Do you like to sleep?  Chances are YES — we all do!  But have you taken any conscious steps towards actually making this activity more effective for your own health?  Yes, we like sleeping, but we have such a complicated relationship with this activity.  We constantly neglect it, we steal a few hours for late binge watching, we can read a book through half a night and we try to catch up during the time when our natural body clock is telling us to be active.  We mess with it and we think our haphazard sleep schedule will have no effect on our bodies whatsoever… 

Sleep is important.  Sleep rejuvenates, sleep heals, sleep takes care of our brain and protects us from mental illnesses.  It increases our productivity and mental sharpness. 

Poor sleep habits are linked to adverse effects on blood sugar; people who deprive themselves of adequate sleep have been shown to be at increased risk of type 2 diabetes. Taking care of your sleep discipline improves the function of melatonin production, a hormone, not only crucial for sound sleep, but also for improvement of mood, weight loss and brain health. 

Poor sleep also affects our emotions and has a detrimental effect on our social interactions. Sleep deprivation leads to reduced ability to process social clues and respond adequately to emotionally demanding situations.

The importance of sleep was underestimated for years and it is only in recent years that scientists are conducting much deeper and more comprehensive tests on the importance of sleep.  In fact, in 2017 the Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded to researchers who discovered molecular mechanisms that control circadian rhythm (our body clock) in humans.  

I do understand that we all may have different reasons for not sleeping well.  We may have medical conditions or psychological disorders, which need to be addressed accordingly with relevant medical specialists.  But if you consider yourself a healthy individual, please consider taking some basic (and rather simple) steps towards improving your sleep discipline.  Consistently putting in good 8-9 hours of sleep is guaranteed to make you more alert and productive during your waking hours.   

A few years ago we started to give our sleep habits the same high priority as our healthy diet and our exercise routine.  Sleep was not “just there”, “just happening” at night, no, it became our intention to become more disciplined around our sleep habits and significantly improve its quality.  

We implemented a few things and only because we saw amazing improvement in our well-being, we stayed with them up this day. We gladly recommend these to anyone who is interested in improving their sleep!

Easy steps to implement today 

Stop intake of caffeinated drinks after 2:30 pm

If you can make it 1pm — even better.  That includes coffee, black/green tea, soft drinks with caffeine in them.  Caffeine is a stimulant and interferes with our ability to produce melatonin timely and in adequate quantities.  Depending on a person it takes about 5 hours for our bodies to clear caffeine from the system.  So if you think you are less sensitive to caffeine and 1pm sounds ridiculous to you, at least allow your body those 5 hours of cleaning before bedtime.

Expose yourself to bright natural light every morning

Getting morning sunlight helps us sleep better at night. This is linked to several factors, such as better regulation of our circadian rhythm and improved production of cortisol, which helps us to jump start our day. Being more alert in the mornings and active throughout the day will help us sleep better at night.  

Stop eating minimum 3 hours before sleep time

Our circadian rhythm is not limited to making us alert during the day and sleepy at night, it also regulates our digestion and cellular repair among its other functions.  Eating before bed disrupts these processes.  Make sure you leave at least 3-4 hours of not eating before you hit the pillow. 

Skip screen activity a few hours before going to bed

If absolutely not possible, invest in blue-light-blocking eye-wear. (read below about steps which need preparation)

Keep your bedroom cool

Go ahead and take a nice hot shower before going to bed to release muscle fatigue, but make sure your bedroom is a cool place!  We sleep better in cooler temperatures. Our bodies cool off at night in anticipation of sleep.  Apparently people who often suffer from insomnia have a warmer body temperature and are unable to fall asleep. And we all know how uncomfortably annoying it gets to sleep through a sweltering summer night.  So make your bedroom comfortably chilly. Research shows that sleeping in a cold environment can also increase your body’s brown fat (No! It is a good thing, it helps you burn more calories)  

A few things to prepare

Make sure you get enough magnesium. 

Insomnia is apparently a common symptom of magnesium deficiency. If you have been experiencing shallow restless sleep patterns, check your magnesium intake.  Many research results confirm that supplementing with magnesium can improve sleep and lead to deeper, more sound sleep. 

ドクターズベスト 高吸収型マグネシウム (マグネシウム200mg分) 240錠 [海外直送品]

Action step: 

Take magnesium supplements (make sure to consult your health provider, taking into consideration other supplement contents you may be taking), research and include magnesium-rich foods into your diet. 

---

Make your bedroom completely dark

So basically we want to recreate a cave : cool, dark and quiet.  With proper preparation you can make your bedroom a completely dark place.  It took us some time to find the right type of drapes that could cut 100% of outside light.  They were not cheap but it was worth the investment and the effort.  Our room should be completely dark when we sleep. Even a small amount of light might interrupt our deep sleep by unnaturally elevating our cortisol levels. 

Action step:

drapes, curtains, blinds that cut 99-100% of light. Making sure there are no deem lights in the bedroom from chargers, light switches and other electronics.  

[カーテンくれない] 厚手生地で【しっかり遮光】 完全遮光生地使用の1級遮光カーテン 遮音 防音効果で生活音を軽減 高い断熱効果 冷暖房効率アップ！「CALM」 サイズ：(幅)100×(丈)200cm 2枚組 色：ブラウン

---

Introduce blue-light-free lightbulbs

Even the usual lights of our rooms, the normal lightbulbs used in our lamps, pose a problem for us when we rely mostly on indoor lighting before bedtime.  Our usual light bulbs have melatonin-suppressing blue light and cutting it out before going to bed is probably one of the most effective ways to naturally improve our sleep.  

We have changed our bedroom lights into the special no-blue light bulbs. Some time ago we found an American company that had been contracted by NASA to help create a lighting solution for austranuts working on Space Station to regulate their sleep cycles.  Later on we also installed a standing lamp with this type of light in our kitchen, which we turn on after 5pm to minimize our blue-light exposure.

Action step: 

Install blue-light-free lightbulbs in your bedside lamps.  Make sure to double check the sockets of your lamps. You don’t want to order the wrong ones!

---

Protect your eyes from blue-light before bed

Perhaps the most important thing you could do for your sleep is avoid blue light completely for at least 4 hours before going to bed.  But it is almost unthinkable in our current lifestyle.  Not only do we use inside lighting, but we do so much on our digital devices: we communicate, we read, we shop, we research.  It is impossible for us to avoid it.  However, since our bodies associate blue light with daytime, we are throwing our internal clocks out of wack and making it harder for ourselves to fall asleep, and when we do our sleep is of poor quality.  

The obvious solution to a better shield from all the incoming blue light is protective eyewear.  We own several types of blue-light-blocking glasses which we start wearing about 3 hours before bedtime.  They are yet to be appreciated by the public to the point of becoming a fashion statement, but – like I said before – style is not a question when we consider the huge benefit of wearing them, translated into deeper and more restorative sleep. 

Action step: 

Invest into some blue-light-blocking glasses to wear after dark. There are plenty of options at a range of price points. I am sure you will be able to find something suitable for yourself.  The link above is to a Japanese amazon store. You can buy them considerably cheaper on amazon.com if you have and account.

---

So, remember in those strenuous exercise sessions at the gym, when your trainers tell you to rest, regain your strength and go on with the exercise?  Because your strength is in your ability to recover.  Only if you rest you push again.  

The quality of our rest is what determines how well we can perform.

The same is true for our sleep.  Nine hours may seem like a lot of time to carve out of your schedule, but these 9 hours will enable you to have a more  productive and happy day.  If you think you’d be better off spending a few late hours watching tv, because it winds you down, or reading a book because you are learning, think again!  You are shortening your body’s natural process to recover, heal and rejuvenate. 

The better quality sleep we have, the better life we can lead!