10 Ways To Have A Better Night’s Sleep
Deep and regenerating sleep is one of the most critical factors to your brain health and overall health in general.
It is commonly known that as we age, both the quality and quantity of sleep are prone to deterioration.
Patients who suffer from the symptoms of Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease are particularly susceptible to sleep disorders, and the severity of sleep disruption is also much higher.
Does having trouble sleeping lead to Dementia?
Up until recently, sleep disruption in people with early Dementia was considered a consequence of damage to the brain.
Today, however, more and more studies reveal the opposite; namely that sleep disorders are actually a contributing factor to the development of Alzheimer’s disease and overall brain function decline.
Astonishingly, studies also show that treating sleep disorders such as sleep-apnea can delay the onset of cognitive decline by nearly a decade!
It has been proven that during deep sleep, the brain more efficiently clears waste products that accumulate during wakefulness, including specific proteins (amyloid-β and tau) normally associated with Alzheimer’s Disease.
Furthermore, proper sleep contributes to overall physical, mental and emotional wellbeing in a myriad of complex ways.
Bottom Line: Sleep Is Important
Therefore, we’ve listed below our Top 10 tips to having a better night’s sleep.
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Increase your exposure to bright, natural light during the day
While this might seem obvious, natural light is good for us. Not just in our physicality, but for the connection between our eyes and brain. This improves your energy levels during the daytime, as well as nighttime sleep quality and duration
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Avoid caffeine later in the day
While coffee, in general, has great benefits, when consumed late in the day, coffee stimulates your nervous system and may stop your body from naturally relaxing at night.
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Reduce blue light exposure in the evening
Bad news for those of us who watch TV or use our Smartphones in bed. The strong Blue Light these devices omit trick your brain into thinking it is still daytime. This reduces hormones like melatonin, which helps you relax and get deep sleep.
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Reduce irregular or long afternoon naps
There’s a reason we grow out of afternoon naps when we’re kids. Since our brains are no longer processing as much of an ongoing influx of information each day, the “nap” comes more as a luxury or convenience. Sleeping in the daytime will actually confuse your internal clock, meaning that you may struggle to sleep at night.
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Abstain from alcohol
The vast majority of our readers would recognize that over-consumption of alcohol has endless negative affects on our whole body. But as sleepy as it may make us feel to have an extra couple of glasses, this is not what we consider “healthy sleep”. What we are confusing for a relaxant, Alcohol is known to cause or increase the symptoms of sleep apnea, snoring and disrupted sleep patterns.
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Your bedroom should be your temple
The environment you sleep in plays a BIG role in your sleep quality and duration. This is why most people have trouble sleeping while traveling, and staying in hotels, etc. It’s not so much Jetlag as it is the mind and body feeling the comfort of the environment they’re in. This includes temperature, noise, external lights, and furniture arrangement. Make your bedroom a sacred place where you feel the most comfortable.
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Try not to eat too late
The harder your body has to work at digesting food, the less focused it can be on slowing down and relaxing at the right times. Since our bodies are rhythmical and are tuned to do things at certain times, eating too late will not only throw your digestion into turmoil, but the discomfort of it all will make being horizontal incredibly challenging.
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Clear your mind before bed
That important task the next day won’t start until tomorrow, so there’s not much point letting it keep you up tonight! This can often be easier said than done, so applying certain relaxation techniques can help the mind settle before bed. This includes Yoga, deep breathing, meditation, reading a book, listing to calming music, and even taking a nice hot bath.
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Avoid liquids before bed
While it’s true that our body’s natural regeneration processes leave us dehydrated in the morning, compensating for this before bed will only leave us with a full bladder. While this can become increasingly prevalent with age, as a general rule, abstaining from liquids for at least 1-2 hours prior to bed will ensure the reduction, if not complete avoidance of excessive urination requirements, which commonly disrupt sleep
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Rule out any possible sleep disorders
An underlying health condition may be the cause of your sleep problems. One common issue is sleep apnea, which causes inconsistent and interrupted breathing. People with this disorder stop breathing repeatedly while sleeping. It seems scary to some, while others put this down to more of an irritation. It can be dangerous, so if you think you may be at risk, consult your physician.
While all of these tips can help you to have a more pleasant sleep, if you are finding consistent sleeplessness, or have concerns that there may be more to it, it could be worth looking into our ProtectMyBrain program
As part of our program at Brainfit Resorts, we will conduct a thorough analysis of your sleep patterns and stress management, and provide methods and techniques that can be adapted to give you a much more enriching and nourishing sleeping experience, that you can adopt into your lifestyle long after your stay with us.
Click HERE to find out if the ProtectMyBrain Dementia Program might be right for you.
We hope these tips provide you with some insights and assistance to living your most brain healthy life.
If you enjoyed reading this blog, and want to see more of our articles relating to disease prevention, check out the links to some of our other articles and videos below:
- How Iron and B Vitamins Improve Brain Activity
- Can Vitamin C and E Help Prevent Dementia?
- How To Beter Handle Stress & Anxiety – Video
- Brain Aging… Can We Slow It Down? – Video
- Cognitive Decline: Can It Be Prevented? – Video
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