Why is sleep important?

• We need at least 7-8 hours of sleep per night for the body to rest and recover properly.
• How much sleep you need depends on the individual (some 6, some 10 hours) But 7-8 is baseline.
• Sleep helps the body’s hormones synthesise and balance.
• It helps the repair and growth of every single cell in the body.
• It is the time the body burns the most amount of fat and builds muscle tissue.

Insufficient sleep can cause:

• Fatigue
• Hormone imbalance
• Adrenal strain
• Thyroid dysfunction
• Speed up the aging process
• Headaches
• Dizziness
• High levels of cortisol (stress hormone)
• Increased risk of Diabetes Type 2 due to increase levels of glucose in your blood
• Other stress-related illness and diseases including heart issues
• Sugar cravings
• Increased levels of Ghrelin hormone (I am hungry hormone)
  • Leads to overeating
• Decreased fat loss
• Decreased muscle mass

How to improve it?

• Determine the time you need to wake in the morning and go to bed at least 8 hours beforehand.
• Set a bedtime alarm.
• Avoid eating for at least 1-2 hours before going to bed. Otherwise, the body will be busy digesting instead of resting.
• Avoid going to bed hungry. Ensure you have eaten sufficiently at least 2 hours before.
• Complex carbs at night such as rice, quinoa and sweet potato induce sleep.
• Avoid bananas, apples and pears at night as they are energy fruit.
• Avoid coffee after 12:00pm (lunchtime).
  • Even though you may not think it interrupts your sleep, it definitely interrupts your sleep quality.
• Avoid taking supplements and medication close to bedtime. Take these half-hour after dinner (unless otherwise instructed by a health care professional).
  • They can increase liver function during the night waking you around 3:00-4:00am
• Turn off all electronics at least half an hour to an hour before bed. TV is ok.
  • They omit blue light that interrupts the body’s production of melatonin the sleep-inducing hormone.
  • Social media is too stimulating.
  • Emails, too stimulating.
• An hour before bed, turn off the overhead lights and turn on a lamp. This tells the brain the sun (overhead light) has gone down, and the moon (lamp) is out, so produce melatonin.

• Promote further sleepiness by drinking a sleep inducing herbal tea such as:

• • Licorice tea
  • Lavender tea
  • Chamomile tea
  • Passionflower tea

• Natural herbal supplements that can help are anything containing
• • Withania such as Ashwaganda
  • Magnesium
  • Glycine
  • Valerian Root
  • Lavender
  • Passionflower
  • Melatonin

• Create a wind down ritual (we have routines for babies and children, adults need them too!)
  • Have a set time that is ‘tools down’ time.
  • Read a book.
  • Write in a journal.
  • Gratitude list
  • Meditate
  • Color in
  • TV is ok if it isn’t too stimulating such as news, horror, action, or comedy.
• Sleep in a pitch black room. Light can interrupt melatonin production.
• Sleep in silence.
• Keep smart phone and other electronics at least 5 meters away from your body, preferably out of the room.
  • Studies have shown that disrupt the body’s natural circadian rhythms, which are responsible for melatonin production.
  • Studies have also shown the radiation omitted by smart phone cause dysfunction of your biological clock increasing risk of nightmares and dysfunction of your cardiac loop.
  • Smartphones affect deep non-REM sleep, which leaves less time for blood flow to be directed to your muscles (including your heart).
  • So buy a clock radio or a good old fashion alarm clock
• Ideal sleep temperature is about 15-19° Celsius (though will vary from person to person)