Sometimes, we make mistakes while doing our daily routines. We get stressed out by work, sleep on the wrong side of the bed, or miss a meal. While these mistakes don’t really affect us at the time, they can become a problem in the long run. These are not uncommon mistakes, and most of us have done them at least once in our lives.
Why Is Sleep Important For Health?
The benefits of sleep are innumerable, and we all know that we need to get our 8 hours. However, it is important to note that the amount of sleep you need differs from person to person.
There are three different types of sleep:
• REM (rapid eye movement),
• NREM (non-rapid eye movement), and
• Deep Sleep.
Each type has its own function, which is why each type should be getting at least 5 hours a night.
Deep Sleep: This is where you go into a deep state of relaxation, and your body rebuilds itself so it can wake up well-rested the next day. The brain uses this time to repair cells, create new connections, and think about the future. It also helps us learn because when we’re asleep, our brains process memories as they happen rather than waiting until morning as they do during REM sleep.
NREM (non-rapid eye movement): This is where your body repairs itself but not as intensely as in Deep Sleep since your brain isn’t working as hard here. Your body still needs rest, though, so make sure you get enough NREM if you want to avoid feeling sleepy during the day or after a long period without sleeping overnight.
REM (rapid eye movement): This is when you’re the most awake, and your brain uses this time to process information for skills like how to ride a bike, compose an essay, plan a day or even fall asleep.
“Good sleep is necessary for our overall health and well-being“
Let’s break down some key points related to sleep:
• It helps you rest and recuperate from stress and other physical problems that arise during the day.
• Sleep can help prevent chronic diseases like heart disease, cancer, diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, and stroke by reducing inflammation in the body.
• It helps increase metabolism, so you burn more calories without feeling fatigued or sleepy after exercise sessions.
• Sleep improves your mood because it reduces stress hormones like cortisol, which are responsible for feelings of anxiety and depression, and keeps blood sugar levels stable, which keeps you from feeling overwhelmed emotionally throughout the day.
• Reduces your risk of developing dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.
• It helps you stay mentally sharp by boosting cognitive function and brain health while also helping to improve moods and memory retention in the long term.
Top 18 Things You Should Never Do Before Bed
We all know that before going to bed, it’s the perfect time to relax and let your mind wander. However, many people keep their smartphones or other electronic devices next to them, distracting themselves from a good night’s sleep.
Some people even fall asleep with the lights on. These are all common mistakes that can lead to poor sleep quality and insomnia. Here are 20 things you should never do before bed:
01. Do not drink alcohol
Alcohol may cause you to feel very sleepy in the short term, but it can also disrupt sleep by causing anxiety and stress. Many people who drink alcohol before bed will wake up in the middle of the night because they are uncomfortable with their surroundings – even if they fall asleep fine during the day.
In addition, alcohol will also cause an increased need to urinate in the middle of your night, which can disrupt sleep even further by waking you up periodically.
02. Do not use sleeping pills
Sleeping pills do not effectively treat sleep problems and may cause other health-related issues. Although you might feel as if they are helping, sleeping pills will lead to a drowsy feeling which can keep you from falling asleep at night or hindering your ability to wake up without the assistance of an alarm clock.
Sleep experts generally recommend focusing on de-stressing techniques such as meditation and yoga to combat insomnia. If you do decide to use sleeping pills, talk with your doctor or pharmacist first before starting this medication.
Some medications like diphenhydramine (also called Benadryl) can cause serious reactions such as breathing problems, yellowing of the skin, and eyesight changes if inhaled by a person with hay fever.
03. Do not drink caffeine
All forms of caffeine should be avoided prior to bedtime as it can interfere with sleep onset and promote insomnia, especially during mid-day when you have been awake all day long.
Consuming too much coffee late in the morning or throughout your afternoon/evening creates some small disruptions in a person’s normal circadian rhythm, which allows them to experience more complete phases 4 hours later on.
Drinking too much caffeine late in the day or afternoon/evening can cause disruptions and difficulty falling asleep.
04. Spending time on social networks
Some people turn to social media during the evening hours, but this is not recommended because you can actually experience less sleep if you check these sources throughout the night.
Checking Facebook or any other type of support source will lead to disruptions in your circadian rhythm and make falling asleep difficult. It would be best to unplug from social networks when you go to bed and set the device on “Do not disturb” mode.
05. Avoid strenuous exercise
If you have been exercising hard, you should stop as soon as possible before going to bed. Strenuous exercise makes it difficult for a person to go to sleep at night; they will suffer from insomnia and feel tired all day long.
Experts recommend taking it easy on your body before bedtime. Make sure to do some relaxing exercises instead of strenuous ones, such as yoga or meditation.
06. Talking loudly
Many people talk on the phone loudly while they are in bed, but this is not good for your health. Talking on the phone loudly means that you won’t be getting enough rest because it will interrupt quality sleep already enjoyed by your body.
The best thing you can do for this is to take the phone out of your bedroom and place it elsewhere, such as a kitchen counter or somewhere else where other people aren’t speaking.
07. Eating heavy food
Before going to bed, you should avoid eating heavy food. Don’t go for any kind of greasy or carbohydrate-rich foods before reaching the end of your workday and turning off lights in your room too soon after that.
The latter will make it hard for your body to relax and fall asleep. Beating yourself up for not being able to sleep at night will only have negative effects on your health. You should take steps to get better sleep.
If you are having trouble getting proper rest, try the tips mentioned and see if it helps improve your quality of life!
08. Negative thoughts
People should avoid having negative thoughts before bed. Major things like stress, depression, and anxiety can make it difficult for you to sleep at night, which will cause you health problems in the long run.
You should avoid thinking about things that make you feel insecure or sad. If not, they will intensify while you are trying to rest at night and drain your energy levels, leading to more problems.
09. Don’t watch the news
During the day, television is recommended because watching the news helps you understand what is going on in your country or world. But when it comes to sleep time, you should avoid late-night T.V broadcasts for a better night’s rest.
Not only are they dark shows that play stimulating music all through the evening, but they also have low production values compared to regular programming hours, which can affect your natural sleep rhythms and cause you to stay up longer than intended.
10. Do not use a computer
It is recommended that you don’t even use your laptop or desktop computer before going to bed. All of the light these devices emit can keep you awake.
According to many sleep experts, using a computer before going to bed can seriously interfere with your ability to survive and fall deeply asleep.
11. Don’t check on your email
There have been studies done that stated that when people check email before going to bed, they tend to stay up later and sleep less than normal.
Checking your mail can keep you from falling asleep properly and keep you awake because of the excitement it creates in your brain. The mind then must try to resolve the mail so it cannot go back to sleep.
12. Do not read
Reading before going to sleep is strongly discouraged because it displaces your brain’s natural opportunity for restful, slow-wave, full nighttime sleep. This can lead to abnormal stress or broken cycles of normal breathing during the night that are possible causes of insomnia issues.
Reading by anything but a small flashlight in bed should be avoided as well since red light interferes with melatonin production and makes you more alert at once, even if you’re trying to fall asleep.
13. Do not talk on the phone
It is not a good idea to talk on the phone while going to sleep. If you talk on the phone before going to sleep, it may result in a snoring problem and may lead to a lot of other health issues.
Talking on the phone before going to sleep can lead to other problems such as being tired or being exhausted.
Even if you do not talk on the phone, text messaging might be bad for your health as well. Talking on the phone before sleep may result in having insomnia because of all these things.
14. Listen to music
Listening to music before going to sleep may cause problems with falling asleep. It is not good for the quality of your sleep, and it can also make you very anxious because one tends to get carried away in their own emotions while listening to music anyway.
Listening to music before sleep is still acceptable, especially if it does not induce anxiety, because it can help drown out your thoughts during restful periods of deep sleep.
15. Don’t smoke before bed
Smoking before bed will make it difficult for you to get a good night’s sleep. Nicotine is known to interfere with the process of falling asleep and staying asleep while smoking also reduces oxygen supplies in brain tissue, which can lead to low blood pressure during sleeping hours if smoked around 2–3 hours before going into a deep sleep. Smoking just before going to bed might cause you to feel tired the next day.
16. Don’t go to bed hungry
Sleeping well is important for having a better life, but you should feel full whenever possible so that it is easier for you to have quality restful sleep every night.
Going to bed hungry can affect your sleep because you will need extra energy if you try to go without eating proper dinner before going to bed.
Consuming some type of snack before going to bed might help ensure that you sleep better.
17. Don’t go to bed angry
Going to bed angry, you might have a sleepless night. Try scheduling some time when your upset emotions can be handled before going into the bedroom so that they do not reach the point where all of them seep down inside throughout your sleep cycle or if a dream could become triggered from it.
18. Do not eat junk food
A recent study published in the Journal of Sleep Research has shown that those who eat junk food before going to sleep have a lower quality of sleep. The study revealed that those who ate unhealthy foods before going to bed had a reduction in total sleep time and a reduced amount of deep sleep.
Conclusion
There are a lot of things you should never do before bed, and we have outlined 20 of them for you. By following this advice, you can ensure that your sleep is as good as it can be, and you will wake up feeling refreshed and energized. We hope that by sharing this article with our readers, we can help improve their quality of life!
