healthy sleep: Optimal sleeping positions and times
Healthy sleep is vital for maintaining body and mental health. There are many different ways to get the recommended hours of healthy sleep every night. There are some rules that every person should follow to stay healthy and fresh.
Each of us has experienced sleep problems - insomnia, and lack of sleep. Perhaps stress at work is to blame for this. Sometimes, even a lamp's faint light or a late meal might disrupt sleep. For healthy sleep, it is important to take into account all factors
What is healthy sleep?
For many years, the processes occurring during sleep have remained a mystery to science? Recent studies have provided insight into what transpires in the brain when we are in the Morpheus universe, though. As it turned out, at this time, nerve cells are cleansed of harmful substances.
They are washed by brain fluid, which seeps into the spaces between the cells of neurons (a special type of cells in the brain). Lack of sleep can lower immunity and make a person more vulnerable to getting sick. Sleep deprivation reduces brain function.
When you don't get enough sleep one night, your focus and response time are severely impaired. In case of lack of sleep for two nights, memory lapses occur. Hallucinations may appear after the third sleepless night.
The best time to healthy sleep
Adult requires at least 8 hours of sleep every night to properly relax and heal their bodies. Sleep is a cyclical process, in which each cycle consists of alternating phases of REM sleep and non-REM sleep.
The duration of one session is a total of 1.5 hours. If you wake up completely at the end of the session, then waking up will be easy. Even though you may have slept for around 6 hours, if you awaken amid the cycle, you may still feel drowsy and exhausted.
According to sleep specialists,
The recommended amount of time to sleep is five cycles. However, the amount of sleep that each person need varies depending on their workload and level of stress. The duration of sleep also changes with age.
It varies from 12 and 17 hours per day for newborns, and as they become older, it gradually gets less. The sleep pattern of a 17 to 18-year-old is already 8 to 9 hours, the same as an adult.
Sleeping is most effective between the hours of 10 p.m. and 2 a.m.
The body starts producing the hormone that induces sleep as soon as it gets dark. As a result, bedtime should coincide with the time when it gets dark.
When light hits the retina, the production of melatonin in the brain decreases, and the release of the hormone cortisol into the blood begins. This hormone helps to cheer up and quickly get away from sleep.
Correct postures for healthy sleep
Your sleeping posture has an impact on how you feel and the quality of your sleep. Doctors believe that lying on the back is the most appropriate position. This position should be deliberately adopted when preparing for bed.
Lying on your back reduces the burden on the heart, and strengthens the spine. Therefore, for people suffering from heart disease, and curvature of the spine, this pose is preferable. Do not sleep on your back for pregnant women and those with respiratory problems and snoring.
Sleeping on your side is convenient for most people.
In this position, the spine acquires a physiological curve, and the back muscles relax. However, those who are worried about heart disease should refrain from sleeping on their left side. The heart has to function with more difficulty. as a result.
Avoid sitting on the right side of the chair if you have heartburn or belch stomach contents. The disadvantage of the position on the side is numbness of the hand and its fingers as a result of the pinching of blood vessels and nerves.
The most innocent position could be the one with the stomach. Breathing becomes challenging in this posture due to increased pressure on the chest.
The blood flow to the brain might be disrupted if you forcefully turn your head to the side. In the prone position, the curvature of the spine is straightened, and the load on the muscles and joints increases.
Selection of accessories for healthy sleep
Accessories are no less important for the quality of sleep, that is, what we sleep on. This is a mattress, pillow, and bed.
Mattress
Studies suggest that mattresses should be replaced every seven years. But regrettably, very few people adhere to this guideline. The important thing is that in the first few years, under the weight of body weight, the mattress sags by 25% and continues to wear out more and more
every year. Such a mattress leads to an incorrect location of the spine, and hips, and, as a result, pain in the back, neck, etc. Such a mattress causes the muscles' weight to be improperly redistributed. Some of them are in a relaxed state, while others are tense all night.
In addition, mattresses can be made from toxic materials and synthetic fabrics that are treated with chemicals to slow combustion. These chemicals release gases and can adversely affect health.
Pillow
In order to prevent your head from being trapped, the pillow you sleep on shouldn't be overly soft. However, it shouldn't be too challenging because the neck would strain in this scenario. Orthopedic pillows are best for use when sleeping.
Their shape follows the natural curvature of the neck and makes our sleep comfortable. The pillow's stuffing is equally crucial. Special foam that provides a certain form is used to fill orthopedic pillows.
Other well-known filler materials include fluff, wool, and feathers. However, allergy sufferers should avoid using these pillows.
The cushion should have a breadth that is comparable to the size of the shoulders and a height that is no greater than 10 to 14 cm.
Bed
We spend about a third of our life in a dream, so the bed should be chosen carefully enough. The bed should be 15 to 20 centimeters longer than you are tall. The following method can be used to determine the width of the bed you require. With your hands behind your head, take a lying position.
In this case, the elbows should not hang down, they should be laid on the bed. This will give you an idea of the size of the bed you need.
The size of the mattress should exactly match the dimensions of the bed frame. Otherwise, he will move or move away, and sleep will be uncomfortable.
What can affect healthy sleep
The quality of sleep can be influenced not only by accessories but also by indoor air, nutrition, and other factors.
Fresh air
Healthy sleep depends on having fresh air in the bedroom. The brain continues to function as you sleep, processing information and restoring the effectiveness of your body's cells. This work requires oxygen.
High levels of carbon dioxide in the room reduce brain activity and make breathing difficult. And this has a detrimental impact on sleep quality. Therefore, before bedtime, the bedroom should be ventilated.
The air temperature in the bedroom should be no higher than 22 degrees Celsius. Before retiring to bed, doctors advise taking a stroll outside, such as in a park or yard. As a consequence, you may sleep soundly.
Proper nutrition
Before going to bed, it is not recommended to eat fatty foods or drinks with a high content of caffeine and alcohol. Eating fatty foods at night will force the intestines to work all night and keep you awake.
And calories will inevitably be deposited in your body in the form of extra pounds. You will also stay awake if you drink wine, coffee, or other caffeinated beverages, but for different reasons.
By raising blood pressure and pulse rate, caffeine makes people more excitable. It is preferable to consume your final cup of espresso before 14.00.
Alcohol helps to fall asleep quickly but negatively affects the REM sleep phase. You get sleepiness and frequent headaches, as a result, the next day.
The ideal dinner can be low-calorie and easily digestible foods.
Are the standard eight hours of sleep good for everyone?
Adults are said to require between 6 and 9 hours of sleep every day. However, this indicator is strictly individual and depends on many factors, including the state of health, habits, sleep quality, and the time of day when sleep begins.
The standard recommended norm of 8-hour sleep that we usually hear about is average and varies significantly based on the factors described above.
Children sleep more, especially during the day, than adults do on average as they become older because their bodies may require less sleep. An individual's need for sleep can also change - it also undergoes annual cycles: in winter, a person sleeps, on average, a little more than in summer.
The need to sleep more
or less than average values (6 - 9 hours) may mask certain diseases. The total duration of sleep can decrease with increased thyroid function, anxiety disorder, diseases of the lungs, heart, urinary organs, etc.
Duration is a pronounced decrease in the quality of sleep, which aggravates the course of the underlying disease.
On the contrary,
the increased need for sleep is often caused by hypothyroidism - insufficient thyroid function, vitamin deficiency, the recovery period after serious illnesses, and major surgical interventions.
It is important to note that a large number of diseases can lead to sleep disorders. It is important to pay attention to changes in the desire for sleep since hidden illnesses might sometimes only show themselves through the emergence of sleep disturbances.
Taking certain medications
is of certain importance-they can disturb sleep. If you suspect that the medication prescribed by your doctor affects the duration and quality of sleep.
you need to contact your doctor on this question and discuss the possibility of correcting prescriptions. It is not recommended to cancel or add medicines independently without informing the Attending Physician.
What can disrupt sleep
In addition to obvious or hidden diseases, which include hypovitaminosis, sleep disorders are caused by many bad habits and irrational lifestyles.
For example, smoking and excessive caffeine have a tonic effect, and their combination enhances the effect of each other on sleep disturbance. Therefore, we recommend quitting smoking and transferring the intake of coffee and strong tea to the first half of the day.
Overeating and eating at night activate the work of the gastrointestinal tract
and the cardiovascular system (provides increased blood flow to the active organs of the gastrointestinal tract) and contributes to the development of gastroesophageal reflux disease (it may be felt as heartburn). snoring, and increased blood pressure. of course, leads to a deterioration in the quality of sleep.
Healthy sleep is also hampered by low air humidity
and too low or high temperature in the room where a person sleeps. Congestion, loud noises, pungent odors, and bright lights also negatively affect the process of falling asleep and the process of falling asleep itself.
The main recommendations for the normalization of sleep (sleep hygiene) are the ventilation of the room, curtains, and maintaining cleanliness.
Separately
It's important to talk about the drawbacks of technology use before bed. glaring displays and loud noises (from audio and video materials). thrilling news might really interfere with sleep. Melatonin production is being disrupted, which is the main cause of this.
It is also important to note the need to use only the bed on which a person sleeps to sleep. Working, reading, playing games, and using gadgets can interfere with the perception of the bed as a place to sleep and also lead to insomnia.
Does taking dietary supplements improve sleep, is it dangerous, will it help?
There are a huge number of nonpharmacological drugs
and dietary supplements that help improve sleep and whose action is aimed at various mechanisms.
For example, taking melatonin, one of the most popular dietary supplements, compensates for the lack of effects of this substance in the brain. Tryptophan, gamma-aminobutyric acid, some amino acids (such as glycine), soothing herbal preparations and magnesium preparations also have a positive effect on sleep quality.
A hidden positive effect on sleep,
its duration and quality can also be provided by vitamin and mineral preparations in case of replenishment of the deficiency of one or another microelement, for example.
many patients taking vitamin D are prescribed for its deficiency (according to the results of a laboratory study of its content in the blood). note an improvement in sleep and, accordingly.
general well-being and an increase in working capacity.
However, the appointment of some drugs, including biologically active ones, should be carried out only by the Attending Physician!