marcus delacruz

How to Optimize Your Sleep Sanctuary

• Sleep in complete darkness, or as close to it as possible. Even the tiniest bit of light in the room can disrupt your internal clock and your pineal gland's production of melatonin and serotonin. Even the tiniest glow from your clock radio could be interfering with your sleep. This will help decrease your risk of cancer. Close your bedroom door, and get rid of night-lights. Refrain from turning on any light at all during the night, even when getting up to go to the bathroom. Cover up your clock radio. Cover your windows – I recommend using blackout shades or drapes.

• Keep the temperature in your bedroom no higher than 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Many people keep their homes and particularly their upstairs bedrooms too warm. Studies show that the optimal room temperature for sleep is quite cool, between 60 to 68 degrees. Keeping your room cooler or hotter can lead to restless sleep. When you sleep, your body's internal temperature drops to its lowest level, generally about four hours after you fall asleep. Scientists believe a cooler bedroom may therefore be most conducive to sleep, since it mimics your body's natural temperature drop.
• Check your bedroom for electro-magnetic fields (EMFs). These can disrupt the pineal gland and the production of melatonin and serotonin, and may have other negative effects as well. To do this, you need a gauss meter. You can find various models online, starting around $50 to $200. Some experts even recommend pulling your circuit breaker before bed to kill all power in your house.
• Move alarm clocks and other electrical devices away from your bed. If these devices must be used, keep them as far away from your bed as possible, preferably at least 3 feet. Remove the clock from view. It will only add to your worry when you stare at it all night... 2 a.m. ...3 a.m. ...4:30 a.m.
• Avoid using loud alarm clocks. It is very stressful on your body to be suddenly jolted awake. If you are regularly getting enough sleep, an alarm may even be unnecessary. I gave up my alarm clock years ago and now use a sun alarm clock, an alarm that combines the features of a traditional alarm clock (digital display, AM/FM radio, beeper, snooze button, etc.) with a special built-in light that gradually increases in intensity, simulating sunrise.
• Reserve your bed for sleeping. If you are used to watching TV or doing work in bed, you may find it harder to relax and drift off to sleep, so avoid doing these activities in bed.
• Consider separate bedrooms. Recent studies suggest, for many people, sharing a bed with a partner (or pets) can significantly impair sleep, especially if the partner is a restless sleeper or snores. If bedfellows are consistently interfering with your sleep, you may want to consider a separate bedroom.

You may have the healthiest lifestyle in the world, eat the best possible organic food, avoid all sugar and processed foods, eat loads of fermented veggies, have an ideal body fat and work out regularly with an ideal Peak Fitness regimen, but if you fail to sleep well regularly, for whatever reason, it is virtually impossible to be optimally healthy. Interrupted or impaired sleep can cause a ripple-effect capable of wreaking all sorts of havoc in your body and health. For example, poor sleep can:

Dramatically weaken your immune system	Impair production of melatonin – a hormone AND a potent antioxidant, which also has cancer-fighting properties
Accelerate tumor growth – tumors grow two to three times faster in laboratory animals with severe sleep dysfunctions	Raise your risk of heart disease
Cause a pre-diabetic state, making you feel hungry even if you've already eaten, which can wreak havoc on your weight	Raise your risk of stomach ulcers
Seriously impair your memory; even a single night of poor sleep – meaning sleeping only 4 to 6 hours – can impact your ability to think clearly the next day	Contribute to constipation
Impair your performance on physical or mental tasks, and decrease your problem solving ability	Contribute to mood disorders like depression

Sleep is such an important part of your overall health that no amount of healthful food and exercise can counteract the ill effects of poor sleeping habits. Researchers have linked poor sleep to a number of health ailments, from short-term memory loss and behavioral problems, to weight gain and diabetes, for example.

There are many reasons for not getting a good night's sleep. Unfortunately, most people tend to reach for a sleeping pill instead of doing the work to figure out what's got them tossing and turning.

 

Here is som examples to improve your sleep:

• Using the snooze button. While a few minutes more in bed may be tempting, using the snooze button could backfire as interrupted sleep can increase your fatigue. It's best to just get up on the first alarm

• Irregular sleep schedule. A regular routine of going to bed and getting up around the same time each day will help promote better sleep, while constantly interrupting your schedule around can easily lead to insomnia and fatigue

• Taking long naps during the day

• Eating sugar before bedtime. Sugar alters the chemical balance in your body, which can contribute to impaired sleep

• Drinking coffee or caffeinated beverages too late in the day

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