Your Daytime Habits Impact Your Nighttime Sleep
Recently, an ALYKA staff member was describing the way her little boy talks about sleeping. He looks at his remote-control cars charging, and he says, “I need to recharge too, so I can go fast!” Even at 4 years old, a child can comprehend that if he wants to be the best version of himself the next day, he needs sleep.
But for adults, getting quality sleep is often much more complicated. We know we need good sleep, but sometimes we don’t know what changes we need to make to help us sleep better.
According to recent research, an earlier bedtime or fancy blue light glasses might not be the answer to your sleep troubles. Your habits during the day may be playing a major role in keeping you awake. For example, a recent study looked at how a series of lifestyle interventions played a role in helping a certain group of people sleep better. The lifestyle interventions included changes in:
nutritional behavior
aerobic exercise
smoking
alcohol intake avoidance
sleep hygiene
After experiencing these combined lifestyle interventions over an 8-week period, a group of men with a sleeping/breathing disorder known as Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) saw significant changes in their sleep. Many of them no longer struggled with their sleep disorder and others no longer needed medical care for OSA. They were sleeping better, and many of them also experienced significant weight loss.
OSA is a breathing problem that occurs during sleep that many people do not realize they have. Right now, over 900 million adults in the general population struggle with this sleep disorder. Also, almost 60% of moderate to severe OSA is associated with obesity.
This OSA sleep study ultimately confirmed findings about daily lifestyle habits and sleep. What you eat, what you take into your body, and how you use energy all day long can have a strong effect on your sleep quality. And this is not just true for people with OSA.
If you are not getting enough sleep at night, get honest about what your habits look like during the day.
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