How to Sleep Better at Night?
It may seem like a basic human need to get quality, healthy sleep, but there is more to it than meets the eye. From practical reasons to engaging apps, we’ve got you covered.
By Nikki Andrea Bounaparte -
Sleep is essential for our health. Philips conducted a study in 2021 and found that Singaporeans are a tired bunch. We get on average only 6.8 hours of sleep a night, and our children’s sleep needs differ according to their age.
Sleep deprivation happens when you clock less than the recommended hours needed for a healthy sleep cycle. According to the US National Sleep Foundation, adults should sleep seven to nine hours per night. Dr Sin Gwen Li, a senior consultant at Singapore General Hospital’s department of psychiatry warns against the health effects of sleep deprivation. Sleep, she says, is an important time for the body to “heal, grow, eliminate waste products, and replenish energy stores”.
10 Disadvantages of Skipping Sleep
Sleep is as essential as breathing, eating, and drinking. However, we do not sleep enough. Lack of sleep negatively affects your mental and physical health.
If you’re running low on sleep, you’ll have difficulty retaining and recalling details. Additionally, your brain does not get enough time to store memories properly, so you can access them later.
2. It affects your mood
While you sleep, your brain processes your emotions. Sleep deprivation may cause more negative and fewer positive emotional reactions. Studies showed that it is also linked to depression.
Insufficient sleep impairs immune functions. According to several studies, getting enough sleep improves your body’s response to influenza vaccines.
4 . It raises your blood pressure
As you sleep, your blood pressure drops, giving your heart and blood vessels some rest. The less sleep you get, the longer your blood pressure stays up. High blood pressure can lead to heart problems.
When tired, we have difficulty controlling our emotional outbursts and behaviour. We may also be less able to enjoy humour and demonstrate empathy. Moreover, chronically sleep-deprived individuals are more inclined to withdraw from social events and feel lonely.
6 . It reduces athletic performance
A lack of sleep not only saps your energy and leaves you without time for muscle repair, but also demotives you. Mental and physical challenges will be harder, and reaction times will be slower, too.
Sleep deprivation affects hormones that affect your appetite and motivation to exercise. Short sleep has long been associated with weight gain, eating more calories and having a higher body mass index.
8 . It stimulates inflammation
You cannot identify and fight off harmful bacteria when you lack sleep. Your immune system may not work as well, and you could get sick more frequently.
Short sleep can lead to inflammation and hunger hormone changes, both of which can lead to Type 2 Diabetes and
insulin resistance.
10. It makes you a danger to yourself and others
We lose focus, reflexes, and reaction times when we are tired. Severe sleep deprivation is comparable to drinking excessively. Besides increasing driving risks, lack of sleep may also contribute to workplace injuries and errors. A good night’s sleep is vital for everyone’s safety.
Your quality of sleep is as important as the length. Sleep allows your brain to cycle through the distinct stages for optimal performance. Some stages will leave you feeling refreshed and energised the next day, while others assist in learning and memory retention. According to the National Library of Medicine in the US, you need all five stages of sleep for quality, healthy sleep.
Reduce Screen Time: At least 30 minutes before you go to bed, avoid watching TV or using your phone. Electronic devices emit blue light, which tricks your brain into delaying sleep and keeping you awake longer than you’d like.
Create a Cosy Environment: Transform your bedroom into a dark, quiet, and cosy haven. To relax your senses, light a candle, adjust the temperature of your room, and use blackout curtains.
Schedule Sleep Time: Every day, go to bed and wake up at the same time. When you follow a consistent sleep schedule, your brain learns when it’s time to sleep.
Find Ways to Relax: Establish a relaxing bedtime routine. Consider calming activities, such as taking a warm bath or shower, listening to an audiobook, or journaling. If you perform these activities in the same order every night, your brain will recognise them as the start of sleep.
The tissues in our throats vibrate when we snore. While we sleep, our muscles loosen, narrowing our airways. As we inhale and exhale, the air makes the tissues rattle. Some people snore due to the size or shape of the muscles and tissues in their necks. Snoring has a profound impact on those who share a bed or bedroom with the snorer as it can reduce the quality of sleep if it wakes a person up.
How to stop snoring?
Sleep On Your Side: Those who sleep on their backs are more likely to snore than those who sleep on their sides.
Stay Active: Diet and exercise are two of the best ways to maintain a healthy lifestyle, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Try Mouth Exercises: Experts recommend mouth exercises to reduce snoring in addition to general exercise.
Lumihealth is an all-in- one wellness app by Health Promotion Board. If you are looking for a gamified app to track your exercises, calories, sleep, and more, this is it.
Sleep Cycle records and analyses your sleep sounds, including snoring, talking, coughing, and other sounds,
so you can figure out what is going on during different sleeping periods.
Rem Premium is an auto sleep tracker that analyses your sleep using an AI-Machine Learning algorithm. Sleep quality is assessed on a scale of 0-100.
Sleep++ is a free app that tracks basic sleep patterns in a simple, uncluttered design. Sleep quality, restlessness, and awake time are all measured.
The Calm app offers calming exercises, breathing techniques, and stories narrated by celebrities like Matthew McConaughey and LeBron James. Then relax with ambient sounds from a library of natural sounds.
Headspace’s sleep casts play ambient noise after you fall asleep to help you sleep well. Its wind-down sessions prepare you for sleep by helping you relax and let go of your worries.
MyOasis is accompanied by soft, calming melodies made in collaboration with Korean indie artists. In this game, players start in a barren landscape and then work with animals to turn it into a lush oasis that leaves them in a meditative state. It offers supportive messages and advice when you tap on the thought bubbles of animals.
Valerian root, native to Asia and Europe, is a popular supplement in America and Europe for improving sleep and treating symptoms of low moods.
Melatonin is a hormone your body produces naturally, and it tells your brain that it’s time to sleep. Melatonin levels naturally rise in the evening and fall in the morning, depending on the time of day.
Tart cherry juice effectively improves sleep quality and duration, as it’s naturally rich in melatonin. Tart cherries also contain tryptophan and anthocyanins, two compounds that help the body create melatonin and prolong its effects.