Keys to Improving Sleep Quality

June 30, 2021

If your doctor wrote you a prescription that would improve every aspect of your health, you would run, not walk, to the pharmacy to get it, right? Well, you already have one…drumroll please…

It’s consistent, high-quality sleep.

Before we get into why sleep is so important, you should know that 1 in 3 adults in the U.S. don’t get enough sleep. One study even found that people with diabetes or hypertension had a higher risk of early death if they slept fewer than 6 hours each night.

But it’s not all doom and gloom. Even if we can’t get the number of sleep hours we need, we can always work on the quality of the hours we do get, which can go a long way to better health.

Discover sleep’s superpowers

It’s no exaggeration to say that good sleep will improve every system in your body.

Sleeping well balances your hunger hormones, which will help you with your weight-management goals. Not only that, it strengthens your brain’s frontal lobe, your decision-making center, so you can make healthier food choices.

Sleep boosts your immune system and allows your body to fight germs and repair injuries.

While you’re dreaming, your heart is recuperating from strain. Sleep also helps prevent the buildup of plaque in your arteries and helps regulate your daytime blood pressure.

Adequate shut-eye gives the neurons in your brain a chance to rest and repair themselves, so you can be in top mental shape during the day. Sleep gives your brain energy to stick with difficult tasks and improves your memory, response time, and ability to solve problems.

Give yourself a sleep makeover

Knowing how critical sleep is for your health, check out these suggestions on how to give your sleep a facelift:

Do your best to go to bed and wake up at the same time each day. Definitely exercise for 20 to 30 minutes, but not within a couple of hours before bedtime.
At least two hours before you get in bed, power down your phone, computer, TV, and any other screens. The blue light from electronics can trick your brain into thinking it’s daytime and make it harder to drift off.
Avoid caffeine and nicotine late in the day and don’t have alcoholic drinks right before you go to bed. Instead of a late-night glass of wine, try passionflower tea. Passionflower tea increases [h]gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in the brain, which relaxes your central nervous system and provides better sleep.
Ashwagandha is another supplement that, when taken daily, has been shown to enhance sleep. One study found that ashwagandha improved sleep for folks experiencing insomnia as well as those who don’t.
Create your sleep oasis by adding blackout curtains to your windows and keeping the temperature of your bedroom nice and cool.
When you need a little extra support to drift off and stay asleep, a melatonin supplement can really help. Melatonin is a naturally occurring hormone in your brain, so taking a supplement about 30 minutes before you want to be asleep can help your body wind down the way it’s designed to.