Do you feel like you're not getting enough sleep? If you're yawning, feeling fatigued, and irritable, it's likely that you're not getting the recommended amount of sleep. During the stage of sleep known as REM, your eyes move from side to side and your brain waves are more active than in stages two or three. Getting enough sleep is essential for a number of reasons, such as maintaining the immune system, metabolic functions, memory, and regulating body weight. When you don't get enough sleep, leptin levels decrease, meaning you don't feel as satisfied after eating, and ghrelin levels increase, stimulating your appetite so you want more food. One of the most concerning results of a sleep study is that the group that slept six hours did not rate their sleepiness as bad, even when their cognitive performance was declining.
Eating before bed doesn't directly impact sleep quality, but it can lead to heartburn or chest discomfort that can keep you awake at night. Waking up during REM sleep increases the risk of feeling groggy or too sleepy the next day. Stimulants such as caffeine, alcohol, and even sleeping pills can interfere with your ability to fall asleep and stay asleep. If you're feeling drowsy during the day, it may be a sign of an underlying medical condition or sleep disorder such as narcolepsy or sleep apnoea. It's important to pay attention to how you feel to determine if you are getting the right amount of sleep.
Once you have a nightly goal based on the hours of sleep you need, it's time to start planning how to make it happen. If you are sleeping six hours or less per night while experiencing these symptoms, you will either need to increase the amount of sleep you are getting to reflect the nightly recommendations for your age or find ways to improve your sleep quality. Unfortunately, too little or poor quality sleep can increase the likelihood of developing chronic diseases such as diabetes, obesity and heart disease (10, 11, 12, 1). In a study published in the journal Sleep, 48 adults were restricted to a maximum of four, six or eight hours of sleep per night for two weeks; an unfortunate subset were deprived of sleep for three days in a row. The amount of sleep needed depends on many different factors such as age, genetics and quality of night-time sleep. If you're not getting enough sleep each night, it's important to take steps to improve your sleeping habits.
Start by setting a bedtime routine that works for you and stick with it. Avoid stimulants like caffeine late in the day and try to relax before bedtime with activities like reading or taking a warm bath. Make sure your bedroom is dark and comfortable and avoid screens before bedtime. Finally, if lifestyle changes don't help improve your sleeping habits, talk to your doctor about possible underlying medical conditions.
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