You know how important good nutrition and exercise are for your health and beauty, but do you know sleep is crucial too? When you doze you’re getting more than rest. Sleep researchers say your body is healing and repairing itself. For this reason, dermatologists often suggest using your most “active” skin creams before bed. To avoid puffy, bloodshot eyes, dark under-eye circles and a pale washed-out complexion — and for peak alertness and energy — experts say you need eight hours of sleep a night.

Here are some tips  to help you get the sleep you need:

- Listen to white noise or relaxation CDs. Some people find the sound of white noise or nature sounds, such as the ocean or forest, to be soothing for sleep.
- Avoid before-bed snacks, particularly grains and sugars. This will raise blood sugar and inhibit sleep. Later, when blood sugar drops too low (hypoglycemia), you might wake up and not be able to fall back asleep.
- Exercise every day. Even 20 minutes of walking can help keep stress hormones from interfering with your sleep.

- Get to bed as early as possible. Our systems, particularly the adrenals, do a majority of their recharging or recovering during the hours of 11 p.m. and 1 a.m. In addition, your gallbladder dumps toxins during this same period. If you are awake, the toxins back up into the liver which then secondarily back up into your entire system and cause further disruption of your health. Prior to the widespread use of electricity, people would go to bed shortly after sundown, as most animals do, and which nature intended for humans as well. Read The Full Story…

There are a number of reasons why sleep problems can develop.
1. Normal effects of ageing - as mentioned, when people get
older they tend to sleep less deeply and need less sleep. Not only
this, but sometimes people develop a habit of dropping off to
sleep during the day which again reduces the need for sleep at
night. This in itself is not a problem, but often not sleeping
becomes a greater cause for worry, frustration and concern,
which in turn leads to sleeping less well.

2. Medical reasons for disrupted sleep - medical reasons for
poor sleep may or may not be related to getting older. Some
examples are:
The need to go to the toilet during the night occurs more in
later life. About 60% of women and about 70% of men,
aged over 65 get out of bed at least once a night to go to
the toilet. This can also happen for other reasons of course,
such as pregnancy. Getting out of bed at night isn’t always
a great problem, but can be frustrating if it is difficult to get
back to sleep.
Another medical reason is pain. This again can be common
in older age with joint pains such as arthritis.
The emotional upset of loss or bereavement can affect
sleep and again this may be more common in older people.
Some medicines can interfere with sleep, so it is worth
checking with your doctor if you are on any
tablets. Read The Full Story…

- Stick to a sleep schedule. Go to bed and wake up the same time each day. As creatures of habit, people have a hard time adjusting to altered sleep patterns. Sleeping later on weekends won’t fully make up for the lack of sleep during the week and will make it harder to wake up early on Monday morning.
- Exercise is great but not too late in the day. Try to exercise at least 30 minutes on most days but not later than 5 or 6 hours before your bedtime.
- Avoid caffeine and nicotine. Coffee, colas, certain teas, and chocolate contain the stimulant caffeine, and its effects can take as long as 8 hours to wear off fully. Therefore, a cup of coffee in the late afternoon can make it hard for you to fall asleep at night. Nicotine is also a stimulant, often causing
smokers to sleep only very lightly. In addition, smokers often wake up too early in the morning because of nicotine withdrawal.
- Avoid alcoholic drinks before bed. You may think having an alcoholic “nightcap” will help you sleep, but alcohol robs you of deep sleep and REM sleep, keeping you in the lighter stages of sleep. You also tend to wake up in the middle of the night when the effects of the alcohol have worn off.
- Avoid large meals and beverages late at night. A light snack is okay, but a large meal can cause indigestion that interferes with sleep. Drinking too many fluids at night can cause frequent awakenings to urinate. Read The Full Story…

Here are several strategies that a person can use to get better nights sleep:

- Establish a routine. When you change the timing of your sleep, you affect your circadian rhythm: the internal clock that guides sleep patterns. Research demonstrates that going to bed late upsets your circadian rhythm, but the time you wake up has an even greater impact on your sleep cycle. More that any other strategy, having a regular schedule will improve the quality of your sleep. As much as possible, go to bed at the same time every night and wake up at the same time every morning, even on weekends.
- Manage your stress. Stress and sleep problems are strongly linked. Evaluate your experience of stress and learn and use effective stress- management strategies.
- Avoid alcohol. Alcohol is a depressant. It can help people fall asleep by slowing down body processes. As the alcohol is eliminated from the body there is a rebound stimulant effect, which can result in night-time waking, vivid dreams or fitful sleep.
- Avoid heavy meals at night. These can contribute to difficulty falling asleep. On the other hand, having a light snack (e.g. cereal, cheese and crackers) can help. Studies reveal that high carbohydrate meals late in the day can induce sleepiness.  Read The Full Story…