How To Improve Sleep Without Using Medication

Are you struggling to fall asleep at night? How about staying asleep? Or do you have a hard time waking up in the morning and feel groggy during the day?

Sleep is one of the most underrated factors when it comes to achieving long term health. Poor sleep habits can result in fatigue, decreased concentration, impaired memory, mood changes and even weight gain. Surveys show that people on average are sleeping 6.9 hours each night whereas the research shows that optimal sleep time is considered 8.2 hours per night.

Optimizing sleep is one of the most important steps you can take if your goal is to improve your health. Here are key steps you can take starting tonight to improve your sleep!

1) Avoiding screen time for at least one hour before bed.

Studies show that the use of electronics at night leads to a decrease in melatonin production in the body, and we all know how important melatonin is for sleep. This happens because the blue light emitted by these screens is very stimulating for the brain, which increases the stress hormone cortisol, and as cortisol goes up melatonin comes down, preventing us from getting that deep restorative sleep.
To avoid this, you want to avoid screen time for at least one hour before bed. This means one hour before bed, TV, cell phone, and computer all get turned off and put away. The goal is to go low tech at least one hour before bed. Read a book, do some light stretching, clean your room, do some laundry, take a bath. Anything that does not involve technology. If you must use your computer or cell phone near bedtime, I suggest using blue light blocking glasses to minimize your exposure to the blue light.

2) Make sure there are no electronics on in the bedroom.

Devices such as TVs, computers, cell phones and modems generate electromagnetic fields that can disrupt sleep for some people. Experiment with moving these into another room. I highly suggest putting your cell phone outside your bedroom, don’t worry you will still here it ring if there is an emergency and you will still be able to hear your alarm, just be sure to turn the ringer up high.

3) Limiting or avoiding caffeine

Avoiding caffeine after 2pm or consider eliminating it entirely if you are sensitive to it. Caffeine is a stimulant and can be very disruptive to sleep especially if consumed close to the evening.

4) Limiting or avoiding alcohol.

This is controversial one because many think that alcohol helps them sleep, which is not true. Alcohol may help you fall asleep, but it prevents deep sleep. What happens if you drink wine near bedtime is that you increase blood sugar at night after which it comes crashing down and when blood sugar dips at night the body produces cortisol to bring it back up, and as we discussed earlier cortisol is stimulating to the brain which prevents us from getting deep sleep and causes to wake at night. So, avoid alcohol before bed if you are struggling with sleep.

5) Avoiding exercising close to bedtime.

Exercise during the day promotes good sleep but exercising too close to bedtime can be disruptive to sleep because exercise increases the stress hormone cortisol.

6) Pay attention to your sleeping environment specifically temperature and lighting.

The optimal temperature for sleeping is 69 degrees so be sure to keep your room nice and cool. For lighting, keep your room dark enough so that you can only see the outline of your hand. If you can see the skin, it is too bright.

7) Avoiding supplements near bedtime that can be disruptive to sleep.

Supplements like B Vitamins and vitamin D can disrupt sleep, so you want to make sure you are avoiding these supplements in the late afternoon and evenings.

8) Establish regular sleep schedule.

This is one of the biggest mistakes I see people make when it comes to sleeping patterns and that is when people wake early in the mornings on weekdays but sleep in on weekends. This is like jet lag and can disrupt sleep quality. Instead, you want to establish regular sleep schedules by going to bed and waking up at the same time every day of the week. The body likes rhythm so when you go to sleep and rise at about the same time each night it helps your body’s biological patterns to get in sync.

I hope you found this video helpful and now understand what steps you need to take to improve your sleep quality!

Remember getting a solid 8 hours of quality sleep is crucial for your health so be sure to implement the strategies we discussed here.