I don’t know about you, but it drives me nuts when health experts tell me to get more sleep. It’s not always a choice we’re making! After all, none of us who’s had trouble falling asleep or staying asleep throughout the night wants to be sleep-deprived and feeling crappy the next day.
We know the obvious culprits to not getting enough sleep: too much fluids before bed, staying up too late binge-watching The Witcher or playing Destiny 2, or a doggy with a small bladder and thick toenails tap dancing on the hardwood floors at 2 am because you didn’t walk her to do her business before bed. Instead of that unhelpful admonition, here are three things to avoid so you don’t unwittingly hijack your ability to get a good night’s sleep.
1. Caffeine
It’s a given that drinking coffee in the evening will likely keep you up at night. Caffeine blocks or inactivates the (adenosine) sleep receptors in our brain. But what about that 12-ounce cup of coffee you had at 9 am? Caffeine generally has a half-life of 5 to 7 hours. But it degrades with a liver enzyme (cytochrome p4501a2), and as we get older, the speed of caffeine clearance often declines. So if you are of a certain age, some of the coffee you had at that morning staff meeting could still be in your body at 11 at night. To determine if caffeine is the culprit in your not feeling rested in the morning, consider weaning yourself off coffee (including decaf since it does have some residual caffeine) and other sources of caffeine (dark chocolate, black tea, etc.) over 2 to 3 days. Choose an herbal tea for your morning beverage of choice.
2. Blue Light
The blue wavelengths emitted from your electronics serve you well during the day to boost your alertness and attention. However, blue light will suppress the secretion of melatonin—the hormone that helps to regulate the time when sleep occurs—twice as much as regular light. It’s not just your electronics that may be problematic: LED and fluorescent lights also emit blue light. Consider turning off all electronics 2 hours before bed, and choose a good old-fashioned paper book and incandescent or red light bulbs for your bedside. Or perhaps turn off all lights and spend an hour stretching and meditating before going to sleep.
3. Alcohol
I don’t mean to be a buzzkill here, but alcohol will disrupt your sleep. A glass or two of wine will initially act as a sedative, perhaps helping you to fall asleep, but during the night as alcohol is oxidized to acetaldehyde and then to acetic acid, your REM (rapid eye movement) sleep is suppressed in the first half of the night, followed by increased wakefulness in the second half of the night. If you are a regular drinker, consider signing up for an alcohol-free challenge to see if your sleep improves.
If you’ve tried all these and you’re still having trouble getting a good night’s sleep, check with your healthcare provider to see if supplementing with over-the-counter HTP-5 (5-Hydroxytryptophan) and melatonin is right for you. Other factors that can affect sleep include: hormonal imbalances, side effects of medications, sedentary lifestyle, poor diet, tobacco use and sleep disorders (e.g., sleep apnea, restless legs syndrome).
About the Author
Gigi Carter, nutritionist, personal trainer and author, resides in Washington state. She earned her bachelor’s degree in economics from John Carroll University and a master’s in business administration from Cleveland State University. Over the last two decades, Carter’s career has been mostly with Fortune 500 companies in financial services and manufacturing. Carter made a career change in 2016 to pursue her master’s in nutrition sciences from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where she graduated with honors, and launched the socially conscious nutrition and wellness practice, My True Self, PLLC. Carter is a licensed nutritionist in the State of Washington, and certified personal trainer and senior fitness specialist with the National Academy of Sports Medicine. She is the author of The Plant-Based Workplace and co-author of The Spinach in My Teeth.