brain knows it has to start preparing for sleep,” says Colin House, Intellibed’s sleep expert. Some things to add to your routine could include: Turn off all your screens at least 30 minutes before bed and dim the lights Read Meditate Journal to get out all the looming to-dos populating your brain All of the experts we spoke to said we should go to bed at the same time and wake up at the same time each day. “Our bodies need routine in order to sync our circadian rhythms. Create and maintain a bedtime routine,” says Lauri Leadley, CCSH, RPSGT, co-founder of Valley Sleep Center. She also recommends you start your day off with an alarm that is gentle and soothing, not a sound that creates tension. Check out how NL founder Keri Glassman sets herself up for sleep success here! Try Progressive Relaxation Dr. Thanuja Hamilton recommends progressive relaxation for those middle-of-the-night wake-ups. The process involves actively relaxing each body part from head to toe by tensing it up and then relaxing while breathing out. “You end up taking your body to an even more relaxed state than it was at rest,” explains Dr. Hamilton, who is medical director at Jefferson University Hospital Sleep Lab. “The hope is that you can distract yourself while relaxing. The goal is that you fall back asleep before getting to your toes.” Avoid the Temptation to Reach for Your Phone Limiting exposure to blue light will help your body fall asleep naturally. “Before bed, download your favorite meditation (we recommend MindTravel meditations) and add them to your Amazon playlist,” says Murray Hidary, the mastermind behind MindTravel. “This way, all you have to do is say, ‘Alexa, play MindTravel Sleep’ and you’ll be able to relax without picking up your gadget.” Focus on Your Breath Meditation is a great way to help calm your mind. But, if you have a partner, you may not want to play a guided meditation and wake them up. Hidary recommends a simple box breath technique that you can do in silence. You breathe in for four counts, hold it for four counts, exhale for four counts, and hold for four counts, etc. “Meditation is simply bringing your focus to the present moment,” he says. “Any time your brain wants to put its attention on the sleep you’re not getting, the things you forgot to do today, or worse … work, put your focus back on your breath.” If you really need that guidance, headphones can help. “You can also utilize imagery by imagining yourself somewhere you love, like a beach,” says Leadley. “Sync your breath with the sound of the ocean waves. See, hear, and smell all the things around you in this beautiful, calming place. This will help detour your thoughts and worries so that you can relax and drift off to sleep.” If after 15 minutes you’re still awake, Leadley suggests that you get out of bed and read under a dim light until you feel sleepy, and then return to bed. Don’t Beat Yourself Up About Not Sleeping Obsessing about the fact that you aren’t sleeping can further your inability to fall back asleep. Studies have shown that it’s not the total of uninterrupted sleep that makes a difference, but rather the aggregate total,” says Hidary. “So, if you find yourself in a pattern of waking up in the middle of the night and needing to nap in the middle of the day, give yourself the rest that your body—and your brain—needs.” Have Sex Yup, you read that right. More than one of our experts recommended having sex before going to bed. The hormones that are released when you climax boost oxytocin (the hormone that makes you feel closer to your partner) and lowers your cortisol (stress-related hormone) levels. So, you’ll be feeling happy and relaxed, which are two great helpers in igniting sound sleep. (photo credit: Shutterstock)
Bedtime Stories for Adults: The Best Apps and Podcasts to Lull You to Sleep
Attempting to juggle work, family, friends, extracurriculars, exercise, household chores—and, oh yes, the stress of a global pandemic—means that it often feels like there’s barely enough time to take a deep breath, not to mention get adequate rest. As a result, more than 1 in 3 American adults are “short sleepers,” which means they get less than 7 hours of slumber a night, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). While numerous studies have suggested that subjecting our eyes to the blue light emitted from our computers, phones and tablets close to bedtime decreases the amount of restful REM sleep and impacts the body’s natural circadian rhythms, tech can actually be a beneficial tool for getting some R&R if used correctly. Here’s a hint: By lowering the light output and listening instead of looking, you’ll sleep more soundly. And we can’t stress enough the importance of a good night’s sleep. We also know that bedtime stories don’t have to be for the kids only. That’s why we’ve rounded up some of the best bedtime apps to help busy adults sleep deeper each night. Utilizing white noise, meditation techniques and more, these rest-related apps and podcasts offer serenity now. RELATED: 3 Simple Health Hacks for Better Sleep Bedtime Stories for Adults: Apps and Podcasts for Deep Sleep White Noise Lite App If you can’t wind down using the automated white noises most machines offer, this is the sleep app for you. It allows you to build your own combo of soothing sounds to create a personalized sleep soundtrack. Layer and loop 40+ sounds already on the app, or record your own to add to your mix. Use it at night for sleep or while working during frazzled moments to help your brain focus. White Noise Lite App: Free; available in the App Store and on Google Play Sleep With Me Podcast Billed as “bedtime stories to help grown ups fall asleep in the deep, dark night,” this app is all about treating us adults to a tale before bed. Inspired by host Drew Ackerman’s own childhood insomnia and with episodes dating back to 2013, each episode of Sleep With Me will talk you through long, subdued and tangent-filled stories. His uber-soothing and monotone voice will likely ease you off into dreamland far before the 60+-minute episode wraps up. Don’t sweat it if you’re still awake, though. There are more than 940 episodes of Sleep With Me in the archives. sleepwithmepodcast.com: available through Apple Podcasts, Spotify and on most major podcast streaming services Sleep Cycle App Do you ever feel like your alarm rings just as you were finally getting into your sleep groove? Stop hitting snooze and start tracking your sleep patterns with Sleep Cycle. Instead of abruptly jolting you awake at the same set time each day, this app uses movement and sound recording and sleep pattern analysis to wake you up gently during a lighter sleep period. Sleep Cycle App: Free for basic or $29.99 per year for premium; available in the App Store and on Google Play RELATED: The Expert Advice You Need to Establish a Sleep Schedule—for You and Your Kids Nothing Much Happens Podcast This podcast’s name describes the concept perfectly. In each episode, yoga and meditation teacher Kathryn Nicolai shares a bedtime story where, well, not much actually happens. Fans say tuning in helps calm their ruminating or racing minds at the end of a long, tense day. If you’re a stickler for a story’s ending, fear not: Nicolai tells the tale once all the way through, then again at a slower pace so you know how it ends (and can drift off to sleep before the final word). nothingmuchhappens.com: available through Apple Podcasts, Spotify and on most major podcast streaming services Slumber App Scroll through a library of meditations, stories, soundscapes, and songs custom-made to quell a busy brain. Each of the techniques used in the audio options—including guided imagery, progressive muscle relaxation and breath control—are specifically chosen because they are recommended by research-based organizations like the National Sleep Foundation. The app is updated weekly, so you can stick with what you love or hop around to find something new. Slumber App: Free for basic, bonus in-app purchases also available; available in the App Store and on Google Play (Photo credit: Shutterstock)
The 2017 Nutritious Life Gift Guide: Sleep Deep
Who in your life is definitely burning the candle at both ends rather than tucking in for restful slumber on a regular basis? Wrap up the gift of better sleep.
Is a Sleep Disorder Undermining Your Healthy Habits?
By Tiffany Lester, MD for Parsley Health Many Americans are suffering from a sleep disorder that will go undiagnosed. How can you tell if it’s really a problem? You wake up after a full 8 hours of sleep. You hit the snooze button. Once, maybe twice. Then you drag yourself out of bed searching for the nearest source of caffeine. Sound familiar? RELATED: Having trouble sleeping? Talk to a free health expert today to find out how Parsley Health can help you get a better night of rest. Sleeping through the night is not a guarantee to wake up refreshed and alert. Sleep is about quality, not quantity. Quality sleep means you cycle through all 4 stages at least 5 times before awakening in the morning. Each stage allows you to clear out the cobwebs from the day and detox without any distractions. For most of us, losing just one night of sleep makes us irritable, craving carbs, and gives us brain fog. It also affects us on a much deeper level when the problem becomes chronic. Research says that after just three nights of sleeping 4-5 hours, our insulin sensitivity (the hormone that controls our blood sugar levels) is lowered making us less responsive to big upswings in glucose when we eat carbs. This is the exact same process that leads to diabetes. A sleep disorder and sleep deprivation basically throws your body into a pre-diabetic state which can lead to unwanted weight gain. We have all had a sleepless night here and there. It’s normal to wake up not feeling 100%. However, this should be the exception not the rule. If you are consistently waking up feeling exhausted, having a comprehensive evaluation by one of our highly trained Parsley Health doctors is essential to determine the root cause of your sleepless nights to try to figure out if you might be suffering from a sleep disorder. Some common reasons you may not be sleeping soundly include the following: Your cortisol is spiking at night. Cortisol is a major factor in our stress response. Normally it should start to rise about 3 AM and peak around 6 or 7 am. Then it slowly declines throughout the day and is low at night so you can sleep soundly. If your cortisol is elevated at bedtime, you are likely tossing and turning the entire night. This is a common sleep disorder that often goes undiagnosed. Tip: Meditating for at 20 minutes at night can help switch on your parasympathetic nervous system allowing your body to fully relax for a peaceful slumber. If this doesn’t help you likely need in-depth testing by one of our Parsley Health doctors. You have a mineral deficiency. Most of us live these crazy, stressful lives and spend 8-10 hours a day sitting and/or slouching over a laptop. This may lead to tight neck muscles and hip flexors. Couple this with a deficiency in relaxing minerals like magnesium and it’s a recipe for disaster. Rubbing a quality magnesium oil into your muscles before bed will help your muscles and mind relax into a peaceful slumber. You are exercising after 8 pm. Exercise is key to maintain a healthy weight and sound mind. However timing is everything. For a restful sleep, the ideal time to work out is in the morning. If that’s not possible, try to workout before 8 pm so that you don’t disrupt your natural circadian rhythm. Adding in a warm bath or hot shower before bed will raise your body temperature which is naturally followed by a drop. This is another way to prepare our bodies for sleep given that research has shown cooler temperatures are better for a good night’s rest. You have a “Netflix and chill” addiction. The blue light that emits from our devices lowers melatonin, the master sleep hormone. This tells our brain it’s ok to watch just one more episode of Chef’s Table knowing that we have to wake up in 5 hours. Do yourself a favor. Turn off all your devices at least one hour before going to bed so you have adequate melatonin to fall asleep and stay asleep. The subsequent problem is that people try to replace the lost melatonin with a supplement. This doesn’t work for everyone. I hear from patients all the time who have tried melatonin to help with their sleep issues and ended up feeling even worse than they do when they can’t get enough sleep. I am constantly being asked How much melatonin should I take to sleep? Why isn’t melatonin helping me sleep? There are plenty of reasons why melatonin might not be working for them, but one of the most common is that they could be taking it wrong. It’s helpful to first understand a little about what melatonin is and what it does. Melatonin is a hormone produced by the pineal gland—a pea-sized gland in the middle of our brain. Its purpose is to regulate our circadian rhythm to fall in line with the natural dark/light cycles of the sun. When the sun goes down, our pineal gland gets turned on by the suprachiasmatic nucleus which is located in the hypothalamus. Then melatonin levels rise quickly to make you sleepy. However, if you are not in a dimly lit environment, the brain is tricked into thinking it is still daytime.That’s why you don’t get sleepy when you’re on your tablet or watching TV. The blue light emitted from electronic devices suppresses our natural production of melatonin. So even if we know we are tired and need to go to sleep, our brain is getting the opposite message. Some people may be wary of trying melatonin due to side effects. This usually occurs because the dosage is too high. Most people overdo it with the melatonin and then claim it doesn’t work. You only need tiny doses to support your natural sleep cycle. As little as 1-3 mg about an hour before you go to bed can boost your melatonin by
