Health Wonders of Sleep

Part 2 of Two Series Article

A power nap and deep sleep

Nighttime is not the only time to catch needed sleep. Napping during the day (power nap) is an effective alternative to taking coffee to keep you awake and alert. A power nap is refreshing and is good for overall health. It can also make you more productive. A study of 24,000 Greek adults showed that people who napped several times a week had a lower risk of dying from heart disease. People who nap at work show much lower levels of stress. Napping also improves memory, cognitive function, and mood.

Effects of night shift work

Medical researches show that people who work the late shift, including call center agents, bartenders, and others have a higher risk of developing breast and colon cancer.

According to Dr. Walker, night shift work has been linked to obesity, heart attack, a higher rate of early death, and lower brainpower. In one study, people who work at night had lower scores on standardized tests of memory and processing speed than those who worked normal hours.

Shortened sleep also has a bad effect. One study found that people who slept for just five hours a night for a week had a higher heart rate during the day. “The idea that you can learn to work at night and sleep during the day—you just can’t do that and be at your best,” says Dr. Walker. Your body’s circadian rhythms—which regulate everything from your sleeping patterns to your energy and hunger levels—tell your brain what kind of slumber to crave. And no matter how hard you try to reset or reschedule your circadian rhythms when it comes to bedtime, there’s just not much room to wiggle. “These cycles have been established for hundreds of thousands of years,” Walker explains. “Thirty or 40 years of professional life aren’t going to change them.”

Sleeping remains a mystery even to this day. We do not really know why we sleep, but it seems that when the sun goes down, we should go to sleep. Dr. Siebern says it is important to sleep at the right time. She used to go to bed at 1–2 AM because of her work. “And even with adequate sleeping hours, I was always tired and out of energy throughout the day. So, I changed my pattern. I decided to go to bed earlier, usually between 10 PM and midnight, and by 6 AM, I would wake up on my own,” she said.

Some of Dr. Siebern’s and other experts’ advice to get adequate sleep are as follows:

•          Do not do anything too physically or mentally strenuous at least 2 hours before bedtime.

•          Do not eat a large meal close to your sleep time. 

•          Make sure you use your bed to sleep and not to watch TV. This will train your mind to associate your bedroom with sleep and nothing else.

•          Leave your stress and worries at your bedroom door. Clear your thoughts and just enjoy your sleep.

Try these and you will be surprised how early your eyes will open on their own. Also, you will notice an increase in your energy throughout the next day.

When it comes to sleep, timing is everything. Here are six ways to set the clock and start sleeping well.

1. Wake up at the same time every day

 “Sunlight activates the brain,” says Frisca L. Yan-Go, M.D., medical director of the UCLA Sleep Disorders Center. She adds that activating the brain at the same time every morning synchronizes your body’s biological clock. Then your body has a clear direction—at midnight it is supposed to be asleep and at noon, it is supposed to be awake.

Waking up at different times every day causes your body clock to be out of sync, she says. One could feel groggy for hours, and even if a bit more alert after the first coffee, one will never achieve the mental edge that one is optimally capable of.

2. Go to bed only when sleepy

Not just tired. You should be sleepy, as in your eyes are droopy and you keep losing track of what people are saying to you.

3. Get up

Sleeping from 11:30 PM until 2:00 AM, tossing and turning until 4 AM, then sleeping until 6 AM gives you eight hours in bed but only 4 1/2 hours of sleep. This can inhibit your sleep drive and cause insomnia all by itself, says Dr. Go. To prevent such from exacerbating your sleep issues, her advice is when you wake at 2:00 AM, get up and go read a book in the living room. Being up increases your sleep drive, which just could make you sleepy enough to actually fall asleep when you return to bed. Also, do not stay in bed when you are awake, she says. A part of your mind will begin to associate the bed with being awake rather than being asleep. And that can turn on a nasty “I’m-not-going-to-sleep!” anxiety that will rev your engines whenever you get into bed. It is said that this is one of the most insidious and potent causes of chronic insomnia.

4. Give yourself an hour

The one-hour right before bed. You need it to wind down and transition from the woman/man who can do everything into the woman/man who can sleep. According to the 2007 National Sleep Foundation poll, during the one hour before bed, around 60% of women do household chores, 37% take care of children, 36% do activities with other family members, 36% are on the Internet, and 21% do work related to their jobs.

5. Beware of Sunday night insomnia

Staying up late on Friday and Saturday nights and sleeping late on Saturday and Sunday mornings is frequently the gift we give ourselves on weekends. That is enough to screw up our biological clocks. Even if you get to bed early on Sunday night, you will not be ready to sleep, and you will not end up feeling refreshed come Monday morning.

6. Keep the room totally dark

Researchers believe that exposure to light during sleep reduces the levels of melatonin—a hormone that regulates the sleep-wake cycle. They also believe that melatonin protects the body against cancer because it appears to suppress the growth of tumors. Thus, when you sleep, be sure that your bedroom is totally dark to help your body produce the melatonin it needs.

Note: This article was previously published in our printed issue of The Corporate, Guide and Style for Professionals Magazine