There isn’t a single trick in the book that will help you sleep better. Uninterrupted sleep is a culmination of various factors and depends on multiple factors like room-temperature, lighting and relaxing experiences that can help you finally hit the sack.
Here are a few tips to help you gain high-quality sleep:
1. A glass of warm milk before bed:
Milk has been scientifically proven to contain ingredients that help induce sleep. Tryptophan, an amino acid present in milk helps the human body produce serotonin, a brain chemical that causes deep sleep by creating melatonin, a hormone that regulates the sleep-wake cycle. Moreover, drinking warm milk before bed also has a psychological effect on individuals, allowing them to relax and sleep better.
2. Drinking bedtime tea:
If warm milk isn’t your cup of tea, maybe an actual cup of tea might do the trick.
Herbal teas are popularly associated with relaxing effects and can also act as natural sleep inducers. Chamomile, for one, is known for its mild sleep-inducing effects. And apigenin, an antioxidant found in abundance in chamomile tea, causes a therapeutic effect, by reducing anxiety and initiating sleep.
3. The right environment:
Factors like temperature, noise, and even the mattress and pillow affect sleep. And to get better sleep, it is necessary to optimise your sleeping environment. Prepping your bedroom by using darker shades of curtains, adjusting the room temperature to a suitable degree and investing in a comfortable mattress that suits your preferences will help you sleep better.
4. Limit blue light exposure:
Being exposed to blue wavelengths during the day is beneficial, as it improves attention, boosts one’s mood, and increases the chances of sleeping better. However, they have disruptive tendencies at night. Exposure to blue light significantly reduces the secretion of melatonin, a hormone that influences one’s circadian rhythm or the sleep-wake cycle. Hence, it is best to avoid blue light exposure by limiting screen time before going to bed.
5. Taking a hot bath before sleeping:
A warm bath changes your body’s core temperature by dropping it down by a notch. And in turn, this drop in temperature signals to the body that it’s time to sleep. Research conducted at The University of Texas, Austin, shows that taking a hot bath before bed helps you sleep better. Moreover, their studies show that bathing 90 mins before getting into bed with the water temperature ranging from 40 to 43-degree Celsius not only enables you to get the best quality sleep but also helps you fall asleep an average of 10 minutes quicker than usual.
Getting a good night’s sleep is now only a few simple steps away! Follow these easy, go-to steps to drastically improve both the quality and quantity of sleep you experience every night.
