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The Science of Sleep: A Brief Guide on How to Sleep Better Every Night
Restoration
The first purpose of sleep is restoration.
Every day, your brain accumulates metabolic waste as it goes about its normal neural activities. Sleeping restores the brains healthy condition by removing these waste products. Accumulation of these waste products has been linked to many brain-related disorders.
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SIMILAR ARTICLES & IDEAS:
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Key Ideas
Keep in sync with your body’s natural sleep-wake cycle
- Try to go to sleep and get up at the same time every day;
- Avoid sleeping in, even on weekends;
- Limit naps to 15 to 20 minutes in the early afternoon;
Melatonin
Is a naturally occurring hormone controlled by light exposure that helps regulate your sleep-wake cycle.
Your brain secretes more melatonin when it’s dark, making you sleepy, and less when it’s light, making you more alert.
However, many aspects of modern life can alter your body’s production of melatonin and shift your circadian rhythm
Influence exposure to ligh
During the day:
- Expose yourself to bright sunlight in the morning.
- Spend more time outside during daylight.
- Let as much natural light into your home or workspace as possible.
At night:
- Avoid bright screens within 1-2 hours of your bedtime.
- Say no to late-night television.
- Don’t read with backlit devices.
- When it’s time to sleep, make sure the room is dark.
- Keep the lights down if you get up during the night.
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Key Ideas
Sleep deprivation
Willpower, memory, judgement, and attention all suffer when you are sleep deprived.
You drop things, crave junk food sugar, overeat, gain weight. You’re more irritable, negative, emotio...
Get through sleep deprivation:
- Stabilize your blood sugar, by eating hearty food (protein and fat) more often.
- Reduce refined carbs and increase fats and proteins.
- B-complex vitamin supplements can give you an immediate boost in alertness and mental clarity.
- Soak in an Epsom salt bath - might even help you get enough energy to exercise the next day.
- Drink more water than you usually do to help compensate.
- Exercise is the single best way to “take out the trash” in your body, and after staying up more hours than you should.
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Key Ideas
The Circadian Rhythm
- The circadian rhythm is what we call our body's masterclock. It is the timekeeper of the body which keeps the cells in our body running smoothly, helps fights against ch...
Healthy Circadian Rhythm
Healthy circadian rhythms rely on regularity and stability— for the timing of light, the timing of exercise, and the timing of meals.
Our bodies are accustomed to the exposure of light and darkness on a regular basis. The circadian rhythm is reset on a daily basis and it is the one that determines the healthiness of our cellular health and sleeping patterns.
The Impact of Circadian Rhythms to Our Health
- We slowly deteriorate our health whenever we disrupt the natural cycle of our circadian rhythm. It becomes disrupted with every late nights, irregular meal times, and using our phones in the middle of the night.
- Extreme circadian instability is what happens when we do not take care of our internal clock. It often leads to a bunch of chronic health problems such as impaired immune function, obesity, and some forms of cancer.
- The key to reduce the risk of health problems, stability is needed.