Ahh, Sleep, Zzzzz

With daylight savings and the clocks changing over the weekend, I was reminded of just how much we love and need our sleep! Today's feed is flooded with 'I want my hour back!' We all know that you are supposed to get 7-9 hours of sleep a night and that our bodies function optimally with an average of 8 hours a night. But does that mean that we all do it? Some of us find it extremely difficult and end up with sleepless nights, tossing and turning or not being able to fall asleep. Well, here are some tips on how to maximize your time spent horizontal and try and get the recommended 7-9 hours a night:

1. Cut caffeine off after 4 pm or at least 5 hours before bedtime. Caffeine is a stimulant and is found in coffee, soda, tea, etc. 2. Do not exercise within at least 3 hours of bedtime. Exercise gets the blood flowing, the muscles engaged, awakens the brain and stimulates the senses. 3. Do not drink a lot of fluids a few hours before bedtime. This will allow your body to stay asleep and decrease mid-night trips to the bathroom! 4. Turn off all electronics at least 30 minutes before bed time. This allows the brain and body to relax and not be stimulated by bright lights and over thinking. It also signals to the body that it is time to begin shut-down for the night! 5. Start getting into a nightly routine that lets your body know it is bedtime. For example, this could be anything from taking a hot bath, stretching or having a cup of non-caffeinated tea or warm milk. 6. Make sure you have a good pillow and mattress, a real pillow and mattress. When choosing, you should think of Goldilock's, look for firm but not too hard and you do not want super squishy where you sink right into the pillow or mattress; you need to feel some resistance when lying so your body is supported. Memory foam is best. Pillows and mattresses have everything to do with sleep so they are good items to invest in. At our office, we recommend Bioposture products because in our opinion, they are the best, they speed blood flow during sleep and they are environmentally friendly to boot. Here is a link for more information if you are interested: www.bioposture.com 7. Natural sleep remedies such as: Melatonin, which is a hormone naturally produced by the brain. Recommended dosage: 1-3mg daily. Valerian, thought, but not proven to increase the amount of GABA neurotransmitter. Recommended dosage: 300-700 mg 30 minutes to two hours before bed. 5-HTP, which gets turned into seratonin so it increases seratonin levels in the brain. Recommended dosage: 200-400mg nightly. These are all known to help regulate sleep but are not scientifically proven methods. If you do decide to go this route, speak with your physician first.