You might have a wonderful morning routine to keep you healthy. However, do you know what really determines health is also your bed time routine? Each night you end one day and stand at the brink of starting a new one. It is therefore crucial how you organize your bed time.

Here are 7 things to adopt for your bed time- 

1) Plan for next day: Preparing in advance always gives you more time and leaves you stress free. Things like looking for keys, deciding what to wear etc make you late and add to your morning stress. Prepare also for breakfast or what to cook the next day. Planning at night doesnt take much time and makes your next day start on a good note.

2) Shut out the buzz: Most of us say goodnight to family and head to bed only to spend the next hour checking Facebook and social media. Or you end up watching a funny video or movie late into the night. If you keep yourself distracted, you can't go off to sleep early or get quality sleep. The light from your gadget's screen can be harmful and stress inducing. It is best to give yourself an hour away from your mobile phone or other gadgets before you sleep.

3) Write a 'Thank-You' Diary: There are many ways to become a more positive person and the best is to have appreciation. Try finding out that 1 thing (more is better) that you are thankful for. Do it everyday. This practice right ahead of your sleep time calms you down, makes you feel happy, satisfied and goes on a long way in contributing to a heathy lifestyle.

4) Stretch it out: Like most people do you also have a job where you keep sitting for long hours? Stretching really works, it helps lengthen tendons and muscles and can reduce the frequency and severity of cramps ensuring you get a better night's sleep.

5) Try meditating: Our work life has become ever so demanding, we are constantly bombarded with information via the television, social media, the internet, friends and work which results in stress and anxiety! Few minutes of meditation before bed, slows down your brain activity which results in a deeper and more peaceful sleep. You will wake up feeling well-rested, energized and ready to take on the day!

6) Book by your side: Reading before bed is has amazing benefits. Firstly, it calms the nerves by eliminating excess sound and vision stimulus (exactly the opposite of what you get from watching television!). It helps you to wind down and sleep better, it also improves brain function, your memory and the thinking process overall.

7) Sleep is crucial: Foremost is to simply make sleep a priority. It is not as simple as it sounds. Sleep deficiency directly relates to increased stress, weight gain and productivity loss. Going to bed late and managing with 5 or 6 hours sleep sets a bad tone for your day.

Your happiness and general wellbeing is controlled by how relaxing you make your bed time.

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Dr. Sapna Zarwal Tells You How To Improve Your Bed-time Routine

Insomnia is a disorder where a person has difficulty sleeping. One can have problem falling asleep or staying asleep for long. Some people also have disturbed sleep. This can be a major problem as due to lack of sleep one feels tired and fatigued all day.

Recurring cases of insomnia hamper your daily activities and interfere with the smooth functioning of your life. Therefore, this condition should not be ignored and treated immediately.

Here are the various ways to treat insomnia:
Non-Medical (Cognitive and Behavioral treatment)
Several psychological and behavioral techniques can be used for the treatment of insomnia. Many of these methods can be easily self-taught and others require a therapist to be carried out properly. 

1. Relaxation training, which is also called progressive muscle relaxation involves the patient to tense and relax his muscles systematically in various parts or regions of the body. Relaxation techniques, such as breathing exercises, various forms of meditation, mindfulness and guided imagery are used for treating insomnia people. The use of audio recordings for guidance in these techniques is quite popular.

2. Stimulus control enables building an association between the bedroom and sleep. This is done by limiting several kinds of activities done in a bedroom. This may include going to bed only when very sleepy and leaving bed if you cannot sleep within twenty minutes. A strict bedtime and wake up time schedule has to be maintained.

3. Cognitive behavioral therapy or CBT involves changes in behavior like maintaining a strict sleep time schedule, elimination of afternoon naps and other habits related to sleep. A cognitive component is also added to this method. Unhealthy beliefs and fear regarding sleep are challenged and positive, rational thinking is encouraged. CBT is a very effective procedure for treating insomnia and the track record regarding success is high.

4. Changes in lifestyle are required to treat insomnia and prevent recurrence of insomnia, you should change certain habits and start some new practices. You should limit your intake of caffeine, alcohol and nicotine. Do not consume coffee or tea before going to sleep and avoid smoking. The habits may be stimulating and will keep you awake. Your diet should be balanced. You should avoid having rich and spicy food before going to bed. Avoid late meals and maintain a proper schedule for meals. Regular exercise can improve the symptoms of insomnia and you should try to work out every day.

Medical Treatment
There are many forms of medicines, which can treat insomnia. This includes over-the-counter medicines, as well as prescribed medicines. The type of medicine required completely depends on the severity and symptoms of your insomnia and other factors related to health. Therefore, you must consult a doctor before having any kind of medicine for treating insomnia.

The most common medicines for insomnia, which are usually prescribed by doctors are benzodiazepine hypnotics, non-benzodiazepine hypnotics and melatonin receptor agonists. However, medicines should only be taken after consulting with a specialist. Insomnia not only affects your health but also interferes with all your daily activities. Proper treatment should be taken to treat the same.

Ways to Treat Insomnia

"Nightcaps (Drinking alcohol before bed) give you the worst sleep ever!

Any alcoholic beverage (generally brandy, wine, beer, bourbon etc) consumed before bedtime is known as a nightcap. You may have a nightcap thinking you’ll get better sleep, but did you know that it’s actually responsible for giving you a disrupted sleep pattern? Nightcaps may gradually start interfering with your sleeping quality, causing you to wake up sooner than you want.

How do nightcaps adversely affect your sleeping pattern?

Recently, a study conducted by the University of Melbourne revealed the fact that alcohol before bedtime can give you the worst sleep ever. In this study, several volunteering adults were neurologically monitored in a lab for a few days. Half of them were asked to have nightcaps, while the other half was instructed to drink non-alcoholic beverages. After completing their observation, the researchers reached the conclusion that though alcohol resulted in greater number of sleeping hours, it left the participants feeling dehydrated and less refreshed in the morning due to fragmented sleep. This is because the sleep induced by nightcaps is very shallow, and having nightcaps regularly can result in less restorative sleep. 

The side-effects of nightcaps

Ruining your sleep is not the only ill effect nightcaps have on your health. Nightcaps give rise to other issues too, like snoring and night sweats. Moreover, consuming alcohol before falling asleep also weakens your immune system, damages your memory, speeds up the ageing process, results in nightmares, and causes headaches and insomnia. In fact, regular nightcaps are bad for your heart too. 

4 ways how you can prevent alcohol from affecting your sleep pattern

Nonetheless, if you want to include a bit of alcohol to your dinner, it can be done in the correct way to ensure that it doesn’t affect the quality of your sleep. You can follow these simple rules to minimise the ill effects of nightcaps:

1. Stick to the three hour rule: Ensure that you drink alcohol at least 3 hours prior to sleeping.

2. Limit yourself to a fixed amount: Always consume alcoholic beverages in moderation and try to limit yourself to only one or two drinks every day.

3. Sleep early: Try to avoid staying awake longer than you usually do as this adds up to alcohol’s abilities of disturbing your sleep.

4. Increase your water intake: Prevent your body from getting dehydrated by the effect of alcohol by consuming at least one glass of water for each glass of alcohol. Additionally, don’t forget to sip a few glasses of water after waking up in the morning.

Sleep is important for your overall well being, so try not to compromise with it by consuming nightcaps regularly, especially after knowing about its devastating effects.



Do You Know Nightcaps (Drinking Alcohol Before Bed) Give You the Worst Sleep!

Sleep is the normal physiological process of our body which is as important as respiration and digestion. Sleep is vital for maintaining our physical and mental health. Normal adults require 8 hours of sleep every day, whereas it 14 to 15 hours of sleep is recommended for for infants and toddlers.

What are the different stages of Sleep

Every human has a natural circadian clock in their body, which is responsible for maintaining our sleep - wake homeostasis. The different stages of sleep include REM and NREM that is rapid eye movement sleep and non rapid eye movement sleep respectively. REM is the deep sleep stage in which it is very difficult to wake up the person as this stage includes the sensory inhibition and all voluntary muscles along with almost all interactions with the surroundings are inhibited. Therefore, a person s physical stress and tiredness also gets relieved during this stage of sleep. NREM sleep is the stage between REM and awakening and here the person may have sensory connection with his or her surroundings, but may not respond.

Sleep and its benefits
Sleep and stress have a very strong connection with each other. The best way to relieve stress and any other mental disturbance is sleep. It is essential to have knowledge about sleep psychiatry for almost all physicians as they face many sleep deprived patients in their day to day practice.

    Sleep is not only responsible for relieving mental stress and depression, but has other benefits as well
    Sleep is also essential for the normal physiological growth in early infancy and it is vital for development of normal alertness, attention and knowledge
    It also relaxes our voluntary muscles and thereby, relieves us from physical stress
    Sleep disturbance may also aggravate diseases in our body. Sleep is also the state of recovery and healing.

Sleep psychiatry also insist on meditation and ensures that people have normal pattern of sleep, in order to maintain the mental health of the person in a normal state.

Sleep Pyschiatry: Its Stages and Benefits

300 Calories is the average calorific value of our daily sugar intake. It's no wonder then that dietician and weight loss gurus across the world will advise you to quit added sugar as the first step of a weight loss program. Added sugar refers to processed sugar in the form of cubes, sugar crystals or powdered sugar and does not include natural sugars found in fruits, vegetables etc. Apart from cakes and sweets, we eat added sugar in a number of ways including a number of packaged foods like sauce and salad dressings.
If you consume a lot of sugar on a daily basis, quitting added sugar could leave you with withdrawal symptoms. Quitting added sugar is not easy, but here are a few reasons it is well worth the effort.
1. You'll have fewer pimples
Sugar has inflammatory properties. This can trigger systemic inflammation leading to the acne. Thus quitting sugar can instantly reduce the number of pimples on your face and give you clearer skin.
2. It improves the health of your heart
Added sugar can raise insulin levels. This activates the sympathetic nervous system and increases blood pressure and heart rate. Stopping your consumption of added sugar can lower cholesterol levels and decrease the amount of triglycerides in the body. This lowers blood pressure and boosts cardiovascular health.
3. A friendly weight scale
Replacing toffees with dry fruits will considerably reduce your calorific intake. Similarly switching packaged salad dressing for fresh homemade dressing can also make your salad healthier. Given that we eat added sugar in so many forms, making a conscious decision to quit added sugar can have a big impact on your daily calorie intake. Studies show that this simple step can lead to a weight loss of up to 10 pounds in six months.
4. It'll make remembering names easier
Added sugar can hinder learning and memory. Over time, it can also damage communication between brain cells. Quitting sugar can boost both your short term as well as long term memory. You will also find it easier to focus on will be able to be attentive to something for longer periods of time.
5. A good night's sleep
You don't just need 8 hours of sleep a day; you need 8 hours of restful sleep at the right time. Sugar makes blood sugar fluctuate and the crash that follows a sugar high can make you feel sluggish around mid-day. Many people find that if they have an afternoon nap, it becomes more difficult for them to fall asleep at night. Sugar also releases cortisol that interferes with sleep. Thus quitting added sugar can keep you alert through the day and help you fall asleep easier at the end of the day.

See What Really Happens to Your Body When You Stop Eating Added Sugar

6 Tips for helping you sleep better

Resting at night plays an important role in regulating your daily health and your level of energy throughout a day. Also, not only the quantity but the quality of sleep is also important for a healthy lifestyle. Bedtime habits do play a vital role in shaping up your lifestyle and personality as a whole. Here are 6 lifestyle habits that can help you to get sound sleep on a daily basis.

1. Having a fixed sleep pattern: Going to sleep and waking up approximately during the same time every day helps to maintain an equilibrium in the sleep-wake cycle. If this balance is maintained then your body will be accustomed to this pattern and as a result, you will feel less tired and sleepy during the daytime.

2. Maintaining certain dietary regulations: You should also maintain a proper diet plan and examine the consequences of the foods that you are eating and the fluids that you are drinking. Taking a proper and nutritious diet on a daily basis will help you to stay healthy by not disrupting your natural sleep-wake cycle.

3. Ensuring that your room has appropriate lighting: The level of light also matters at the time of your sleep. You should definitely make sure that there is a very minimal level of light around you during bed time. This should be done because the lesser is the light, the more comfortable you are while sleeping. Additionally, the sleep that you will get into a dark room will also be sound and undistorted as it helps keep all the sensory organs calm.

4. Regular exercise: Exercising regularly helps to improve the overall quality of sleep by making you tired at night and sending you to bed more efficiently. Light to mild exercises also helps cure sleep disorders like insomnia.

5. Opting for some relaxing activities before bed: Depending on your personality, you should follow simple techniques of relaxation in order to calm down the brain before sleep. Some of the most common relaxation techniques include- deep breathing exercise, muscle relaxing activity, visualizing a peaceful setting/ scenario and a light before-bed snack. The above-mentioned activities are just suggestive and you should do anything that helps you to get a sound sleep.

6. Having daytime naps: Having short naps of less than one hour is absolutely okay if you are excessively tired during the day or you did not have a sound sleep the previous night. But, if you are consistently having long naps during the day then you are bound to have sleep issues during the night. So it is advisable to sleep early and wake up early for a healthy schedule.



6 Tips for helping you sleep better

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