The pace of life is such that there is a catastrophic lack of time for sleep. How to learn to get enough sleep,
without changing the usual rhythm.
Sleep is not a rest at all. And the time when the level of hormones and neurotransmitters is restored, the brain processes the information received per day, all organs and tissues try to compensate for the wasted per day. In fact, sleep is a universal restorer, including our youth and harmony. But if you literally have no time to sleep? Avrali at work, lessons with children ...
The decisive role is played not by the number of hours spent in bed, but by their quality. Therefore, if sleep is only 4−5 hours a day, then make it full is especially important.
Dive into the water
The most fruitful for mental activity is the dream that begins in the so-called waves of falling asleep. During these periods, the brain itself gradually turns off, and a person bites his nose. According to medical data, there are usually three such “waves”: the first arrives at 20–22 hours, the second at 24–1 a.m. and the last at 5–6 in the morning. The final, by the way, is most fruitful for the brain. But, unfortunately, after it, as a rule, there is no way to sleep at least 5 hours. In addition, we must take into account: not everything that suits the nervous system and the brain is suitable for the hormonal system. For example, a very important hormone, melatonin, is produced only in the dark. And no less important adrenal glands, which control metabolism and biorhythms, are restored by 3-4 o’clock in the morning, at this time a person may feel inappropriately awake and wake up. In general, for most people, the first and second waves of falling asleep are still optimal, no matter how much you have to get up.
Relax
The calm and restoring power of sleep is 80% dependent on the emotions and thoughts with which we move to this very dream. Neighboring repairs and snoring husbands bear only 10% of the responsibility, another 10% of the quality of sleep depends on the state of health. Therefore, you should take a pill for a headache and wrap a sore throat with a warm scarf to get enough sleep. Better yet, work out your ritual of going to bed: slowly, happily take a shower, do relaxing exercises from yoga or qigong, sit in an armchair with your child or loved one. Scientists from the Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Biophysics of the Russian Academy of Sciences offer a very simple and affordable way to relieve tension: first you need to chill, and then quickly warm up. For example, take a contrast shower first and then a warm bath. It relaxes massage or self-massage of the feet: while lying in bed, squeeze the toes with force and count to 7, then relax and repeat several times.
Cool off
For the brain and the proper production of hormones, it is better to sleep under a warm blanket in a cool room than in a hot room under one sheet. According to doctors, the optimum temperature in the bedroom is 17−20 C. And if you are cold, put on your pajamas. In the hot season, it is better to prefer an open window to air conditioning, setting it to weak mode. Any draft is perceived as cool. The movement of air at a speed of 0.2 m / s feels like fresh air, regardless of how much it is actually rich in oxygen.
Drink milk
A glass of milk or kefir before bedtime, a couple of spoons of low-fat cottage cheese or yogurt, a piece of cheese is recommended not only for those who follow the figure. The melatonin mentioned above is made from the essential amino acid tryptophan. This substance is present in animal protein, and the easiest way for a person to absorb it from dairy products. Most tryptophan in cheeses is from 660 to 1000 mg per 100 g of product. According to official recommendations of the Institute of Nutrition RAMS per day, a person needs about 3.5 mg of tryptophan per 1 kg of weight. In other words, with a weight of 60 kg, 210 mg should be eaten, with a weight of 70 kg - 245 mg per day, etc.Therefore, a thin piece of cheese or a glass of milk is enough to provide the body with melatonin at night. However, tryptophan is also found in fish, turkey and other products. However, dairy dishes, in addition to tryptophan, will provide calcium, which is washed out of bones during sleep, because it is needed for nightly restoration of other organs and systems. Yes, and specific enzymes of dairy products, plus everything else, have a calming effect, which is important before bedtime.
Find your pose
A good supply of oxygen to the lungs during sleep is a necessary condition for full recovery. And here a lot depends on what we sleep on and in what position. The main enemies are a high pillow and the wrong mattress. Because of the pillow, the respiratory throat is partially squeezed, and a crushed or too soft mattress does not leave a chance to relax the body in a dream. A pose can also spoil a dream. So that nothing bothers you during a night's rest, try to accustom yourself to sleep on your back. With or without a pillow - as convenient. Somnologists advise sleeping in a tightly curtained, well-ventilated room on a moderately hard, better orthopedic mattress.
Plunge into the darkness
Melatonin is a hormone that is produced by the pineal gland of the brain only during sleep (mainly from 23-24 hours to 3-4 in the morning) in complete darkness. He is considered one of the hormones of youth. But even a luminous TV screen or dim light from a window reduces its production by almost half. His main merit is a sound and healthy sleep. But not only. As studies of recent decades show, a low level of melatonin increases the risk of cancer, hypertension, and immunodeficiency. Since advertising on night streets cannot be turned off, you can also resort to melatonin in tablets. Prevention is good for everyone after 35 years (especially closer to white nights). How many times a week - it does not matter, especially if insomnia torments. This is not sleeping pills, but makes falling asleep easier.
Facts and Figures
20 hours a day, babies sleep;
4 hours is enough for a person in 70 years;
16 hours and more sleep 10% of the world's inhabitants;
3 hours another 10% is enough;
6.5 hours is the norm for most adults.
Not all the time that we lie in bed, we sleep! Minutes of snoring or turning from side to side from a full sleep should be subtracted. It is most useful to sleep until you wake up yourself, without any alarm clock: everyone has their own sleep norm.
Sleep consists of three stages: fast - slow (or deep) - fast. As a rule, a full circle requires 1.5−2 hours. During REM sleep, we fall asleep, wake up and dream, and while deep sleep lasts, hormones and neurotransmitters are actively produced. It is imperative to go through all the stages of the cycle. When the bell pulls out in the middle of the cycle, from the very depths of sleep, it is quite harmful, all restoration work is interrupted and almost reduced to zero. That is why, if you woke up half an hour before the alarm, there is no point in trying to fall asleep again. Better to read a book or have sex.
The article was published based on the materials of the magazine "Good advice" 3/2013
Text: Tatyana Minina. Photo: Legion-Media, Bernd Kroger / Fotolia.com
Material prepared by Julia Dekanova
