| Sleep and Your Sleep Cycle: What Can Interfere with a Good Night’s Sleep? |
| By Darien Simon, M.S. |
|
There are lots of things that can adversely impact your ability to get the sleep you need: things you consume, environmental factors, lifestyle, and stress can each interfere with a good night's sleep.
Large quantities of food or drink too close to bedtime, or any food or medication that changes the balance of neurotransmitter signals in the brain can deprive you of sleep. Caffeine, diet pill, and decongestants all tend to stimulate your brain and interfere with sleep or even cause insomnia. People who smoke heavily may have reduced REM sleep, and may awaken in the night suffering from nicotine withdrawal. Alcohol is commonly considered to relax you and help you get to sleep, but it suppresses both REM and deep sleep (part of non-REM sleep). If your bedroom is too hot, or too cold, lit by outside lights, or noisy, you can have trouble sleeping. Any other aspect of your sleeping space that is uncomfortable, such as a lumpy or too soft/too hard mattress or pillow, can disrupt one night's sleep or your basic sleep cycle. Our modern western lifestyle can cause sleep problems as well. We experience stress at home, at work, just about anywhere in the world around us. Emotional stress keeps us from getting a good night's sleep. Some people keep very irregular hours (either by necessity due to changing work shifts, or by choice), while others exercise too close to bedtime, both of which can interfere with natural, restful sleep. In families with young children or elderly relatives requiring care, there are constant demands on parents' and caregiver's time and energy that don't wait for daytime, causing them to do without needed sleep. Each and every one of these factors, and more, can cause you to lose sleep, or to sleep poorly. When that happens, you go into sleep debt, which has to be made up. Unfortunately, our modern lifestyle doesn't allow time for truly making up that sleep debt, so many people drag themselves through each day, constantly tired from inadequate sleep. Chronic sleep debt can eventually turn into sleep deprivation. However, certain herbs and nutrients, found in Dream Boost, can help you overcome the barriers to a good night's sleep, promoting deep and restful sleep. |
| Privacy & Security
© 2007-2008 Upstate Dream Institute, LLC All Rights Reserved. |
|
