Want to learn how to improve your sleep quality according to the science? Check out below!
- Create a dark, cool, and quiet sleeping environment
- Have a consistent sleep time (and around 7-9 hours each day)
- Exercise regularly
- Avoid late afternoon/evening naps and long naps
- Avoid light exposure (electronics, etc.) near bedtime
- Limit caffeine consumption in the afternoon/evening
- Limit alcohol consumption
- Avoid large mixed meals and unhealthy foods near bedtime
- Practice mindfulness techniques
- Maintain a healthy weight
Optimising your bedtime environment
Optimising the bedroom environment is a key factor in improving sleep quality. Experts advise creating a dark, cool, and quiet space to enhance your sleep experience. Cooler temperatures in the bedroom are associated with more deep sleep, which is crucial for feeling rested and rejuvenated.
To reduce noise disruptions, consider using white noise machines or ear plugs. While there is no universally recommended sleep surface, position, or pillow, the most important aspect is personal comfort.
Choose a sleeping arrangement that feels most comfortable to you, as this significantly contributes to the quality of your rest.
Consistent sleep schedule
A consistent sleep schedule helps maintain the body’s internal clocks, reducing daytime sleepiness and allows people to fall asleep and wake up more easily.
Having a consistent sleep schedule is useful in aligning our internal circadian rhythms which has been found to help optimise our mental health, endocrine system and reproductive system.
There are even links to increased risk of cardiovascular events with inconsistent sleep schedules.
Exercise
Exercise can provide many physical and mental benefits, including sleep quality. It is best to be active everyday. The Australian Department of Health recommends 2.5-5 hours of moderate intensity physical activity, such as a walk, golf, mowing the lawn, or 1.25-2.5 hours of vigorous intensity physical activity, such as jogging, soccer, cycling etc per week.
As long as getting exercise will not come at the expense of sleep duration, the National Sleep Foundation encourages any amount of exercise.
Exercise has been found to increase deep sleep as well as duration.
Naps
Having naps too late in the afternoon can result in difficulty sleeping; naps can have potential benefits for the body, so if you consider napping, try do it in the early afternoon at a length of around 20-30 minutes.
Light exposure
Light exposure diminishes the secretion of melatonin (which improves your ability to sleep). Reducing both ambient light exposure and light from electronic devices promotes earlier sleep onset and improves sleep quality.
Avoiding screen time for over 90 minutes before bedtime is what is generally recommended. However, The National Sleep Foundation recommends 30 minutes as it is more feasible, and still produces benefits. We understand it is very challenging in this day and age to reduce screen time before bed.
Caffeine consumption
Caffeine is typically used to increase alertness and decrease fatigue, however it can have negative sleep consequences. It can delay sleep onset, decrease sleep efficiency, and perceived sleep quality.
Not regarding genetic variation, caffeine has a half-life of around 6-7 hours and as a result we recommend you to not take caffeine beyond midday to increase the quality of sleep desired.
Limiting alcohol consumption
Alcohol disrupts sleep architecture, often resulting in wakefulness during the second half of the night, and generally decreasing REM sleep, sleep quality and duration.
Sleep apnea reduces restorative sleep and can greatly affect ones life quality as a result. Alcohol consumption increases risk of sleep apnea by 25%. It's recommended to reduce alcohol intake as a potential therapy in reversing sleep apnea and improving quality of sleep.
Alcohol is a central nervous system depressant and can negatively impact mental health, increasing feelings of anxiety, overwhelm and low mood. It also increases insomnia, daytime sleepiness and abnormal sleep architecture.
Eating before sleeping
It is advisable to avoid eating 2 hours prior to your desired bedtime as doing so is associated with shorter sleep duration and weight gain. It also promotes Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease, which disrupts sleep.
Practice mindfulness
Insomnia is often caused by over-activation and excitation of the autonomic nervous system. Whether it is due to anxiety or other genetic or environmental causes, many people struggle to sleep when the mind is active.
In this situation, we recommend mindfulness techniques and attention to the breath. This techniques activates the Parasympathetic Nervous System which helps sleep initiation. These meditative techniques are effective in decreasing worry, anxiety and stress, and have been proven effective in treating insomnia.
Maintain a healthy weight
Maintaining a healthy weight can improve sleep by regulating sleep breathing, decreases sleep apnea, improving sleep architecture and decreasing daytime sleepiness.
References
Baranwal, N., Yu, P. K., & Siegel, N. S. (2023). Sleep physiology, pathophysiology, and sleep hygiene. Progress in cardiovascular diseases, 77, 59–69. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pcad.2023.02.005
Simou, E., Britton, J., & Leonardi-Bee, J. (2018). Alcohol and the risk of sleep apnoea: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Sleep medicine, 42, 38–46. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleep.2017.12.005
