The Quality of Your Sleep is Key to Having Good Health

Do you wake up tired?  Are you always feeling tired?  How much sleep are you getting?  How much sleep do you need?  The amount of sleep you get is extremely important to your overall health. The type of sleep and the quality of that sleep is what determines how well-rested you will be when you wake up

How much sleep do I need?

Different people need varying amounts of sleep, there is no standard answer. Most people need somewhere between seven and nine hours of sleep each night. There are some people who can sleep less than 7 hours and wake up completely refreshed.  There are others who must have 10 hours or they feel tired all the time. Everyone's body has slightly different needs so you need to get in tune with what your body wants and needs.

  What is Quality Sleep?  Am I getting enough?

Quality sleep is defined as four to six sleep cycles that last 90 minutes each. If a sleep cycle is interrupted it starts over so the more your sleep is interrupted, the less effective it will be. How can you tell if you are getting quality sleep? 

•   When you wake up, do you feel well-rested and ready to go?
• Throughout the day do you have plenty of energy and no sleepiness?
• Are you able to concentrate on something, even if it is boring?

If you answered yes to all three questions, congratulations! You are getting enough quality sleep.  If you answered no, you are not getting enough quality sleep and your body is continuing to be tired.  This is not a healthy state to be in and can lead to more sickness and even attacks from disease if you are to physically run down.

How does Quality Sleep affect my health?

Sleep can help our bodies in quiet ways while we sleep by secreting a hormone that helps our body to repair and regenerate tissues and cells throughout the body. Sleep can also be critical in helping our memories and some believe sleep helps with our brain's dealing with complex emotions.

Sleep also can affect our physical and mental health.   For example, when we do not get a good night of quality sleep we usually wake up tired lacking energy we can even be grumpy.  Because of this altered state we are in we aren't as effective as we usually are in our activities such as work, studying, or anything we need to concentrate on. When we get a good night of quality sleep, almost none of these negative things happen because we feel well rested which means that physically, our health is better and we are more effective.

How To Improve the Quality of Your Sleep

There are many different things you can do to improve the quality of your sleep.   A few ideas are.

• Do regular exercise and make sure it is done at least 4 hours before your sleeping time.
• Eat healthy food, avoid heavy meals before bed time and have having a small snake before going to bed often helps.
• Make sure that the room temperature is at the right steady level.
• Ensure you have a good mattress and pillow.
• Try to make sure you will not be interrupted during your sleep.
• If you have pets, keep them out of the room while you are sleeping.
• Run a fan or other background noise to help minimize sudden noises.
• If you are still constantly tired, have your Dr run a test for a sleep disorder

A good quality night of sleep is critical to help us focus and be effective during the day in addition to just being healthier in general. Make sure you are getting between 6 and 9 hours of uninterrupted sleep each night and improve your performance at work and play. Good Night :-)