Improve Your Sleep With These Simple & Complex Solutions

You’ve undoubtedly heard that sleep is important for building muscle and getting lean. New research provides more evidence of the link between sleep deprivation,  metabolic disturbance, and excess body fat.

In this study, researchers took 19 healthy, lean men and cut their sleep time by 1.5 hours for three weeks. By the end of the study, the participants experienced severe reductions in insulin sensitivity, a state that is a precursor to diabetes and leads to an inflammatory state in the body.

The hormone leptin was also severely reduced. Adequate leptin is important because it reduces hunger and enhances calorie burning. Less leptin and poorer insulin health led the men to gain body fat due to this short-term drop in metabolism. Just think of what chronic exhaustion is doing to your body composition, let alone your stress levels.

The task of improving sleep quality can be broken into two categories: simple and complex solutions. You’ve surely heard of the simple solutions before, but a reminder is often helpful:

•     Make sure you are sleeping in a completely dark room—darken windows, cover or get rid of blinking lights, and turn off TVs, computers, etc.

•    Turn off your cell phone and get a regular alarm clock because cell phones emit radiation that has been shown to alter sleep cycles.

•    Expose yourself to bright light first thing after waking to improve your cortisol awakening response. Morning is the one time when a spike in cortisol is beneficial to raise energy levels. Research suggests that higher cortisol in the early morning will lead to better sleep at night.

•     Read something you enjoy for 15 minutes to relax before going to bed.

•     If you can’t quiet your thoughts at bedtime, try writing down the things that make you anxious. Finish each writing session by listing something you are grateful for.

More complex solutions include supplementation to aid sleep and adopting lifestyle practices that enhance sleep:

•    Do deep breathing, a relaxation practice, or meditation before bed to calm mental chatter.

•    Take inositol to help improve sleep and calm obsessive thoughts. Two to 10 grams of inositol in a cup of water 45 minutes before bed may help improve sleep.

•    Supplement with taurine, magnesium, thiamine, or melatonin since low levels of all of these have been linked to poor sleep.

Reference
Robertson, M., et al. Effects of Three Weeks of Mild Sleep Restriction Implemented in The Home Environment on Multiple Metabolic and Endocrine Markers in Healthy Young Men. Metabolism, Clinical and Experimental. 2013. 62(2), 204-211.

Source: http://www.lifestylebypoliquin.com/Lifestyle/StayHealthy/627/Why_And_How_To_Improve_Your_Sleep_With_These_Simple__Complex_Solutions.aspx