Get a Good Night’s Sleep

 
Our modern lifestyles are taking a toll on getting a good night’s sleep. So many of you are overworked, stressed out, and amped up on stimulants because you lack energy during the day. There are a number of reasons why getting your Z’s can be a challenge, but sleeping pills are not the answer. If you are having trouble getting to sleep there can be a number of factors to blame.
 

Stress Affects Your Sleep

 
Stress is one of the biggest contributors to your inability to experience a good night’s sleep. When you are stressed out regularly, your body releases stress hormones on a constant basis which can contribute to chronic fatigue, hormone fluctuations, emotional ability, immune suppression (and susceptibility to illness), increased heart rate and blood pressure levels, as well an inability to sleep. Your body needs sleep to recover, repair and rejuvenate, and when you are unable to get a good night’s rest your health continues to be affected.
 
Stress causes your body to release cortisol, a hormone released by your adrenal glands. Your body normally releases cortisol in the morning with a sharp peak, and those levels fall back down an hour or so later and stay low until the following morning when the process begins all over again. With chronic stress, your cortisol levels stay elevated throughout the day into the evening hours which increases anxiety and may make falling asleep and staying asleep difficult.
 

Eating Sweets & Skipping Meals Doesn’t Lead To Sweet Dreams

 
If your diet consists of a lot of foods that are high in sugar, as well as foods that break down into sugar, you will experience increased cortisol levels. If your cortisol levels remain high in the late night hours, your REM (rapid eye movement) sleep will be affected and you won’t wake up feeling refreshed no matter how many hours of sleep you’ve had. Try to avoid sugar-filled foods if at all possible, but especially avoid them late in the day.
 
Skipping meals or waiting too long to eat in between meals can also raise your cortisol levels. Your cortisol levels rise if you don’t eat a meal or snack within five hours of your previous meal or snack, and those elevated levels carry through the evening and increase your likelihood of disrupted sleep. Try to eat small, sugar-free meals every 2-3 hours during the day to keep your cortisol levels down. Great choices are low carbohydrate foods such as lean proteins, eggs and most vegetables.
 

Say No to Stimulants

 
The stimulants you may be consuming on a daily basis such as caffeine, sugar, alcohol, nicotine, cold medicines, appetite suppressants and others all interfere with your ability to get a good night’s sleep. These types of stimulants are excitatory substances that stimulate your nervous system and release stress hormones such as epinephrine (adrenaline), norepinephrine and cortisol. In fact, consuming two or more of various types of stimulants during the day can raise your cortisol levels by 30 percent or more above normal values.
 

Emotions Factor In

 
Any factor that your body perceives as stress will elevate cortisol, such as pain, extremely loud and disruptive noises (sirens, fighting, etc.), emotional toxicity and negative thoughts. Fear, frustration, anger and sadness increase cortisol and suppress your sex and thyroid hormones. When your stress hormone pathway is constantly active, other hormones (thyroid and sex hormones) that are secreted from the same pathway will be shut down. To help reduce stress, try to learn how to cope with your emotions by working on effective communication, make a conscious effort to worry less, and decrease your anxiety with centering and relaxation techniques like prayer or meditation to reduce emotional stress.
 
Getting a good night’s sleep is so important for your overall health. Sleep is your body’s time to rejuvenate. If you follow a few of the suggestions I highlighted above, you can reduce your stress levels and sleep better than you have in years.