Sleep: What It Does, How Much You Need, And Tips To Get More If It.
Ah. There’s nothing like a good night’s sleep. You wake up the next morning Feeling Fabulous with a Capital F.
And even if you’ve been under a rock – you know that sleep is essential for a productive day.
You think clearly. You eat better. Your skin glows. Your performance rocks.
When you’re young, chances are sleep is easy to come by. But when you get older, it’s a whole other ball game. Right when you start needing it the most, sleep becomes harder to get.
And so, we’re going to tackle the essential questions of sleep. In particular, what does it do for you? How much do you need? What can you do to get more sleep? And what should you avoid before hitting the hay?
Keep in mind, we aren’t doctors. Always ask your medical professional before trying these suggestions.
With that said, let’s review.
What does sleep do for your body?
Sleep is the most important thing you can give your body. It engages in recovery, both physically and mentally.₁ It affects every function and tissue – including your brain, lungs, heart, mood, immune system, and disease resistance. And it removes toxins that build up while you’re awake.₂
For kids, sleep gives them:₃
better health
improved attention
better behavior
more concentration for learning
better memory
a stronger ability to control their emotions.
And let’s be honest: It does the same for adults. We’ve all been there. Going to work with no sleep. Feeling run-down. No concentration. Hungry. Pissy… There’s a cranky inner child in all of us.
Which leads to the next question.
What does not getting enough sleep do to your body?
Sleep is the main component of all recovery. So it stands to reason that if you're sick and you don’t sleep, you’re gonna get sicker. If you’re staying up to cram for that big test the next day, chances are you won't perform as well as if you had gotten some sleep.
Indeed, a lack of sleep greatly increases your chances of the following:₃
Weight gain
Diabetes
High blood pressure
Heart disease
Stroke
Depression
And let’s not forget that it speeds up the aging process.
So now that we know what not sleeping does to you…
How much sleep do you need?
Good question. Your age and gender play into your sleep needs.
While everyone’s sleep needs are different, here’s a general breakdown:₃
Babies need a lot. Like a lot.
Kids 3-5 years need 10-13 hours, including naps.
Kids 6-12 years need 9-12 hours.
Kids 13-18 years need 8-10 hours.
Men need 7 or more hours.
Women need at least 7 hours, though 8-9 hours is preferable. Particularly in child-bearing years.
Let’s dive deeper into the needs of adult men and women.
The sleep needs of men remain fairly constant, flowing along with their circadian rhythm – also known as the 24-hour “body clock.”
But for women, it’s a whole other ball game.
Prior to puberty and after menopause, the need for sleep in females is much like that of men. It follows their basic circadian rhythm. But during their child bearing years, women’s sleep is rather sporadic.
How so?
A woman’s cycle runs both on a circadian and infradian rhythm. The infradian rhythm is how women go about their daily lives on a monthly basis.
In other words, during child bearing years, a woman's energy levels are different from one time of the month to the next. And that means her sleep is, also.
So in moments of high energy, she may only need seven hours of sleep. But in other moments – perhaps right before or during her period – she may need eight or nine.
The simple answer to this? Listen to your body. If you need sleep, sleep. Without it, you may be putting undue stress on yourself, thereby doing more damage than good.
So with that, let’s check out what you can do for better sleep.
Steps To Take To Improve Your Sleep Game
There are several things you can do to make sure you get quality sleep. And it turns out that it all has to do with preparation.
Below are the ways you can get a good night’s sleep by mastering your routine, prepping your environment, and avoiding certain things that may keep you from sleeping altogether.
So first…
Master your daily routine.
The things you can implement in your routine can start as early as the next morning.
Try going to bed and waking up at the same time everyday. This will support your circadian rhythm and allow your body to naturally prepare for sleep on time.
Get at least 30 minutes of exercise daily. While experts are still not sure what the correlation is between exercise and sleep, evidence shows that sleep increases the amount of slow wave sleep – also known as deep sleep – you get.₉ Because it raises your body temperature and increases your endorphins and heart rate, make sure to exercise no later than a few hours before bed.
If you think you can nap in the middle of the day, do so! You may have heard that if you don’t sleep enough, you’ll never get that time back. Turns out that may not be the case. Naps are a great way to refresh for the second half of the day, especially if you didn’t sleep so well the night before.
Benefits include reduced stress, increased work performance, reasoning, memory, and the ability to complete complex tasks. Naps are particularly beneficial to shift workers and those who have to be alert at irregular times.₁₀
Naps should be anywhere from 10-25 minutes long to avoid entering into deep sleep. But remember, a longer nap of 1 hour or longer can help you go through a complete sleep cycle. Which is beneficial if you chronically struggle to get enough sleep.₁₀
Ideally, naps should be taken “eight or more hours before bedtime.”₁₀ And remember – not everyone is a napper. If it doesn’t work for you, don’t do it.
Cut out caffeine by 2pm. A meta-analysis found that caffeine affects sleep quality and interferes with slow-wave sleep – a short period of sleep associated with recovery, boosting immunity, aiding in memory, and creativity.₄
What’s more? In a study published by the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, participants who drank caffeine six hours before bed lost 41 minutes of sleep. They also took twice as long to fall asleep as people who took a placebo.₄
Eat your evening meal no later than 3 hours prior to going to bed. Not only will eating earlier help you stay asleep longer, it’ll also allow your body time to digest your food. You’ll reduce the possibility of staying up with acid reflux, indigestion, or upset stomach.₅
Nail down a good evening routine.
Your evening routine is perhaps just important, if not more important, than your morning routine. How well you sleep will determine your performance the next day. So with that, follow these 4 simple steps:
Turn off all screens at least 2 hours prior to sleeping. And if that’s impossible to do…
Invest in a pair of red-lensed Bon Charge glasses (formerly Blu Blox). Once you wear these, you’ll notice how your body naturally starts to wind down. Heads up – they even come in prescription lenses. While we wish we carried them at the Natural Nutrition House, we don’t. We just really dig ‘em.
Take sleep supplements. This should be done about 45 minutes before going to bed. Magnesium, found in Natural Vitality Calm, is great for supporting sleep.
Other sleepy ingredients you may want to explore include L-Theanine, L-Tryptophan, Ashwagandha, St. John’s Wort, Skullcap, Valerian Root, and Passionflower. You can try them individually, or consider supplements that combine them, such as Irwin Naturals Power to Sleep PM, or Pure Encapsulations Best Rest Formula or Cortisol Calm.
Melatonin is essential for inducing sleep. Just remember, it doesn’t keep you asleep. And a quick note: According to Dr. John Lieurance – a chiropractic neurologist and naturopath – taking melatonin as a supplement won’t keep your body from producing more.₁₁
4. While you’re at it, pair your sleep supplements with a nice cup of calming evening tea. Some suggestions include:
If you can’t choose one type, no problem! The Calm Buddha Blend by Buddha Teas combines Chamomile, Lavender, Passion Flower, Skullcap, Spearmint, St. John’s Wort, and Cinnamon.
Or…
You can try Relaxing by Triple Leaf Tea. This tea is a milder combination that includes Chamomile, Peppermint, Catnip, Blackberry Leaf, Licorice Root, Passionflower, Skullcap, and Valerian Root.
Now that you’ve got your night routine down, it’s time to focus on where you sleep.
Prep your sleep environment.
As if you didn’t know… Your surroundings play a huge role in your quality of sleep. That’s why it’s so important to not only prepare your body for sleep, but also make sure that where you sleep is optimized. Below are nine ways to elevate your sleep experience.
Invest in black-out curtains. Science has shown that completely blocking out all light in your room dramatically improves your quality of sleep. Even a small amount of light coming in can negatively affect it.
Cover all small lights in your room, including plugins or detectors. Any little light – especially green, yellow, or blue lights – can negatively affect your ability to sleep. The reason? These lights in particular can trigger your pineal gland to secrete cortisol – your body’s stress hormone, telling your brain that it’s time to wake up.
Roll up a towel or pillowcase and place it in the crack of your door. Especially if you have others in the house who habitually turn the lights on outside your room.
Turn off your router. Our bodies have their own electronic and biochemical responses. The electromagnetic field (EMF) emitted from routers has been shown to cause insomnia and can negatively affect your natural responses. Before you go to bed, turn it off.₆
Keep your cell phone out of your room. Invest in an old-fashioned alarm clock. Your phone emits its own EMF frequency. If you must have your phone, try to keep it at least 3 feet away from your bed. Further if you can. And avoid wearing bluetooth headphones to bed.
Invest in a white noise machine. Trust us. Whatever science there is backing this up, the fact is it works.
Take a cold shower 20-30 minutes before going to bed. Particularly if you have trouble going to sleep, this works like a charm.
Set your room temperature to 69 degrees. If you’d like technology to do this for you, check out The Cube. It’s a techy body temperature regulator that is Out. Of. This. World.
Men – this temperature can remain fairly consistent for you.
Women – you’ll want to warm up when dozing off, and then cool down. Upon waking, you’ll want to warm up again.
To do this, keep an extra blanket on your bed and cover up upon sleeping. Kick off the cover when you get too hot. Then when it’s time to get up, cover yourself with the extra blanket and take a few minutes to warm your body temperature. You may also want to keep a sweatshirt close to put on. It’s weird, but it works!
Consider investing in a motion sensor night light or a blue light blocking clip light – again from Bon Charge. Especially if you’re a midnight pee-er, these are at a great price point and perfect for keeping your sleepy hormones going strong while doing your nightly duty.
Now that we’ve addressed all the things you should do for a good night’s sleep, let’s address what you shouldn’t.
Never Do This Before Going To Bed
If you follow the prior steps laid out in this blog, there are just 3 things you should never do before bed. Such as…
Don’t stare at blue screens 2-3 hours before bed. And if you do, wear blue blocking red-lensed glasses. We’ve covered this in another section, but it bears repeating. The blue light emitted from your screen mocks the blue light emitted from the sun. Staring at blue light tells your brain that it’s daytime, and disrupts the hormones produced in preparation for sleep.
Don’t drink alcohol. At least no alcohol 4 hours prior to sleep.₇ Alcohol is a depressant, so it enables you to fall asleep fairly quickly. But staying asleep is another issue. People who drink before going to bed often experience sleep disruptions as the liver begins to process the alcohol in their bloodstream.₇
Plus, alcohol can cause insomnia and sleep apnea.₇
According to the Sleep Foundation:
Low amounts of alcohol decreased sleep quality by 9.3%, or less than 2 drinks for men and less than 1 drink for women.₇
Moderate amounts of alcohol decreased sleep quality by 24%, or 2 drinks for men and 1 drink for women.₇
High amounts of alcohol decreased sleep quality by 39.2% – more than 2 drinks for men and more than 1 drink for women.₇
Have a sleep monitor? Cool! Don’t track it daily. Why? Say you’ve just woken up from a great night’s sleep. Or so you thought. You take a look at your monitor to see just how sublime your sleep was. And… It wasn’t.
According to Tara Youngblood, co-founder of Sleepme Inc., tracking your sleep on a daily basis, “is very destructive to your hormones. Your brain will release a chemical response to getting bad news. If you feed off of that…you’re going to be tired.”₈Getting the news that you actually didn’t get a good night’s sleep keeps you from getting that dopamine rush in the morning. The news that your sleep was not so good will most likely make you feel more tired during the day.₈
So what should you do? Review your sleep weekly. By doing this, you can see the peaks and dips in your week and tweak it where you can, without it affecting your daily life.₈
Hacking your sleep will optimize your health.
And that’s why we’re starting this journey with sleep.
We can’t stress it enough: Sleep is the foundation of everything. It’ll determine your level of health, fitness, and performance in every aspect of your life.
We guarantee if you take your sleep seriously, everything else will improve.
As with anything, one person’s sleep journey can be completely different from another’s. And what may work for one person may not work for someone else.
That’s why we want to hear from you. What works for you? What doesn’t? By knowing your experience, we can better inform others. Contact us and let us know!
References
[1] https://www.sleepfoundation.org/how-sleep-works/what-happens-when-you-sleep
[4] https://www.sleep.com/sleep-health/afternoon-coffee-habit
[5] https://www.leesa.com/article/eating-before-bed-pros-and-cons
[6] https://saminasleep.com/samina-general-news/the-dangers-of-sleeping-with-emfs-in-your-bedroom/
[7] https://www.sleepfoundation.org/nutrition/alcohol-and-sleep
[9] https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/exercising-for-better-sleep
[10] https://www.sleepfoundation.org/sleep-hygiene/napping