insideKENT Magazine Issue 64 - July 2017 | Page 136

HEALTH+WELLNESS
THE SECRETS BEHIND
A GOOD NIGHT’S SLEEP
SLEEPING’S SIMPLE, RIGHT? YOU GO TO BED, CLOSE YOUR EYES AND FALL GENTLY INTO A PEACEFUL
SLUMBER FOR A SOLID SEVEN TO EIGHT HOURS BEFORE WAKING UP RESTED AND FULL OF ENERGY
FOR THE NEW DAY AHEAD. IN A PERFECT WORLD, YES. IN REALITY HOWEVER, A RECENT GREAT BRITISH
BEDTIME REPORT DISCOVERED THAT ALMOST HALF OF BRITONS HAVE NEVER TAKEN STEPS TO HELP
THEM SLEEP EVEN THOUGH A THIRD OF US ADMIT THAT WE SLEEP POORLY. POOR SLEEP OFTEN
EQUALS A BAD DIET TOO AS WE’RE PRONE TO GRABBING QUICK-FIX SUGARY SNACKS WHEN WE’RE
TIRED, AND, WITH THE WEATHER (FINALLY) GETTING WARMER, MORE OF US THAN EVER ARE TOSSING
AND TURNING TILL DAWN. FEAR NOT, HOWEVER – THERE ARE PLENTY OF WAYS WE CAN HELP
OURSELVES SNOOZE MORE SOUNDLY. HERE’S OUR PICK OF THE BUNCH. BY POLLY HUMPHRIS
QUALITY, NOT QUANTITY
Most people have in their heads the hallowed
‘eight hours’ as the perfect amount of time we
‘need’ to sleep per night to feel great, but
actually, many studies have found that adults
need between six and eight hours a night
depending on the person. Going to sleep and
getting up at the same time every day –
including weekends, sorry! – helps regulate
your body’s internal clock and optimise sleep
quality, and there’s no question that six to
seven hours of good quality sleep, with your
body going through its sleep cycles in a
healthy, consistent way, is far better than eight
hours of restless, broken sleep.
SLEEP WHEN YOU’RE TIRED
This sounds plainly obvious, but a lot of us
aren’t really aware of our natural body clocks
and simply go to bed when we think we
should. The first rule of developing a foolproof
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sleep routine, however, is to make sure that
you’re going to bed when you are tired. Going
to bed too early leads to tossing and turning
for a couple of hours, which raises stress levels
and inhibits our ability to produce ‘sleep
hormone’ melatonin – a naturally occurring
hormone controlled by light exposure that
helps regulate our sleep-wake cycles. If you
think this might be your problem, stay up later
and go to bed half an hour before the time
you usually fall asleep – it may seem late to
you, but the quality of your sleep will
undoubtedly improve.
WATCH THE CLOCK
Try your hardest to stay out of the kitchen and
away from temptation after dinner. A 12-hour
fasting window e.g. finishing dinner by 8pm
and not having breakfast until 8am, is said to
prevent weight gain as it regulates our
metabolism and means most of the calories
we have eaten throughout the day are burned
up by the body. Eating little and often
throughout this 12-hour period also keeps our
blood sugar steady and ensures that our
cortisol levels start to wind down when we go
to bed, helping to alleviate insomnia.
SWITCH OFF…EVERYTHING
The hour and a half before you go to bed is
considered the ‘golden 90 minutes’ to ensure
that we all get the sleep we need, but it involves
switching off – physically as well as mentally.
Make sure you turn off all your devices that
emit blue light, including your phone, tablet,
or e-reader, all of which emit a blue light that
tells your brain it’s still daytime, thus inhibiting
the production of melatonin. It’s best to turn
off the box too, as yes, you guessed it, light
from the television suppresses melatonin, plus
many programs are more stimulating than
they are relaxing. Read a book or listen to
some relaxing music instead.