So You Didn't Sleep—Here's How to Stay Awake

Whether you had a long night of drinking or have a new baby who has yet to learn the fine art of sleeping, you might need a few tips on how to stay awake after a rough night. When you feel tired, we all know you can pound an energy drink or splash cold water on your face for a pick-me-up… or just cut out the middleman and splash your face with an ice-cold energy drink.

But there are better ways to give yourself an energy boost than relying on cans of caffeine. I consulted doctors, sleep experts, and health professionals to find the best and healthiest ways to stay alert after a night or two of sleep deprivation.

Find Your Light

When you find yourself dozing off during the day, your circadian rhythm might be out of whack. Typically, our bodies use sunlight as a cue to wake up and darkness as a cue to sleep. But working night shifts or having a varied sleep schedule can mess up your body's internal rhythm.

Luckily, it's easy to get your rhythm back on track. Just go into the light! I mean, don't go into the light like Carol Anne, but get yourself out of the darkness. "Expose yourself to bright light, ideally sunlight," says Tzvi Doron, D.O. "This sends a message to your brain that it's 'awake time' by shutting off melatonin production."

Sleep science coach Chris Brantner adds, "The more you can expose yourself to sunlight, the more awake you'll feel. Also, you'll have a better chance of resetting your sleep/wake cycle and getting a better night's sleep the following night." The burst of sunshine helps rebalance your circadian rhythms (and can help you avoid developing a sleep disorder in the future).

According to Doron, it would be great to get 30 minutes of sunshine every day, but you really only need a few moments in the light to get energy-boosting effects. So take a five-minute walk outside, soak up the sun, enjoy the fresh air, and you'll get back to your day feeling refreshed.

But remember to avoid exposing yourself to light (especially blue light, like from your computer screen) closer to bedtime—it'll keep you from falling asleep when you want to.

EDITOR'S PICK

Work It Out

One of the easiest ways to stay alert when you're feeling tired is to exercise. Now, I fully admit that when I'm insanely tired, the last thing I would ever want to do is exercise. In fact, if someone told me to get up and do a couple of jumping jacks when I was feeling fatigued, I'd only be able to muster the energy to jump up and punch them in the face.

But when you really need to stay awake, a little bit of exercise is your best option. Richard Honaker, M.D., says you don't need to bust out a whole routine at the gym, you just need to get your heart rate up. When your heart starts pumping, it forces the body to wake up.

Again, I know how hard it can be to do any form of exercise when you're imagining that your keyboard is a fluffy pillow. But when you start feeling super tired, just stand up and do 10 squats. Even that little bit of exercise is enough to get your blood moving and keep you awake and alert. Then repeat the exercise whenever you start to drift off. You'll power through a sleepy day and get a great butt workout all in one!

But avoid exercise in the evening if you want to go to bed at a reasonable hour—it can keep you up after you want to go to bed.

Chug! Chug! Chug!

If you want to learn how to stay awake, you need to start drinking. No, this isn't an excuse to fill your coffee mug with bourbon. But if you're lethargic, you've got to drink more water.

"Drink water like it's your job," says Neal Shipley, M.D., an emergency medicine specialist—a.k.a. no stranger to pulling all-nighters. "Make a point to take a five-minute break every hour during your day to get up and take a walk to fill your water bottle. Staying hydrated will keep you healthier and more alert."

This advice works in two ways. One, getting up to get water is a form of exercise. That little walk to the water cooler wakes your body up and keeps you from an unwanted desk nap. Two, staying hydrated allows your body to function more effectively, so you get an extra energy boost right there. Of course, drinking water doesn't actually alter your body’s intrinsic ability to stay awake, but dehydration can result in fatigue, so staying hydrated can definitely help.

Keep Away From Carbs

This may not be a huge surprise, but eating a ton of carbs will not improve your energy levels. Yes, I wish that eating a huge bowl of fettuccine Alfredo would give me Popeye-like strength to power through my day, but sadly, it just doesn't work that way.

But here's the tricky part—our bodies crave carbs when we're tired. Junk food is seen as more rewarding to a fatigued brain. Because your tired body wants quick energy, you'll start to crave doughnuts like a cop on a stakeout. But although that doughnut helps you stay awake for a little while, that energy won't last.

Hormuz Nicolwala, M.D., a third-year resident at WVU Children's Hospital, gives his expert tips on how to snack to stay awake. "Eating carbs during a night shift will only make you more sleepy due to the high release of insulin following intake of a high-carbohydrate meal," Nicolwala says. He recommends eating yogurt, jerky, or other protein-filled foods to give you the nutrients you need to make it through the shift. If you pay attention to your carbs, you won't have to worry about a blood sugar crash tanking your energy.

Use Strategic Caffeine

Studies have shown that drinking caffeine late in the day can screw up your sleep habits for the rest of the night, so caffeine is not always the best option. But hey, sometimes you just need to stay awake, and if you use caffeine right, it can work.

To keep your energy levels high, don't slam down a triple shot espresso. It's better to ingest small doses of caffeine throughout the day, according to a study performed by researchers at Harvard Medical School. The study found that one large dose of caffeine didn't help wakefulness throughout the day. Instead, the study gave participants the equivalent of two ounces of caffeine every hour, and this steady dose helped participants score higher on cognitive tests and avoid accidental naps.

Now, this was a very small study where men were forced to stay up for 42 hours at a time, so their sleepy circumstance was a little more extreme than usual. And though the participants on caffeine performed better than those without, the caffeinated patients felt more sleepy than their decaf cohorts.

Still, a little bit of caffeine through the day can be helpful—especially when you're dealing with working night shifts or all night study sessions.

EDITOR'S PICK

Weirder Ways to Stay Awake

The suggestions in this section are definitely curious and may work, but we definitely don’t want to imply that there’s a ton (or, uh, any) scientific evidence backing them up...

Put Peppermint on Your Face

Holistic health coach Hannah Alderete recommends putting a dab of peppermint oil on your temples for a little boost. "The peppermint is a stimulant and will both cool your body down and rev your attention back up," Alderete says.

Switch Up Your Toothpaste

Since peppermint is such a good neural stimulant, reserve your minty toothpaste for the morning says Mark Burhenne, D.D.S. But peppermint paste "harms the brain's winding-down process at night." So, before bed, switch to a non-mint toothpaste. This helps tell your brain that it's time to sleep, and you won't have mint keeping you up at night.

Watch Your Meds

Beware of antihistamines and Benadryl (diphenhydramine) when you're feeling groggy, Honaker says. Both drugs can make fatigue worse, or they could be causing your sleepiness in the first place!

Shut Your Mouth

Burhenne has an unusual recommendation for a good night's sleep—tape your mouth shut. Seriously. Literally, put tape over your mouth. This isn't some pseudo 50 Shades stuff, it's meant to help you breathe during the night. Taping your mouth forces you to breathe through your nose, which Burhenne insists increases the body's supply of nitric oxide, which helps reduce blood pressure and improves memory and sleep quality—so getting more might help.

Now, there aren't many studies to back up the claims of mouth taping, and if you have a nasal anomaly or a medical condition that makes you rely more on mouth breathing, taping your mouth shut definitely isn’t recommended. But Burhenne and others say they have had many clients claim their sleeping improved through taping, so it may be worth talking to your doctor about.

None of these tips will replace a full night's sleep. But a little sunshine, exercise, and protein really can help you power through even your sleepiest days.

Amber Petty is a freelance writer in Los Angeles. If you like easy crafts and Simpsons gifs, check out her blog, Half-Assed Crafts.

from Greatist RSS https://ift.tt/2GnjLia

How Every Body Part Is Affected by Sleep

What Makes Someone a Heavy Sleeper (and How Do You Become One)?

If you've ever shared a bedroom with someone, you're probably aware of the fact that some people can sleep so deeply that you could blast the TV at full volume and they wouldn't even stir, whereas others require the perfect cocktail of darkness, silence, and temperature to keep them asleep. You may even be both of those people in a single lifetime—or even in a single week. But what exactly makes someone a light sleeper or a heavy sleeper? Turns out, the answer is fairly complicated: Sleep, like most other facets of human life, involves a lot of factors.

"Assuming everyone has a healthy lifestyle, there is individual variation," says Jocelyn Y. Cheng, MD, assistant professor of neurology with a specialization in sleep medicine at NYU Langone. So even after ruling out differences in lifestyle—diet, activity, substance use—and disorders like sleep apnea, our sleep habits can still vary greatly.

But what is "deep sleep" anyway?

We all go through cycles of deeper and lighter sleep every night, so the difference between a heavy and a light sleeper may be the amount of time a person spends in certain phases of their sleep cycle.

As you may remember from high-school biology, there are four stages of sleep that we cycle through every night, from the lightest (falling asleep) to the deepest, wherein the body repairs and strengthens the muscles, brain, and immune system. After each cycle, we enter REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, which is where dreams happen. The NREM (non-rapid eye movement) stages leading up to REM take about 90 minutes, and each REM period lasts a bit longer than the previous one, usually up to an hour by the final REM stage of the night. REM is technically the lightest kind of sleep—closest to waking.

Like many things, sleep is easier when you're a kid.

The deepest stages, however, are "collectively known as Slow-Wave Sleep (SWS)" and are common when you're very young, says Michael Perlis, PhD, director of the Behavioral Sleep Medicine Program at University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine. "The large amounts of SWS in early life likely accounts for the deep sleep that young people experience."

This may explain, in part, why, when you were little, your parents may have been able to carry you from the couch to your bed without you ever knowing, but as an adult, the slightest jostling from your partner might pull you right out of sleep.

EDITOR'S PICK

Other factors—including lifestyle—play a part.

"Sex, metabolism, and genetics also likely determine how deeply a person sleeps," Perlis says. Studies have found that women tend to preserve their slow-wave sleep better than men. However, there is an overall decline in slow wave sleep as we age, but there is more decline in men overall.

Hormones and other brain functions are also part of the sleep/waking cycle, including systems that specifically keep you from waking up. And when you're awake, sleep-promoting substances accumulate in your brain—essentially getting you more and more ready to go to sleep the longer you stay awake.

Your environment factors into your sleep quality too. While Perlis and Cheng both recommend a quiet, dark, cool environment for sleeping, most of us already know how we sleep best—even when that means lights, music, or the TV on.

"If somebody is already habituated to something, they go to sleep when they're tired and wake up when they want to, and it doesn't really interfere with their functioning during the day, it's truly not going to be much of a problem," Cheng says. So if you're used to sleeping with noise or sound in your environment, and it doesn't seem to be negatively impacting your quality of sleep, there's probably no harm in it.

This is probably part-idiosyncratic and part-habituation—no one knows exactly why one noise/light environment works better for some people than others, except that you generally sleep best with whatever you're used to. Perlis adds, however, that "predictable or monotonous noise" can help mask unexpected sounds in the night to help prevent sudden waking for those of us more sensitive to noise. White or pink noise, he says, is generally better for this function than television.

You may just be more (or less) sensitive.

"Part of this may have to do with the individual's neurobiology—their strength of sensory inhibition during sleep," Perlis says.

"For reasons we don't understand, some people just happen to be more sensitive to certain provoking factors. Some people tend to be very sensitive to light, and that's not uncommon, because light is one of the strongest zeitgebers (environmental clues) for keeping us awake," Cheng says.

Other atmospheric factors also play a part in shaping a person's circadian rhythm. But ultimately, people are different: Just like genetics and other inbred factors can hard-wire what makes some of us happy running on six hours of sleep while others can't function without a full eight, some of us are just naturally more sensitive sleepers. If you're one of these, that doesn't mean all hope is lost, however: There are definitely a variety of ways to help yourself sleep better—whether or not you lucked out in the genetic sleep lottery.

Ariana DiValentino is a writer and filmmaker based in Brooklyn. She is very, very worried. You can follow her on Instagram and Twitter.



from Greatist RSS https://ift.tt/2ILHNC0

Editor's Picks: 8 Products That Have Totally Helped Me Get Some Effing Sleep

The Most Boring Podcast on Earth Is My Favorite Thing—Here's Why

I am a terrible sleeper. Even though I go to bed completely exhausted most nights, once I get into position, I find the whole becoming-unconscious thing basically impossible. As soon as I turn off the lights, my mind starts racing with anxieties, usually useless ones that I can't turn off: Why did I say that dumb thing to Hayden Greenfield in 7th grade? Did people have fun at my wedding? What would I name a poodle if I had one? Even though I usually get in bed early, at least a few nights a week, I'll find myself still awake at 3 a.m., wondering when my brain will finally switch off.

EDITOR'S PICK

I've tried everything to get some sleep. I've literally counted imaginary sheep. I've played soft music. I've imagined my body slowly filling up with sand (a tip from a therapist that ended up just making me worry about serial killers). Nothing helped. Until I discovered Sleep With Me.

Sleep With Me is a podcast designed to be incredibly boring. But there's a good reason: It's so boring that people with insomnia will fall asleep to it. It sounds crazy, but it works. It's hosted by Drew Ackerman, who is—by his own admission—not a sleep expert, just someone like me who has struggled his whole life with insomnia, which means he gets how frustrating it can be to not able to fall asleep. Drew speaks in a low, soothing voice and puts his listeners to sleep by telling stories that have absolutely no point.

You know how your high-school English teacher told you stories have to have a beginning, middle, and end? Not on Sleep With Me. The stories Drew tells are impossible to follow. He goes off on boring tangents, never comes back to main points, and rambles softly in a stream-of-consciousness narrative that goes nowhere.

Every episode is a new kind of boring: He makes up a fairy tale, he reads recipes, he retells episodes of Star Trek from memory. Each podcast is about an hour long, which is enough time that you don't have to worry whether it will be over before you finally fall asleep, but I even set a sleep timer so they turn off automatically. The podcast is incredibly calming—it distracts me from my own thoughts without getting me invested in a story.

Drew notes that you'll probably need to listen to it a few times before it will work, and he's right: It took me a couple tries before it started putting me to sleep. At first, I was kind of interested in how someone could possibly fill an entire hour with such a boring story, so I ended up staying awake for the whole thing, even though the episode was just him describing a house he once lived in. But after a few tries, it clicked—and now it puts me to sleep within a few minutes. In fact, I almost never remember what he talked about in each episode because I fall asleep so quickly. Goodbye, worrying about my non-existent poodle's name. Hello, sleep.

Lucy Huber is a writer, multiple cat owner, and sufferer of Reverse Dawson's Creek Actor Syndrome, which is a disease she made up for when you are 30 but look 15. To see her other work or ask more specific questions about her cats, visit lucyhuber.com.

from Greatist RSS https://ift.tt/2GhTdih

Can Sex Legitimately Help You Sleep Better?

When it comes to your health, there are certain things that pretty much everyone loves to hear. Drinking alcohol can be good for you? Sign me up. Coffee breaks make you more productive instead of less? Yes freaking please.

When it comes to sex, we already know that the health benefits are plentiful—it burns calories, reduces stress, and boosts your brainpower—but can sex help you sleep better? Thankfully, science has our backs once more with a resounding "hell yes."

Sex helps you release some great chemicals.

Turns out, sex can not only help you fall asleep faster, it can improve your overall sleep quality as well. Scientists believe that the release of hormones during sex—including oxytocin, dopamine, and vasopressin, among other feel-good chemicals—all lead to that post-climax glow one study even likened "to the rush of heroin injection."

Yeah, it's like that.

Oxytocin helps reduce stress, while dopamine plays a role in the brain's "reward" center, which definitely makes you feel damn good. And while these hormones might not make you feel sleepy by themselves, just feeling more relaxed and a little bit happier can definitely make it easier to fall asleep.

"Animal studies have linked vasopressin to somnolence," says Nicole Prause, Ph.D. and CEO at Liberos Lab. "Humans have the same vasopressin increase during sexual arousal and also at orgasm."

That means the vasopressin (which plays a major role in mediating stress in your body) could also be helping to make you feel a little bit drowsy. Add to this the fact that the release of serotonin and prolactin both make it less likely for your body to be ready for round two, especially if you're a guy, and it totally makes sense why you might be tempted to take a nap post-sex.

According to a recent study on sex as sleep therapy by Michele Lastella, Ph.D., from the Appleton Institute for Behavioral Science at Central Queensland University, more than 60 percent of people who climaxed during sex before bed reported better overall sleep quality—however, this is preliminary data, so go ahead and take that info with a grain of salt.

Even better?

The relationship between sleep and sex works both ways.

Not only does getting it on help you fall asleep faster, but getting a good night's sleep can majorly boost your libido. According to a study published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, women who managed to get an extra hour of sleep per night saw a 14 percent increase in their likelihood of engaging in sexual activity.

And if you're trying to get pregnant, the relationship between sex and sleep is way more important than you might think.

"Maintaining a healthy testosterone level by getting enough sleep can improve your sperm production and chances of conception," says Greg Sommer, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer at Sandstone Diagnostics, and creator of the Trak Male Fertility Testing System.

Studies connecting sleep disturbance and semen quality are preliminary, but early evidence suggests that poor sleep can negatively impact sperm health.

Solo acts work too.

And you don't actually need a partner to reap the benefits of sex on your sleep cycle (and vice-versa). According to Lastella's study, the key to better sleep isn't just sex—it's orgasms. That means masturbation can give you many of the same stress-relieving and sleep-boosting benefits, so fortunately, a little bit of self-love can go a long way.

EDITOR'S PICK

"Orgasm is such a healthy, endogenous, safe behavior that it is worth trying as a sleep aid if you struggle with sleep," Prause says, which means if it feels good and helps you get some extra sleep, that's definitely not a bad thing.

(But it's still better with someone else.)

But if you want to get the biggest, erm, bang for your buck, research shows that orgasm with a partner releases 400 percent more prolactin than masturbation. And while this might sound like a bad thing, it just means that your body is often more satisfied during intercourse than masturbation.

Regardless, that's still good news for all of us... not that we necessarily needed another reason to get a little more active in the bedroom. Whether you're getting busy with a partner or doing a little solo research (for the sake of your sleep health, of course), the important thing to remember is that it's definitely good for you. Just remember to stay safe and enjoy the very mutually beneficial relationship between sleep and sex.

Jandra Sutton is an author, historian, and public speaker. After graduating from Huntington University with a B.A. in history, she went on to receive a master’s degree in modern British history from the University of East Anglia. In her spare time, Sutton enjoys fangirling, running, and anything related to ice cream. Pluto is still a planet in her heart. She lives in Nashville with her husband and their two dogs. You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram.

from Greatist RSS https://ift.tt/2HZ079j

10 Free Meditations to Encourage Restful Sleep

I really resisted getting into meditation. I thought it was too quiet, boring, and unproductive—I like action. But I noticed the calm in people who meditated often, and I'd read how the brains of those who meditate become wired in ways that help us function better despite common stressors. Now I think that those of us who are wary of meditation are probably the ones who need it the most.

EDITOR'S PICK

So I've meditated every day for 80 days now. This is—by far—my longest stretch, and I never thought I'd last this long. I began meditating to handle some pretty intense stress, and after a couple of months, I noticed that my sleep had seriously improved: I fell asleep more quickly at night and stopped waking up in a panic. A stress-induced skin rash I'd developed disappeared, and I was better able to manage difficult situations.

One thing that helped me get into it has been Insight Timer, an app that offers free access to hundreds of meditations and a way to track hours spent meditating. It's been incredibly helpful for me. Here, I've rounded up some of the best free meditations I've used over the past 80 days for you to try out, some from Insight Timer and from other sources too.

My list includes meditations that are short, long, guided, unguided, by women and men, so you can find what works best for you. Some people want longer times for silence, while others find the long silences stressful and prefer guided meditations. Lack of time is a common reason people don't meditate, so with that in mind, I've included a meditation as short as one minute.

Tara Brach, Vipassana (Basic) Meditation, 15 minutes

Insight Timer app or SoundCloud

Tara Brach's soothing voice guides you through every step of this meditation. I think this one is excellent for a complete beginner because she reminds listeners not to worry if thoughts pass through their minds while trying to meditate. She invites us to compare our thoughts to the weather, noting that they're both similarly passing. I've ended up returning to this meditation often.

Lisa Hubler, Healing Relaxation, 24 minutes

Insight Timer app

In one of Hubler's bios, she mentions that her friends will ask her to talk to them on the phone so they can fall asleep more easily. I'm not surprised; her soothing voice may be her superpower. At the start of this meditation, she invites us in for healing and relaxation. After this meditation, I was so relaxed that I felt like I'd just received a massage. My muscles felt loose, and I fell asleep easily.

EDITOR'S PICK

Shawn Leahy, Cabin Retreat-Light Rain on Roof, 30 minutes

Insight Timer app

This meditation opens with the sound of rain, which continues for 30 minutes. Recently, I played it and let myself drift off for a nap. At one point, I woke up and felt anxious, but I focused my attention on the sound of the rain and quickly drifted back to sleep. I've used this for both naps and evening sleep, and it works well in both cases. I'm always surprised by the good quality of the sound.

Suparni Neuwirth, Yoga Nidra: Guided Meditation for a Deep Sleep and Relaxation, 7 minutes

YouTube

Yoga Nidra doesn't require doing yoga. Instead, it's often done lying down while a teacher guides you through relaxation methods. This video opens with deep breathing and asks you to position your body in a comfortable way before moving on to having you focus on areas of the body—right down to your individual toes and fingers—to release tension and promote sleep.

In this recording, you'll hear peaceful instrumental music and a soothing voice to help you release tension, first on one side of your body and then the other. Once you learn these techniques, you can use them when you're having trouble falling asleep, whether or not you have a teacher or recording to guide you.

Pable Arellano, I See You Harp, 47 minutes

Insight Timer app

Over the years, massage therapists would play background music featuring harps when working on me. I knew the massage helped me sleep better, but what about the relaxing music? After I became comfortable with the basics of meditation, I decided to test harp music to see if it would help me improve my sleep. As expected, this music blocks out noise. Secondly, it induced a relaxed state that helped to calm my mind. If you prefer to listen to music instead of words when heading to sleep, then this is a good recording to try.

Joshua Canter, Om Mani Padme Hum, 12 minutes

Insight Timer app

In The Heart Treasure of the Enlightened Ones, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche writes that reciting the "Om Mani Padme Hum" mantra helps "achieve perfection in the six practices, from generosity to wisdom." Chanting along to this isn't required, of course, but doing so can relax your body, and I found that the act of chanting focused my mind—fewer random thoughts raced through my head—and the minutes passed by quickly. With my first try, I didn't always follow the voice or tune properly, but that didn't matter. By the end, I felt more focused than I had earlier and was better able to sleep.

Lisa Hubler, Deep Trance Sleep Healing, 60 minutes

Insight Timer app

One night, my daughter couldn't fall asleep, but we both had to be up early the next day. She asked if she could try the meditations I'm always talking about. I first played Hubler's "Healing Relaxation," mentioned above, and my daughter liked how Hubler's calm speaking voice kept thoughts at bay—but she didn't fall asleep.

This longer meditation includes relaxation techniques that ask us to focus on an area of our body and release tension there. As the meditation progresses, we're invited to relax areas we previously relaxed in order to enter a deeper state of calm. My daughter and I both fell asleep quickly.

Tara Brach, Saying Yes to Life, 13 minutes

TaraBrach.com

I started using this particular meditation because it was short and I was impatient. Brach's website describes this as guided practice that invites you to awaken a "relaxed and friendly attention that rests in the breath and opens to whatever is arising." In many of her meditations, she advises us to observe what arises—thoughts or emotions—without becoming entangled in them. I appreciate Brach teaching that we can note a thought's appearance and simply let it go.

Peder B. Hellend, The Sea, 25 minutes

YouTube

I found this after Googling "relaxing harp music." I wanted to see if I would like it and felt like experimenting, and I'm glad I did. In my experience, finding ways to de-stress throughout the day means I'll have an easier time getting to bed at night. Since this music is instrumental, I use it both as a way to help me fall asleep and as a way to provide calm during my workday.

Cara Bradley, 1-Minute Grounding Meditation, 1:23

Mindful.org

In this video, Bradley sits on a fallen tree trunk in Valley Forge National Park and shares a meditation and brief "how-to." If you're new to meditation, this provides an introduction to the basics and shows you how you can regain calm even if you only have a short period of time.

I once thought I couldn't take time for meditation, but I think I was overcomplicating the idea by thinking I needed certain tools or lots of time. Meditation can take a minute and doesn't have to require special materials. The other day, I spent 90 seconds standing outside my car in a parking lot feeling the warmth of the sun on my shoulders. These small moments of joy are everywhere, and once you learn these basic techniques, you'll have a repeatable way to gain calm anywhere.

Deborah Ager is a writer, marketer, and terrible yogi. She’s a business book ghostwriter and founded her company to help business leaders become known. Connect with her on Twitter @deborahager1.

from Greatist RSS https://ift.tt/2HYKf6W

Sleep Experts Say You Need to Stop Doing These 7 Things If You Want to Sleep Better

Admitting you browse Twitter in bed has become a social shame nearly on par with confessing that you occasionally sneak onto a bar's back patio for a cigarette. We do both with the full knowledge that these habits are bad for us, but sometimes they just feel too damn good to avoid.

But if you're often sleepless or find yourself exhausted during the day, the causes could be deeper than shame-filled 2 a.m. Instagram scrolling. Here are some less commonly discussed reasons you might not be getting in your full night's sleep.

1. Ignoring your circadian rhythms.

Humans are wired to a biological clock that tells us when we need to sleep and when we need to be awake, set to a 24-hour cycle. That cycle is affected by melatonin, physical activity, social interactions, and most importantly, light.

However, working in offices full of artificial light (and the unpredictability of our days) can set that cycle slightly off-kilter. According to Roy Raymann, Ph.D. and vice president of sleep science at SleepScore Labs, we can start preparing for a good night's sleep at lunchtime.

"An outdoor walk at lunch serves both fitness and sleep; the sun will tell your body it's midday and makes sure the body clock keeps ticking in alignment with the day-night cycle," Raymann says.

2. Working out too close to bedtime.

And if you tend to do more strenuous exercise, hitting the gym later in the day might not be great for your sleep, according to Sujay Kansagra, M.D., director of the pediatric neurology sleep medicine program at Duke University Medical Center and author of the book, My Child Won’t Sleep: A Quick Guide for the Sleep-Deprived Parent.

"For those who have difficulty falling asleep at night, it's important to avoid late night exercise," Kansagra says. "Exercising earlier in the day can certainly help you sleep better at nighttime. However, exercising too close to bedtime can artificially raise your body temperature, which makes it harder to fall asleep."

3. Eating certain foods (especially before bed).

Most of us know that having a venti soy latte with an extra shot right before bed is a terrible idea for a good night's sleep. However, a recent study showed that diets low in fiber and high in saturated fat and sugar led to less restorative sleep and more instances of waking up in the night, especially when consumed later in the day.

According to Hrayr Attarian, M.D., professor of neurology at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine and co-author of the Society for Women's Health Research guide, Women & Sleep, our diets can disrupt our circadian rhythm.

"This paper seems to suggest, reasonably so, that the timing of high-carb and high-fat foods has something to do with circadian regulation of body temperature," Attarian says. "Basically, instead of keeping core body temperature low, the metabolism of these high-energy foods at night increases core body temperature, therefore disturbing sleep." Attarian suggests a "light, high-fiber, low-fat meal in the evening" for better sleep.

Keeping blood sugar stable throughout the night is also important for undisturbed sleep, according to Michael Breus, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist and fellow of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

"Many people go to bed and by 2 or 3 a.m., their blood sugar is low, so their brain produces cortisol to generate insulin, and that wakes people up," Breus says. "Keeping blood sugar stable at night solves the issue. I ask many of my patients to eat a teaspoon of raw honey 20 minutes before bed. This will help keep blood sugar stable all night long. If honey isn't your thing, try guava leaf tea, but not guava juice or extract. It's got to be the tea."

4. Procrastinating at bedtime.

After a busy day, a quick dinner, and maybe a couple of drinks, it can be tempting to stay on the couch for just one more episode of the new Queer Eye. Sure, you're tired, but the nightly routine just seems like too much, and a quick doze on the couch before the business of getting to bed could seem like just the thing. But that catnap could actually be keeping you up.

"After dinner, start scheduling your sleep and don't procrastinate," says Raymann. "Since it takes some time to fall asleep, and even in healthy sleep you have some short wake periods during the night, you need to schedule around eight hours and 45 minutes of shut-eye time to reach those eight hours of sleep. Avoid napping after dinner time: You might feel like dozing off, but daytime or evening napping can disrupt your nighttime sleepiness and sleep."

5. Worrying with your eyes closed.

The opposite of the quick couch nap at bedtime, getting in bed when you're not tired just to replay every awkward conversation you've ever had can be pretty bad as well, Kansagra says.

"A common cause of difficulty falling asleep is worrying excessively in bed," Kansagra says. "Many insomniacs have become accustomed to worrying when they lay down and have a hard time turning off their minds. One key to improving sleep is avoiding the bed until you actually feel sleepy, and saving the bed only for sleep and intimacy."

6. Binge-watching Black Mirror.

At this point, we know it's a big no-no to bring screens into bed (though, yes, of course we do it anyway). But the TV we watch in the living room could actually be affecting the shut-eye we're getting in the bedroom. Not only does the light from the TV mess with our natural rhythms, binge-watchers have reported poorer sleep, and arousal—the kind you get from a GOT cliffhanger, not the other kind—can affect our ability to get restorative, uninterrupted sleep.

"Try to establish a nightly pre-sleep routine, signaling your body that you're preparing to sleep," Raymann says. "Around an hour before bedtime, dim the lights and engage only in relaxing activities—so no games, no emails, no thrillers on Netflix. Avoid any stress. When it's time to go to bed, also try to stick to a fixed-order routine. Use the bathroom, brush your teeth, and wash and moisturize your face."

7. Tossing and turning.

Waking up in the middle of the night and doing quick math to see how much sleep you can still get if you fall back asleep right this second isn't doing you any favors—anxiety around sleeping actually causes you to lose sleep, so it might actually be better to get out of bed for a bit to calm down and feel sleepy again.

"When trying to fall asleep again, you might feel disbelief that you'll ever get back to sleep," Raymann says. "Some might feel sleepy again after 30 minutes; for others, it takes longer. The best thing to do when this happens is to get out of bed and try to engage in some relaxing activity under dim light and comfortable conditions. Start reading a book, listen to music, drink some water if you're thirsty."

The most important advice for quality sleep is trying not to panic and remembering to take care of yourself. Be your own best Mary Poppins at bedtime.

"Make sure you're comfortable," Raymann says. "After a while, the sleepiness will kick in—and then it's time to go to bed again."

Emily Alford lives in Brooklyn, NY, and writes about beauty, food, and TV. Sometimes all at once. Follow her on Twitter @AlfordAlice.

from Greatist RSS https://ift.tt/2uf9PTd

Here's How to Choose the Best Bed in a Box for You

Recently, a team of scientists discovered that around 77,000 years ago, some early humans packed together plants and leaves into a thin mat—the earliest known example of a bed. Clearly, we've been on the hunt for a cozy place to rest our heads for longer than we've been doing practically anything else.

Fast forward to 2018, and bedding involves everything from futuristic memory foam to sensors that track the depth of our sleep. But when you get down to it, mattresses haven't changed much in base principle: They're squishy rectangles that we are very particular about—while some love bouncy coils, others prefer perfectly inflated air pockets.

Today, there are dozens of startup-style companies hocking mattresses you can order online, unroll from boxes, try out in your home, and send back if you want. Google it, and you'll find no fewer than three pages of results filled with brands promising that their bed in a box will arrive at your doorstep with the best R&D behind it—a scientifically proven magic carpet ready to whisk you off to dreamland.

EDITOR'S PICK

But how true is any of this? We set out to cut through the fluff of these online brands, tapped a couple of sleep scientists, and learned what makes a mattress great—in order to arm you with the info you'll need to sleep soundly.

What should we look for in a bed?

The most important thing to keep in mind when choosing a bed is the concept of personal preference (an oddly subjective basis, but every scientist we spoke with started the conversation with that caveat). In one of the most-cited sleep reference texts, The Promise of Sleep, William C. Dement, M.D., Ph.D. writes, "The fundamental principle is that the bedroom should be a comfortable, secure… place where all the factors that promote sleep can work best for you individually."

But after personal preference, there's a lot to consider: We reached out to Gaby Badre, who holds a Ph.D. in neuroscience and performs sleep studies, and who has some wisdom to share about body types as they pertain to mattresses. While Badre emphasized that you can't offer a one-size-fits-all approach to mattresses, he explains that generally, if you're on the heavier side, a squishy mattress—like one made of memory foam—isn't ideal because you're liable to sink in, you can overheat in the middle of the night, and your movement may become restricted.

That said, a firmer mattress—like those made of latex or highly inflated air—tend not to do well for lighter people because they apply pressure to too many places on your body. In fact, Badre broke down three main principles to look for in your mattress: support (to keep your back aligned), relief (to give you freedom of movement and alleviate pressure on curvier sections of your body), and overall comfort. It's all based on your own body's morphology, so it's important to consider these things and test them out in your home. With these principles in mind, let's get into the makeup of these mattresses.

Is there something in the air?

The first thing that came up in our modern mattress searches was the concept of built-in smart tech. You probably remember those Sleep Number commercials, featuring the happy couple who snooze easily on their two-sided, firmness-customizable mattress. In fact, when we reached out to sleep specialist Michael Breus, Ph.D., he said that air mattresses like Sleep Number can give you a lot of great features. "They do an excellent job of giving great support, and some have sensors built in that adjust the bed while you sleep."

But if you can shell out the dough for one of these bad boys—despite being the cousin of the blow-up thing you sleep on when you're staying in your friend's living room, air mattresses can be pretty pricey—a brand like Sleep Number will send a system to your door that has super-high potential for dialing in shockingly exact levels of firmness. As Badre explains, firmness is hugely important in giving you proper support and proper relief, and air mattresses can be especially great for finding (and adjusting) that firmness.

Sleep Number beds come in a few levels, the lowest being right around $600, offering that adjustable air—but if you pump up that price to $2,000, you can get five additional zones of contour-controlled support. Overall, the functionality is something you can't really get in many of the other mattresses, but with so many foam options to get into, there's more here to consider.

Materials matter—especially when it comes to keeping you cool.

"In general, breathability in a mattress is very important," Badre says. In fact, the optimal sleeping temperature is right around the mid-60 degrees Fahrenheit. The only job of the bed, temperature-wise, is to not get in the way, giving you freedom of movement so you don't cocoon yourself too much and overheat. And Breus agrees. "If I had to choose a mattress material for the general population, it would be latex," he says. "It has the properties of both springs and memory foam, without all the temperature issues." Keeping you cool turns out to be the No. 1 recommended mattress property.

After a look at the five-or-so leading mail order mattress companies, though, it became clear that what their mattresses are made of is a matter that gets complicated fast. That's because most mattresses are made up of a stuff called "high-density foam," which is really a mixture of polyurethane—for which there is really no standard composition.

It's important, however, to look at the difference between these foams and the latex mentioned by Breus. A high-density foam is largely synthetic, and in many cases, it's the basis for memory foam. Latex, on the other hand, begins its life as a naturally occurring material from a rubber plant (though some manufacturers add additional materials to the mix). So foams, by virtue of synthetic chemical lab-testing, tend to have much more possibility for customization from manufacturer to manufacturer, leading to tons of proprietary makeups.

So what, exactly, are most mail-order mattresses made of?

To get to the bottom of all this, we called up some lead engineers at two of the biggest mattress companies out there: Leesa and Casper. Jamie Diamonstein, one of the product heads at Leesa, actually hails from an old-hat mattress family but has been breaking into the bed-in-a-box world as of the past few years. He has a unique view on these chemical foams: "Asking what foam is made of is kind of like asking what bread is made of. There's white bread, wheat bread, rye, and more," he says. "The foam Leesa uses is the result of years of searching for a foam that addresses all of our needs."

EDITOR'S PICK

Leesa uses an ultra-high density polyurethane foam called Avena, which is actually trademarked by a third-party company. Diamonstein tells us that he didn't originally want to use a high-density foam—he started the search for the right Leesa formula with latex for the exact reasons our experts echoed: You don't sink in, which provides great temperature regulation, and there's plenty of bounce and freedom of movement.

But Diamonstein says that a problem with latex is that it inherently offers less consistency depending on the day (mattress 100 could be vastly different in composition from mattress 500). "Avena is the closest foam that I found to the behavior of latex without being latex, but it also gives the consumer consistency, so every Leesa mattress we deliver is as close to the same as possible," Diamonstein says.

Casper, on the other hand, seems to take a much more varied approach. When we reached out to the R&D team there, they said that their mattresses combined layers of latex and polyurethane— though it's worth noting that they called out "visco elastic memory foam" and polyurethane separately, even though our research seems to suggest that those have the same chemical basis. Casper is a special case because, while they weren't the first company breaking into modern beds in a box, they deserve credit for starting the craze with the most brand recognition. They actually operate a little like a Silicon Valley tech company, having gotten their big push through a sizeable investment from a venture capital firm.

What's interesting is that while Leesa comes at their testing with experience in the traditional mattress world, Casper seems to take their testing from a tech perspective, with a 5,000-square-foot "Casper Labs" space dedicated to testing prototypes. While the testing needs to be kept in perspective (they are doing non-independent, internal testing that is inherently aimed at benefiting their brand), they do put a ton of effort into gauging the temperature regulation of their mattresses, focusing on humidity control, temperature ventilation, and even tests that simulate back sweat, using what they're calling a thermal sacrum machine.

So given the presence of latex—and a firm emphasis on what several of our experts consider the most important consideration in a mattress (temperature)—the Casper mattress could be a good option for you.

But there's more to it than just the materials.

At the end of the day, there is no silver bullet for better sleep, and there are a ton of variables, but there are some base guides for finding a mattress that works for you. Unfortunately, it isn't just about what the materials are but how they're used: Leesa's Avena foam, for all its latex-like qualities, is actually a pretty closed-cell format, which may present some of the temperature-stifling qualities of memory foam. However, the company's already thought of that: They perforate and egg-crate this top layer to help regulate your temp. Casper, on the other hand, has designed their top layer with an open-cell design that gives you plenty of freedom of airflow.

Finally, one more wild card in this search is the concept of "off-gassing." As we mentioned, latex itself is naturally occurring, whereas memory foam is a synthetic concoction of polyurethane foams. Badre hypothesizes that a reason a lot of these companies aren't being forthright with the literal makeup of their polyurethane foam is because we frankly aren't sure how safe the gas released from memory foam is: You'll know it's there if you smell a plastic-y, synthetic smell when you hop on your bed.

There just aren't reliable studies about whether this material is bad for you (except for one that seems to find poor cardiovascular effects in mice, but... mouse studies aren't exactly reflective of human experience). What's the best way to play it safe? According to Badre, you should get a bed that isn't as spongy or memory-foam-y, as it won't project that off-gassing outwardly as much as a memory foam mattress with a ton of give. That's fine, because a bed that lets you stay cool with freedom of movement (which both Leesa and Casper mattresses achieve) is what you're after anyway.

Look closely at the trial periods.

Of course, you need to see firsthand if this mattress is good enough for you. Does it provide you the right support? Does it give you freedom of movement? Does it regulate temperature well enough? All of these bed in a box companies send you the mattress in the mail, which can work out to your advantage: Even if you do go to a mattress store, you aren't getting an accurate test.

"Lying on a mattress in a store in full view of everyone for maybe 10 minutes doesn't even come close to a good test," writes Dement in The Promise of Sleep. You need to try your mattress out in your own home for at least a week ("a minimum of five days, but the longer the better," Badre says). The bed in a box model gives you that option through money-back, no-questions-asked trial periods.

Casper, Leesa, and Purple (another major player in the space) all give you 100 nights risk-free, including free shipping both ways. Ghost Bed and Yoga Bed, a couple of smaller players, are clearly trying to edge out the top dogs, Price Is Right-style, by offering the same hassle-free trial, but for 101 days. Tulo, an interesting brand that offers three Goldilocks-style beds at different firmness levels (soft, medium, and firm), gives you a whopping 120 nights of in-home testing to see which one is just right. But by far the longest trial we found was by a company called Nectar, who offers you a full year to try out their mattress with the promise of a full refund. You could even conceivably try a few of these brands in succession until you find your best fit.

The Bottom Line

Badre says that the ideal scenario would be a mattress that can adjust temperature, firmness, and shape as you sleep, but the technology just isn't there yet—there are no current products he's seen that have passed legitimate medical studies on automatic adjustments. So in the real world of real mattresses, the new mattresses in a box can be a great option.

However, the world of e-comm mattresses is also a suddenly saturated race for brand recognition. In fact, even if you do opt to read third-party reviews of these products, it's common that those sites will be paid or otherwise compensated for that review. (David Zax did some excellent reporting for Fast Company on just how crazy and competitive these companies get).

Whether you're hunting for a mattress based on firmness (taking Tulo's customization model), based on the amount of time they'll let you try it in your home, or you just want something that won't leave you in a pool of sweat, what's most important is that you listen to your body and see what it likes best.

In a way, the modern mattress has always been a brand marketing industry. And while the Leesas and the Caspers of the world have offered risk-free in-home trials and are much more affordable than some of the bloated, spring-loaded pillow tops of the '90s, they've also given us a crowded market with tons of competition. Tread lightly on the research, test comfortably in your home, and you'll rest easy on the right mattress for you.

Jason Schneider is a New York-based copywriter, musician, and redhead. When he isn't writing words on the Internet you can find him watching horror movies and trying his very best to avoid pizza. Follow him on Instagram (@jalanschneider) for new music and cat pics.

from Greatist RSS https://ift.tt/2GfJ8CJ

7 Free or Cheap Ways to Get Better Sleep

Sleep is critical for our overall health, but most of us don't exactly lead lifestyles that make bedtime a priority—despite the fact that lack of sleep has been associated with diabetes, obesity, hypertension, and heart attacks. Sleep hygiene is more than just a trendy buzzword, it's a practice that can help you get better, more fulfilling sleep—and it doesn't have to cost a ton (although if you want to get a little spendy on improved sleep, we have some suggestions for you too).

EDITOR'S PICK

You've already heard that you should stop using your computer or smartphone at least an hour before bed to avoid blue light and stick to a regular bedtime. There's more you could be doing, though: We spoke to Janet K. Kennedy, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist and founder of NYC Sleep Doctor, and Shalini Paruthi, M.D., spokesperson of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM), to get more insight into the best practices for sleep hygiene.

1. Develop a bedtime routine.

Parents of very young kids know this trick: Prepping a child for bed begins with a bath, a story, a song… there's a whole lead-up to actually going beddy-bye. While bedtime may be 8 p.m., sleep preparation really starts at 7, and just as this routine signals to a toddler's body and mind that it's time to rest, you can use the same trick on yourself.

Establish a set routine: Take out your clothes for the next day, read a book… whatever makes sense for you to signal to your body that it's time to get to bed. This helps tell your brain it's bedtime so that you're sleepy when you get ready to lie down—which means there's less chance of you picking up your phone and falling down a YouTube hole.

2. Keep a sleep journal.

Log what times you're going to bed and waking up and keep track of any issues you've had sleeping and how you were feeling around that time for at least 30 days. This practice can help you find patterns and discover if there's anything more serious going on with your health.

Paruthi suggests that if a person is so sleepy it's impacting their lives, they should absolutely get medical help: If it takes more than 30 minutes to fall asleep more than three nights a week, then it's time to speak to a doctor. Another issue to be aware of is snoring, which may indicate larger health problems. Keeping a journal will help to identify these issues—and can help you get a good night's rest.

3. Get a smarter alarm clock.

Both Kennedy and Paruthi agree that there is no set amount of sleep an adult needs, but seven or more hours of sleep tend to be optimal. Wake-up times are just as personal, but if you're just setting an alarm based on how much time you need to get out of the door, chances are high that you're waking up at any point in your sleep cycle.

Sleep Cycle is a free app that uses your phone sensors to help you wake up at the lightest point in your sleep—not when you're deep in REM and dreaming. This helps you avoid that walking-dead feeling that comes with getting woken up in the middle of sleep.

Of course, setting a regular old alarm can also have its benefits—when you use it to create a routine. "Start by waking up at the same time every morning to set your body clock," Kennedy says. A solid bedtime and wake-up time will help give you a good sleep/wake schedule.

4. Enjoy a light dinner (and maybe a snack) before bed.

Eating a huge meal makes you tired, so it may seem counterintuitive to opt for lighter fare before you hit the hay. But a lighter dinner is recommended for better sleep, Paruthi says. She also recommends enjoying a light snack before bed to avoid waking up hungry in the middle of the night.

Your chosen diet might also play a role here. "Very low-carb or restrictive diets can cause sleep disturbance," Kennedy notes. "There's really no magic diet for sleep." So pay attention to food and how it makes you feel. Avoid ingredients that give you indigestion, and of course, stay away from caffeine late in the day, as well.

EDITOR'S PICK

5. Change your lighting.

Softer light before bed can help you relax and get ready to sleep, but Paruthi warns that too much blue light, such as those from screens, might be keeping you awake and causing sleep problems. If you have to be on your device, she suggests using a filter or glasses.

But blue light isn't the only light in our homes: Bright LEDs are great for reading and activities, but they don't scream rest and relaxation. Lowering the lights helps signal your brain to produce melatonin. The Phillip Hue Smart Bulb Kit can give you some control over your lighting. The kit turns your light into dimmers, so you can slowly transition to bedtime. At $35 a pop, you can start with just one for the bedroom—but the Smarthome nature of it means that you can incorporate them into the rest of your home too.

6. Listen to a bedtime story… sort of.

Meditation isn't just a gimmick—there are real benefits. But just sitting still and clearing your mind is very hard for some people, so guided meditation can really help. This type of meditation comes with a narrator on board to help guide you into a more restful state. You can listen to many different types on app Insight Timer—here are a few of our favorites for helping you drift off.

7. Take "me time" earlier in the day.

You come home from work, make dinner, hang out with loved ones, check out the internet... and before you know it, it's super late and you haven't even started to take on any of the tasks you wanted to accomplish. So you end up working on that craft project or putting time into your business idea right before bed. Stop doing that.

Prioritize yourself and take that time earlier, so you can truly get ready for bed when it's time. Sleep hygiene can involve many gadgets and apps, but more critically, you need to decide that sleep is important to you.

Donyae Coles is a freelance writer and yoga teacher. You can follow her on Facebook and Twitter @okokno, and learn more about her accessible yoga practice at fatwitchyoga.com.

from Greatist RSS https://ift.tt/2pC9Pru

7 Sleep Tech Products That Can Help You Get a Full Night's Sleep (and a Few That Won’t)

Understanding Your BMI - Body Mass Index

BMI stands for Body Mass Index. Its a calculation that takes into account your weight and height. The Body Mass Index is used as a screening tool or an indicator that measures body fatness.Its important to know your BMI and what category you fall in such as underweight, normal weight, overweight or obese.

from Health and Fitness:Weight Loss Articles from EzineArticles.com http://ift.tt/2G7lxkh

How Does NutriO2 Work?

NutriO2 claims to comprise just four ingredients: - Oxygen - Distilled water - Sodium chloride - Vital and trace components. Mostly, it's a formula that covers a high-concentration bio-available lipid-soluble oxygen. This method:

from Health and Fitness:Healthcare Systems Articles from EzineArticles.com http://ift.tt/2G46Lus

My Partner Snores, but This Made Me Not Kill Him

Do You and Your Partner Sleep in Separate Bedrooms? Maybe You Should!

There's a scene in Gilmore Girls in which Lorelai's new beau, Digger, dumps her off in the guest room on their first night together, explaining that he just can't share a bed. At first, Lorelai feels rejected, but as she stretches out in her own bed in a room decked out with a big screen TV and an extensive video library, she realizes the whole sleeping solo thing isn't so bad after all.

The plot may seem a little far-fetched to some, but the truth is, many people simply prefer sleeping in solitude, and there are any number of reasons a couple might want to sleep apart: snoring, different work schedules, or even your partner's penchant for snuggling up with an iPad after lights out. And while tired old tropes persist of beleaguered husbands pitifully dragging blankets to the couch after some marital tiff, there are many perfectly happy married couples sleeping in separate bedrooms too.

"My husband and I made it one week in the same bed," says Jennifer Adams, author of Sleeping Apart Not Falling Apart. When the two moved in together, they realized their sleep habits were different and that his snoring was keeping Adams from getting the rest she needed. However, since the subject was taboo at the time, Adams was worried she was doing something wrong. "I would have loved to share a bed, and there was definitely a sense of failure. But I just can't function on so little sleep."

EDITOR'S PICK

However, Adams quickly found she wasn't alone. According to the National Sleep Foundation, nearly one in four couples choose to sleep separately. And The Wall Street Journal reports that one in three homebuyers shopping for luxury homes are looking for dual master bedrooms.

"Since my book came out in 2013," Adams says, "the conversation about sharing a bed has really and truly changed." Here are just a few of the reasons separate sleeping is not just permissible, but honestly kinda awesome.

Sleep hygiene is real, and it's important.

Most of us have morning routines that don't vary much from day to day: We get up, take a shower, brush our teeth... all of this is considered basic hygiene, the process we follow to be healthy, happy human beings.

But most of us don't take our nighttime routines anywhere near as seriously, says Judette Louis, M.D., M.P.H. of the Women's Health Research Network on Sleep and co-author of the guide Women & Sleep.

"It's time we began thinking of sleep as a necessity, not a luxury," she says. There are a variety of reasons couples who sleep separately may have made this choice. Some simply have different (often incompatible) nighttime routines that are causing one of them to lose sleep—or one just prefers to go to bed early. "In some cases, the discordance can simply be preferring different temperatures," Louis says. "I started sleeping separately from my husband out of courtesy—I can stand getting woken up multiple times a night by work calls, but he can't."

Tossing and turning all night may not seem like a big deal, but not getting a good night's sleep can actually have long-term health effects. A recent study from the Center for Disease Control found that 35 percent of American adults were sleeping less than seven hours a night, which has been linked to health problems like diabetes and hypertension and can also exacerbate mental health issues like anxiety and depression.

So if we stop ignoring all the things that are causing us to lose sleep (pinging cell phones, snoring, a partner getting up multiple times in the night), we can start paying attention to sleep hygiene—and that means we could actually live longer, happier lives together.

Women are more prone to sleep disturbances than men.

According to Louis, women actually need an hour or two more shut-eye than men, but often get less, since in many cases, they're shouldering more of the household responsibility. On average, women do about an hour more household chores per day, and they're often stealing that hour from the time they should be sleeping. Less time for sleep means that time is precious, so disturbances throughout the night become even more serious.

"Even in households where both partners work, women take on a lot of the responsibility, which can mean less sleep and greater difficulty sleeping," Louis says.

Since writing her book, Adams has heard from hundreds of women who say that after long days working and handling household chores, their husband's snoring was keeping them from getting much-needed rest. While 40 percent of adult men snore, just 24 percent of adult women snore, so if your partner snores (or you're just a light sleeper), it's no wonder you might find yourself hoping for your own private spaces to unwind and get some much-needed rest.

Couples who can be honest about their sleep needs are happier.

Adams says she has heard from many women whose partners downplay their snoring or insist that their partners use earplugs to drown out the sound and stay in the same bed—sometimes at the expense of a restful night's sleep.

"Many women contact me because they are so frustrated that their husband won't own the snoring, and it also tends to be men who are more reluctant to sleep separately because of what it says about the relationship. It always leaves me surprised that one person is prepared to risk the health of another person for a social convention," Adams says.

According to Shadeen Francis, MFT, a marriage and family therapist specializing in sex therapy and social justice, the separate sleeping conversation is difficult because for many people—especially men—a partner asking for privacy can seem like rejection. "We don't equip men to deal with feelings of rejection or insecurity," Francis says.

But this struggle to remain in the same bed could actually be hurting the relationship more than it's helping. A recent study from The Ohio State University Institute for Behavioral Medicine Research found that couples who fought after not getting enough sleep had higher levels of stress-related inflammation, which can lead to a heightened risk for diseases like Alzheimer's, diabetes, and arthritis.

Yet Francis says that sacrificing sleep for the sake of staying in the same bed remains a source of conflict.

"One of the first things I ask couples in conflict is, 'How much sleep are you getting?'" Francis says. Of course, that doesn't mean that one partner should suddenly pack up their pajamas and move out of the bedroom with no discussion. Instead of treating separate sleeping like an absolute, Francis suggests approaching it as a negotiation.

EDITOR'S PICK

"Relationship decisions should be mutual," Francis says. If one partner is having difficulty sleeping, partners should work together to find out what would make the most sense for wellness. Maybe it looks like permanent separate sleeping, or maybe it's three nights on and four nights off."

But it's still important to monitor sleep health.

Louis does warn against using sleeping separately as a means of ignoring bigger sleep issues. In the U.S., 40 million people suffer from chronic long-term sleep disorders, and some, like sleep apnea, are pretty serious. So even if sleeping separately works for a couple, they should still monitor their partner for signs of sleep disorders.

"Any time lack of sleep is disrupting your life—making it difficult to work or function in day-to-day life—or even if your partner simply notices that you're more irritable, it's worth figuring out the problem and what can be done," Louis says.

Emily Alford lives in Brooklyn, NY, and writes about beauty, food, and TV. Sometimes all at once. Follow her on Twitter @AlfordAlice.

from Greatist RSS http://ift.tt/2DPSpvU

20 Kardashian GIFs That Nail Your Worst PMS Symptoms

What Happens When You Do Not Work Out After A Bariatric Surgery?

Bariatric surgery is no quick fix. It is a commitment towards a healthier life that pays off if you play by the rules. However, even if you choose to get either gastric bypass or gastric sleeve bariatric surgery from an excellent surgeon, there are a few precautions and steps that you will have to take to ensure that you get the desired results.

from Health and Fitness:Weight Loss Articles from EzineArticles.com http://ift.tt/2pzOApG

Are You Eating Your Way to Health or Into an Early Grave?

Many people are eating their way into an early grave with foods laced with additives, preservatives, chemicals, sweeteners, and fats. Food is both the problem and also the solution. There are 3 key nutrients and vitamins essential to achieving optimal health. Start eating you way to health. The quality of your life depends upon it.

from Health and Fitness Articles from EzineArticles.com http://ift.tt/2uiEezM

7 Paleo Seafood Dishes So You Finally Get a Break From Chicken and Beef

How Not to Break Up on Social Media

Antioxidant Products

This effectively minimizes rancidity, retards lipid oxidation, without any damage to the sensory or nutritional properties, resulting in maintaining quality and shelf-life of meat products. However, intrinsic factors are available in live muscle to prevent lipid oxidation. These factors are often lost after slaughtering during conversion of muscle to meat, primary/secondary processing, handling, or storage of meat products, necessitating further supplementation with extrinsic antioxidants.

from Health and Fitness Articles from EzineArticles.com http://ift.tt/2IFRXUJ

The Best Highlight for Black Hair

The turn of a new season inspires a change in hair color thus giving a new look. You might not want to change your hair completely but adding a little color might also do some magic. You can step your natural black hair up a notch by choosing the right highlights and color treatments perfect for your natural black hair. There are several highlight options which can be considered by people with dark hair. Here are some amazing highlight hues which you can consider after you have decided to perk up your black hair and switch your look.

from Health and Fitness:Beauty Articles from EzineArticles.com http://ift.tt/2IHogTe

10 Beauty Benefits Of Cosmetic Cucumber Seed Oil

Cucumber seed oil is cold-pressed oil obtained from cleaned and dried cucumber seeds. Once the oil gets filtrated it results in a bright yellow colour with a slight aroma of fresh cucumbers. The oil contains approximately 14 to 20% of oleic acid and 60 to 68% of Omega-3 linoleic acid.

from Health and Fitness:Beauty Articles from EzineArticles.com http://ift.tt/2GTe4X9

7 Fish Taco Recipes That Give Us Those Much-Needed Summer Vibes

27 Fancy Paleo Recipes That Make Date Night Feel Special

A New Instagram Movement Is Changing How We Weigh Ourselves

11 Dairy-Free Keto Dinners to Make If You're Giving Cheese a Break

Stories of Hope: Little Sister's Stem Cells Offer Hope

The medical world is buzzing with success stories of how cord blood stem cells have been used to heal a cluster of ailments, from leukaemia to Type 1 and 2 diabetes and many more. This is has made parents-to be consider cord blood banking when their baby is born.

from Health and Fitness Articles from EzineArticles.com http://ift.tt/2u8lp2d

Banking a Baby's Cord Blood May Save Their Life - Is It Worth It?

Amidst all the other do's and don'ts, expecting parents have yet another decision to ponder on! That of cord blood banking. Keeping in mind the innumerable success stories that are circling round the globe, of how sibling's cord blood stem cell has saved her elder or younger sister's life to miraculous recovery within the family, cord blood cell banking is akin to opting in for a biological insurance.

from Health and Fitness Articles from EzineArticles.com http://ift.tt/2GTHynW

Know More About Different Types Of Knee Surgeries

As we get older, our body parts stop functioning in the manner they did before, especially our knees become quite weak with age. For proper functioning, we need to get knee surgery. Let's learn more about different types of knee surgeries.

from Health and Fitness Articles from EzineArticles.com http://ift.tt/2FQyeUj

Why You Should Ditch the Scale and Love Your Body

This is a motivating article on Why You Should Ditch the Scale and Love Your Body, so many of us are obsessed with a simple number and this blog explains why it's not important. We need to pay attention to how we feel more than anything else.

from Health and Fitness:Weight Loss Articles from EzineArticles.com http://ift.tt/2HQv9jK

4 High-Protein Snacks You Can Make With Cottage Cheese

3 Brilliant Food Swaps You Never Saw Coming

This article is sponsored by Daisy Cottage Cheese.

You swap out heavy cream for a splash of almond milk in your coffee, use zoodles instead of noodles on pasta night, and add your own toppings to plain oatmeal instead of buying the prepackaged stuff. But have you tried everything?

Add these three swaps to your arsenal. When you find out just how easy it is to make your meals, desserts, and sides just a tad healthier, you won't be going back. We'll give you one hint: avocado in brownies is now life.

from Greatist RSS http://ift.tt/2u8U7cc

4 High-Protein Smoothies With an Unexpected Ingredient

A Protein-Packed Cheesecake With a Surprise Ingredient

This article is sponsored by Daisy Cottage Cheese.

It's not every day you hear "protein-packed" and "cheesecake" in the same sentence. But lucky for all of us, the stars aligned for this dessert.

With oats, almonds, dates, and coconut oil making up most of the crust, and eggs and cream cheese rounding out the filling, this dessert is practically breakfast. And just wait until you find out the secret ingredient that gives it all of its protein-rich creaminess.

Cottage Cheesecake

Makes: 8 servings

INGREDIENTS
Crust
1 1/2 cups whole raw almonds
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
12 Medjool dates, pitted and roughly chopped
2 teaspoons oat flour
1/3 cup coconut oil, melted

Filling
2 cups Daisy cottage cheese
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons cream cheese
2/3 cup raw granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons fresh ginger, grated

DIRECTIONS
Crust
1. Add the almonds, oats, and salt in a food processor or high-powered blender and grind until a fine crumble forms. Add dates and oat flour and process until crumbly again. Add coconut oil to the mixture and process again until you get a sticky consistency. Be careful not to overprocess; you want to retain some texture.

2. Pour the crust mix into a greased 9-inch pie pan and press with your hand to make it firm.

3. Bake pie crust in oven for 10 minutes at 350 degrees.

Filling
4. Add all filling ingredients in a food processor or high-speed blender and blend until very smooth.

5. Pour into the finished crust, making sure to even out the top.

6. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. The pie should still be a little jiggly in the center.

7. Cool for 20 minutes and top with fresh berries of your choice.

from Greatist RSS http://ift.tt/2u8TZcI

I Tried Naked Yoga and Have Some Thoughts to Share

I'm sitting on my yoga mat, sandwiched between two middle-aged men in business suits. The room glows softly with the haze of low fluorescent lighting, and the couple behind me is chatting animatedly about their workweek. I swallow and try to distract myself with a warm-up. You have to look totally unbothered, I tell myself. It's worse if people notice that you're nervous. What I'm trying so hard to forget is that in a matter of minutes, I'm going to see these people naked. Every single one of them.

EDITOR'S PICK

How I ended up in a naked yoga class on a Wednesday night is evidence that I'm a pro at signing up for things I might later regret. When I reveal my evening plans to my roommate, her response is immediate. "I would have a panic attack," she says. But from the moment I discovered Naked in Motion, the business behind this fad, I knew I had to try it. The idea of doing downward dog in the nude, all in service of some kind of broader mission, felt like the perfect combination of hilarious and bizarre.

The company's website calls naked yoga a social movement. It's all about body positivity and helping students shed feelings of inadequacy and shame. "We offer you the opportunity to shed your clothing, and along with it, judgments about your appearance, limiting personal beliefs, and self-talk," reads the description. "We maintain that all people deserve love and care." One $15 deposit later, and I'm on the list.

As I start getting ready for class, reality begins to sink in. Maybe I was overeager. Maybe this is an absolutely terrible idea. What do I even wear to a naked yoga class? I choose what I consider to be a sensible ensemble: black leggings and a denim jacket. For some reason, my clothing choices feel more important since I know they're about to be completely unnecessary.

I make my way to an apartment building in Chelsea, and the girl in the elevator with me hits the button for the same floor. To my immense relief, she looks ordinary and not the least bit concerned about our impending communal nakedness. I feel better already. "Are you here for yoga too?" she asks. "Yes. It's my first time," I respond cheerfully, trying to look equally nonchalant. I'm the queen of composure right now.

In the studio, a small rented room on the eleventh floor, Willow Merveille greets me with enthusiasm. She's the founder of Naked in Motion, and her delicate features and black pixie cut remind me of a woodland fairy.

But panic sets in when I round the corner and notice at least four older men wearing button-downs and khakis. Of course they're still in khakis. It's not like they need workout clothes when everyone is getting naked in a matter of minutes, I think. Willow smiles at me expectantly and says, "Feel free to put your stuff down and get settled! Front or back row?" I shrug. "Wherever is fine!" My voice comes out at least several pitches higher than usual.

I take a seat, seemingly the only one concerned with the current state of affairs. The class has around 20 students, mostly male, ranging in age from the mid-20s to early 60s. Many appear to be regular attendees. Willow calls our attention as she sits down to recite the community rules.

"Rule No. 1: Nudity is mandatory." I'm in too deep at this point, I think. The only legitimate escape route would require me to sprint out of this room in front of everyone. Willow goes on to list the basic expectations, which boil down to "stay in your own space" and "don't be creepy."

In an effort to cultivate a safe space for everyone, women and transgender students are allowed to wear bottoms if they so choose. There's also no "cruising," which means that students cannot ask each other to hang out outside of class. The goal is to facilitate a friendly space without allowing room for anyone to feel threatened.

To my great distress, there's even a rule about erections. I hadn't considered this possibility until now. Apparently, the best thing to do in most cases is take a child's pose, or simply ignore it until the moment passes. I'm glad she addressed this, truly I am. But also, ohmygodwhatamidoinghere?

Willow finishes her speech with a simple, "OK, let's begin," and with that, everyone in the room starts stripping down.

It's happening. I close my eyes and take off my clothes, ignoring my fight-or-flight instinct. When I finally look around the room, I try hard to avoid direct eye contact. Unfortunately, I still catch glimpses of body parts I'd rather not be seeing.

I quickly decide my best plan of action is to pretend I'm the only person here. I can follow instructions while staring directly at the wall, so I listen to Willow's voice as she guides us through the first few sequences. She'll often stop to say, "Try to focus your eyes on something that's not a human being." This feels like it goes without saying, but it's a relief to hear it out loud.

Before coming to class, I'd wondered whether our instructor would keep our poses pretty tame, given that we would be all... well, naked. The answer is nope: In class, we move from warrior two to tree pose to a version of standing splits. Nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, is hidden from view.

EDITOR'S PICK

Toward the middle of class, I have this strange moment where I realize I don't feel self-conscious anymore. There's something kind of beautiful about being surrounded by people in their most vulnerable and human state of being. People are people, and bodies are bodies, and it's rare to find a safe space where we can all exist in our truest forms. Of course, at the same time, I really, really, really want to put my pants back on.

We end the practice in savasana, and people begin to pack up their things. Some take their time getting dressed again, even standing in the nude to chat about their families or weekend plans. I, for one, throw every single layer back on my body as soon as I'm given the go-ahead.

"Is this your first naked event?" a young guy asks me (thankfully, he and I are both fully clothed at this point). He says this as nonchalantly as if he were asking about my favorite breakfast cereal. "Yeah! I was honestly a little nervous," I say, as if I had no reason to be nervous whatsoever. He tells me this is his first time getting into yoga and he's been coming for a few months now. The community here has been really amazing. I tell him I don't usually come to things like this and I'm still feeling out of my element. Then I concentrate really hard on tying my shoelaces.

At Panera Bread, after class is over, Willow tells me more about her personal mission. She started naked yoga as a way to help others feel more confident, and she wants to facilitate positive conversations about sexuality and emotional health. "There's something very powerful about coming into a space and saying, 'I'm going to allow myself to be vulnerable,'" she says. "I get to decide what I think about my body. I get to decide how I expect others to treat me. I get to decide the way I'm going to treat myself."

And I have to say, I really understand this perspective. As women, we often feel like we do not have ownership over what is ours. It's unusual to find a space where we can exist without fear of being sexualized. Strangely, I didn't feel threatened in class in the slightest, and most of my apprehension came from the preexisting fears I brought with me through the door.

I'm not the only one who feels this way. Myhanh, who's been coming regularly for the past year, says that Willow's class has radically changed her self-image. "I always feel very safe," she says. "I feel empowered to stay and enforce my boundaries." She grew up feeling ashamed of her body, surrounded by women conventionally considered more beautiful. This practice has taught her to appreciate what her body can do. "Doing this is a way to normalize how I view my body and how I view bodies in general. After a while, you even forget that you're naked."

For another student, Naked in Motion represents a shift in how we talk about the human figure. "We have the most cognitive dissonance about how we treat bodies," he says. "We want to put them in posters and draw attention to how beautiful they are, but once we actually focus in on one, it's obscene and shameful." Naked yoga gives people a safe environment just to move, exactly as they are.

I appreciate what Willow is doing, and it's clear she's challenging a lot of social norms. At the same time, I'm going to keep doing child's pose with clothes on, at least for now—but I'm coming away from this experience with a renewed confidence in myself (and the knowledge that a yoga mat feels really strange against your bare... stomach).

from Greatist RSS http://ift.tt/2ubWAT0

Patriotism Through African Beauty

"There they are with body parts like everybody else. While they are being discriminated from the rest. A colour of their skin is always described as worse. While a continent of their origin is the best. The size of their hair is referred to as a sign of failure. When they have a leader is called a dictator. They were not meant to succeed in future. Now education has given them exposure...

from Health and Fitness:Beauty Articles from EzineArticles.com http://ift.tt/2FVMJCm

6 Easy Ways You Can Become a Genuinely Better Person

5 Magic Numbers Every Dieter Needs to Know

Does this sound familiar? You've been watching yourself all week (avoiding junk, skipping seconds) and still, your weight is exactly the same as it was a week ago-or worse, even inched up a pound or two. It's hard to remember that weight loss is a long-term process, you've got to stay patient. But I've learned that focusing on just your weight can sabotage your motivation. So instead here are five other numbers to think about. Keep track of these and your overall health (as well as your weight) ought to improve.

from Health and Fitness Articles from EzineArticles.com http://ift.tt/2psPJzd

You Are What You Eat, Revisited

A new four-year study from Brigham and Women's Hospital and the Harvard Schools of Medicine and Public Health has identified some specific foods and food types that are more responsible for the excess weight we gain than are most others. This prospective, longitudinal study was published in the June 23 New England Journal of Medicine.

from Health and Fitness Articles from EzineArticles.com http://ift.tt/2IBeDFu