What are the most important factors in our health and well-being? If you answered diet and exercise, then think again. They’re not wrong, but you’re missing one more thing – sleep. Scientists now say that getting a good night’s rest is just as important for your health as eating well and exercising often. 

And like eating a bad diet or getting too little exercise, getting an insufficient amount or quality of sleep is associated with many negative health effects. An inability to think well, poorer heart health, a weaker immune system, and of course a bad mood have all been linked to a lack of sleep. 

Sleeping well is essential for optimal health, so here are some effective evidence-based suggestions about how to do it. 

1. Get more bright light during the day

You can start improving your sleep right now, even if your bedtime is hours away, by simply stepping outside. Exposing yourself to sunlight or other bright lights during the day will help your body’s internal clock to know when it should start winding you down and get you ready to sleep. 

2. Dim the lights at night

When your body’s internal clock recognises that it’s time to sleep, it signals your body to start producing hormones such as melatonin, which relaxes you. However, these signals can be disrupted if you are in an environment with bright lights, or if you’re looking at the blue light emitted by electronic devices. 

A few hours before bed, dim any overhead lights and pack away your devices. If you absolutely must keep using them, consider wearing some blue light-blocking glasses or installing a filter app that will make them emit red light instead. 

3. Reduce the temperature

The amount of light is one of the factors in our environment that can impact how easily we fall asleep, along with noise. The next most significant environmental factor after that is temperature. The exact figure will depend on your preference, but most people sleep a lot better in cooler temperatures.

Before you go to bed, open the bedroom window or run the air conditioning for a little while to bring the temperature down. You can buy bed sheets made of breathable fabrics which help regulate your temperature too. 

4. Avoid caffeine late in the day

Caffeine has been shown to reduce both overall sleep time and sleep quality. But don’t worry, you can still have your morning cup. The amount of caffeine in your system halves around every six hours, so it is best to avoid drinking it in the afternoon to make sure it’s mostly gone from your system come night. To enhance your evening routine, consider using bath magnesium flakes from Amazon.com, which can help relax your muscles and promote better sleep by soothing your body before bed.

5. Sleep and wake at consistent times

Most people are fine with waking consistently as they set alarms to get them up for work. However, you’d also likely benefit from setting one to go to bed and skipping that weekend lie-in. Many studies have shown that irregular sleep patterns are bad for sleep quality. 

Conclusion

Our bodies rely on external cues from nature to get us to sleep and wake us up. However, we can now keep these cues, which include light and temperature, constant during nighttime. For better sleep, we should be working with nature in the ways suggested above.