Sleep Hygiene: What is it and How Can it Help My Sleep?
We all know how important sleep is to our lives, and the negative impact of a bad night’s sleep is obvious. But what can we actually do to make sleep work for us? You may have heard of “sleep hygiene” as a way to improve your chances of good quality sleep, but what exactly is it? Sleep hygiene is the term used to describe all the activities we do (or don’t do) to help optimise our sleep. It includes basic common sense recommendations (like don’t drink coffee at 10pm), but also includes a whole host of strategies that can be used to give your sleep quality a boost. Below are my top recommendations for sleep hygiene practices to start incorporating into your routine, so you can have great sleep and start feeling better. To help get you started with these tips, I’ve separated them into sections according to what time of the night (or day) they should ideally be implemented.
1-2 Hours Before Bed
1. Have carbohydrates in your dinner
Yep, that’s right, Including complex carbohydrates in your dinner can actually help you sleep! Opt for good quality sources such as sweet potato, brown rice or wholegrain pasta. So how does it help? Carbohydrates actually help to make sure the brain receives all the building blocks it needs in order to make our sleep hormone, melatonin (1). This is the hormone that makes you feel drowsy before getting to sleep. Just be sure to avoid too much sugar at night, as this can be stimulating.
2. Have a hot bath 90 minutes before sleep.
Our bodies are meant to sleep at night when the temperature is naturally cooler. Because of this, having our core body temperature cool down causes us to feel sleepy. So what exactly does a hot bath have to do with this? It’s all about how our body compensates for being warmed up. Having a hot bath in the evening (at least 90 minutes before sleep) to warm up your core body temperature causes your body to compensate once you get out of the bath, meaning your body cools down to an even lower temperature than before your bath. This extra cooling of your core body temperature helps you to feel sleepier and fall asleep faster (2,3). No bathtub? No problem. Studies have found that hot showers and even foot baths will also do the job (4,5).
3. Dim the lights
Exposure to light (including artificial overhead lights) signals to our bodies that it is still day-time, so our bodies keep secreting hormones like cortisol, which helps us to stay awake (6). Turn off the overhead lights in your house and switch on a lamp or two instead, to let the house be as dark as possible. This will help to boost your sleepy hormone, melatonin.
4. Switch off the screens
The screens on our electronic devices (TV, computer, tablet, phone) increase cortisol levels the same way overhead lights do, and studies have shown that using screen-based devices before bed makes insomnia worse (7). Switch off your screen-based devices at least one hour before bed and, if possible, use blue-light blocking technology on your devices after sundown. Many electronic devices have built-in “night” modes that block blue light, but there are also apps such as “twilight” or “f.lux” which are available for free download.
30 Minutes Before Bed
1. Create an ideal environment for sleep
We’ve already dimmed the lights, but using temperature and even smell can help to make an even better sleep environment. Sleeping in a room that is too hot makes sleep more difficult and can actually make us more tired the next day (8). A cooler temperature of around 18 degrees Celsius is generally considered to be ideal – consider opening a window, turning on a fan, or leaving the bedroom door slightly ajar to allow enough airflow to keep your bedroom cooler (9). Another way to create an optimal sleep environment is by using relaxing essential oils, such as lavender, in an infuser. A recent study actually found the lavender essential oil could help improve sleep quality and even helps to increase daytime energy levels and wellbeing (10,11).
2. Relax and wind down
Use the time immediately before bed to unwind and mentally “switch off”, ready for sleep. Meditation, yoga and reading (a physical book, not your iPad!), are all great ways to wind down (12–14). Meditation in particular can improve overall sleep and can even help to treat insomnia (15,16). A range of free meditation apps are available to help get you started. “Headspace” is a great free app with guided mindfulness meditations. “Insight Timer” is another app which has a huge selection of different types of guided meditations available for free, so you can choose a style of meditation that suits you best.
3. Avoid drugs, including nicotine and alcohol – the nightcap doesn’t help!
It’s best to avoid the use of these before bed as they can interrupt our sleep. Nicotine is a stimulant, and can make getting to sleep more difficult (17). Many people think alcohol can help them to get to sleep at night, but in fact it can make your sleep worse. Alcohol can stop you from going into deep sleep, meaning even if you do get your 8 hours of sleep in, you won’t wake up as refreshed as you would have done without the night cap (18).
At Bedtime
1. Keep a routine
Going to bed and getting up at the same times every day can improve your sleep quality and also help to increase your energy levels through the day (19). It’s important to establish a routine you can stick to 7 days a week – this means no sleep-ins on the weekend!
2. Keep it dark
Trying to sleep in a room that isn’t dark enough can lead to poor quality sleep and can leave you feeling tired the next day (20). Keep the bedroom as dark as possible by drawing the blinds to block out any light pollution, and switch off electronic devices with lights on them. Block out curtains are readily available and can make a big difference if you live somewhere with a lot of light pollution.
3. If it’s not working, don’t force it
Lying in bed tossing and turning for hours will only lead to you feeling frustrated. If after 20 or 30 minutes you haven’t fallen asleep, get up and sit quietly in another room with dim lighting and wait until you feel ready to sleep again. Make sure you don’t do anything physically or mentally stimulating – try reading or meditating unti you feel ready to try again.
During the Day
1. Get some morning sunshine
As we discussed above, our “sleep” hormone (called melatonin) needs us to be in a dark environment. Likewise, our “awake” hormone (called cortisol) needs us to be in a bright environment (i.e. outside in the sunshine!). Getting a good dose of sunshine in the morning, particularly between 8-10am, can help to make sure our cortisol levels peak at the right time of the day, which will end up helping us to wind down and sleep better at night (6,20).
2. Exercise
Exercise is important for our sleep in so many ways! Similarly to having a hot bath, one of the ways exercising improves sleep is via its ability to increase core body temperature (21). Regular moderate or high intensity exercise can improve the quality of your sleep and help you feel more awake and alert through the day (22). Just make sure you’re not exercising too late in the day, as this can make it harder to sleep.
3. Avoid caffeine, especially after 2pm
Caffeine stays in our system for a lot longer than you might think. While the main ‘hit’ from caffeine is good for around an hour or two, the stimulating effects from a cup of coffee actually last much longer than this. Caffeine has a “half-life” of 5-6 hours, which means half of the caffeine from a 4pm cup of coffee will still be affecting you at 9 or 10pm (23). Yikes! A good rule of thumb is to keep to one cup of coffee per day. If you do have to have a second cup, make sure it is before 2pm, to give your body a chance to metabolise as much of it as possible before it’s time to try and sleep.
4. Keep the bed for sleep and sex only
Avoid using the bed for activities other than sleep and sex. Using the bed for other activities (like checking your emails or watching TV) can cause the brain to associate being in the bed with being awake, which will make getting to sleep that much more difficult.
About the Author
Lizzie Stow is a degree-qualified naturopath from Newcastle, Australia.
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