With the extreme hot weather in the northeast, I thought it would be good to remind people that 69 degrees is the optimal temperature of a room for a good nights sleep. Of course this is only an average and there are many individual preferences. It might be a good idea to have your air condtioners on this evening. Otherwise you could have a bad night sleeping.
Most people can relate to how horrible they feel when they miss a night or two of deep healing sleep due to insomnia. However very few realize that chronic insomnia can lead to a host of severe and possibly life threatening illnesses!!!!! The 3 most common are heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. In many men it has been linked to low sex drive and erectile dysfunction. Some people become depressed and moody. In teenagers it may lead to emotional instability, and risky behavior.
Increased blood pressure is also one of the side effects of poor sleep. The general immune system is weakened and therefore we become susceptible to all types of viruses and infections.
Deep, nourishing sleep is our greatest elixir we have for preventing illness and disease, and optimizing our health and vitality.
“Last night I dreamed I ate a ten pound marshmallow and when I woke up the pillow was gone.” -Tommy Cooper Comedian
Dreaming is an amazing topic. I will write several posts about it. Today I will share some secrets on how to remember them. Once we can recall them we can see what meanings they may have. Most people believe that this is a direct way to see what our unconscious is trying to tell us. Unfortunately it does take some effort to remember them and without this we cannot get to the next step of interpreting them.
First before bed say to yourself you will remember your dreams. Then have a pen and notebook by the bed . When you wake up from a dream try and not to move your head at all at first. This is very important since the dream is in one part of your brain and sometimes as soon as you move your head it almost flys out of there. Next keep your eyes closed. Try not to think about anything except what you may have been dreaming about. No list about doing chores, work , etc. Next open your eyes slowly without too much head movement and many times the dream will come up. Try and write it down immediately in the notebook, have a small flashlight or they sell some pens with lights in them. If you turn on a big lamp it may be difficult to fall back to sleep. Write everything you can remember..even if it seems silly!!!! In the morning look over what you wrote and you may find some really interesting things. This takes practice but is well worth it. I have been studying dream analysis since I was 13 years old. I will share with you what I have discovered in future posts.
SWEET DREAMS TO ALL
It is a common experience that a problem difficult at night is resolved in the morning after a committee of sleep has worked on it
John Steinbeck
O sleep! O gentle sleep!
Nature’s soft nurse,
how have I frightened thee
That thou no more
wilt weigh mine
eye lids down
And sleep my senses
in forgetfulness?
Shakespeare,
Henry IV, Part 2
Sleeping alone except under doctor’s orders, does much harm. Children will tell you how lonely it is sleeping alone. If possible you should sleep with someone you love. You both recharge your mutual batteries free of charge.
Marlene Dietrich
Here are a few basic questions to ask yourself to see if you have this common problem. How is your general daytime energy? How well do you feel during the day? Is it impossible to loose weight even with diet and exercise? Are you frequently getting sick with colds and other diseases? Are you taking more than 20 minutes to fall asleep? Do you need to take something either medication or supplements every night just to fall asleep? Are you waking frequently throughout the night? Do you fall asleep very quickly this may mean you have a large seep debt. Are you waking too early in the morning? In the next post we will discuss in more detail the above questions, and solutions.
Let thy food be your medicine!! I will give many suggestions of what to consume and what to avoid. I always tell my patients we are an experiment of ONE. What may work for some of us may not help another person at all. Go into the laboratory of life with these choices, and determine what works for you.
At night these foods may help you sleep better since they are high in tryptophan, which increases sleep. They are turkey, dates, figs, milk(better to use low fat or 1%), bananas, whole grains, nut butters, and yogurt. Cherries have some natural occurring melatonin the sleep hormone.
Foods to avoid are beverages with caffeine especially within 5 or 6 hours of bedtime. In fact coffee and caffeinated teas or colas should be consumed before noon, as it could take 12 hours for this potent stimulant to be completely metabolized.
Try and finish your last meal of the day at least 3 hours before bed, so complete digestion occurs and you are not up all night with stomach discomfort. Do not go to bed hungry either as this can wake you. If needed a small snack before bed could help. As I mentioned in an earlier post alcohol in any amount interferes with REM the deeper phases of sleep.
Food to avoid since they could be stimulating on your body are bacon, chocolate, ham, potatoes, sugar and spinach, these food have tyramine which increases the release norepinephrine a brain stimulant.
The optimum room temperature is approximately 67 degrees for sleeping. Obviously some like it warmer and colder but this is what the research shows. The room should be completely dark. No lights from windows, TV, computer monitors, nightlights, LED clocks, or radios. The darkness helps produce melatonin, the sleep hormone. Even a small amount of light from the curtain or blinds can affect sleep. Use a dark eye mask if you see any light coming into the room. You should sleep on your back or side with a small pillow to cradle your neck. Too many pillows will push your head forward and create possible neck tension. If you are having any back pain try and put a pillow under your knees if you are on your back or between your legs if you are on your side. Two things to spend some extra money on are a good mattress and good shoes we spend almost 8 hours a day in each and they both can affect your health and well-being. Research has shown that a extra hard mattress might not be good after all, since the muscles will never relax. My opinion is to get a moderately firm bed. I am not in favor of the memory foam beds but if you sleep well on them then they are good for you. I personally sleep on a “Simmons Beauty rest Prestige Enhancement, Magnifique with coils”. I find it very comfortable.
Try and use soft sheets. Also if possible have the blanket and sheet positioned so they do not get tangled and cause you to become either cold or looking where the blanket and sheet are, and cause you to wake up.
Before bed try and urinate so you are not running to the bathroom during the night. If you drink too much liquid in the evening after 7pm you still might have to go. Men in particular with enlarged prostates will have some bad nights with frequent urination.
