Benefits of Breastfeeding

What to Avoid before Going to Bed

A few weeks ago I wrote about the importance of sleep to our health, particularly on how it helps the immune system. Unfortunately, not everyone gets a good night's sleep every night. At times, it even seems so difficult trying to fall asleep despite lying in bed for more than 20 minutes. Or, on other occasions, you might find yourself waking up several times in the middle of the night that it would feel as though you never slept at all.

While this usually happens when you're sick, other times it could also be caused by your activities just before you went to bed. So if you want to make sure you're going to be able to sleep immediately and enjoy a restful night, here are some things to avoid before hitting the sack.

Going to Bed Hungry

If you're heading to bed hungry, chances are you can't really fall asleep right away since your hunger will keep you up. On the other hand, if you do fall asleep immediately (perhaps because you're too burnt out?), your hunger will begin to wake you up during the night. You're most likely going to end up with a disturbed sleep because your brain is going to keep reminding you that you need to eat.

The trick to avoid this is to not skip on food in the evening. Even snacking on a bowl of oatmeal an hour before bedtime will avoid that hunger signal in the middle of the night – and oatmeal can also help you sleep better! It's also a good idea to have a healthy snack on your bedside table that you can readily grab if you get hungry at 2 am. A good example would be a banana or a few pieces of whole grain, sugar-free crackers.

Too Much Fluid Intake

Excessive fluid intake before bedtime will send you to the toilet several times during the night – which means you'll keep getting up. In addition, alcoholic beverages and caffeine should be avoided as it won't just wake you up to visit the loo, but also keep your mind busy and your body restless. Not really something you want if you're planning on getting a deep sleep all throughout the night.

Eating Sugary Foods

Consuming foods high in sugar will stimulate your brain and keep you energised, which is a no-no during bedtime. So instead of grabbing that last slice of blueberry cheesecake and can of soda, have a cup of chamomile tea an hour before sleeping for that relaxed mood.

Thoughts about Work

Work is another way to stimulate your brain and can even bring you stress. So if you want to have a good night's sleep without having to spend some thirty minutes in bed thinking about what else you need to do for tomorrow, it's best to leave work for the next day.

Intense Physical Activities

It has been said several times that exercise can help you relax and prepare your body for bedtime. But this is only true if you're training 4 hours before bedtime and not an hour before. This is because your temperature will rise and your body will feel energised which, again, isn't what you need when going to bed.

However, if your timing is right, your body will be prepared for bedtime once the energy levels have begun to go down.

Looking for Missing Stuff

Have you ever had that experience when you start looking for something and you can't find it, then it seems like it's haunting you even in your sleep? Well, that's how a stimulus works on your brain. 

Trying to look for missing stuff right before heading to bed is similar to challenging your brain to solve something – and if it can't solve it, it will continue to try figuring things out. It's no surprise that you can't fall asleep immediately without thinking about it or that you end up being awoken in the middle of the night thinking about that lost stuff, with you losing sleep in return.

Confronting People

Intense emotions, especially negative ones, will not help in getting a peaceful sleep. Instead of confronting people, take it off your mind and sleep it off. Not only will you save yourself from the troubles of restlessness in the middle of the night and unnecessary analysis of the situation, it will also give you some time to relax, feel better and be more ready to talk to people the next day.

Did I miss anything or do you have an idea you'd like to share? Let me know in the comments section.