10 Dangerous Enemies of Sleep
Posted on March 18, 2008
Filed Under Life, Health
There are many factors, both internal and external, that can influence the quantity and quality of the sleep we obtain. You may not be able to control or eliminate all of the factors that interfere with your sleep, but you can create an environment and adopt habits that encourage a more restful night.
Here are a ten “Not-to-do” lists that may improve your quality of sleep :
- 1. Do not smoke. Nicotine is a stimulant and can make it difficult to fall asleep and
stay asleep. Many over-the-counter and prescription drugs disrupt sleep.
- 2. Avoid alcohol as a sleep help. Alcohol may initially help you fall asleep, but it also causes disturbances in sleep resulting in less restful sleep. An alcohol drink before bedtime may make it more likely that you will wake up during the night.
- 3. Eliminate caffeine. Simply put, caffeine can keep you awake. It can stay in your body longer than you might think the effects of caffeine can take as long as eight hours to wear off. So if you drink a cup of coffee in the afternoon and are still tossing at night, caffeine might be the reason. Cutting out caffeine at least four to six hours before bedtime can help you fall asleep easier.
- 4. Medications and Other Substances . Many common chemicals affect both quantity and quality of sleep. These include caffeine, alcohol, nicotine, and antihistamines, as well as prescription medications including beta blockers, alpha blockers, and antidepressants.
- 5. Light’s Effect. Light is one of the most important external factors that can affect sleep. It does so both directly, by making it difficult for people to fall asleep, and indirectly, by influencing the timing of our internal clock and thereby affecting our preferred time to sleep. Light exposure can cause our biological clock to advance or delay, which affects our sleep and wake cycle.
- 6. Eat right, sleep tight. Try not to go to bed hungry, but avoid heavy meals before bedtime. An over-full belly can keep you up. Some foods can help, though. Milk contains tryptophan, which is a sleep-promoting substance. Other foods that may help promote sleep include tuna, halibut, pumpkin, artichokes, avocados, almonds, eggs, bok choy, peaches, walnuts, apricots, oats, asparagus, potatoes, buckwheat, and bananas.
- 7. Avoid napping. Napping can only make matters worse if you usually have problems falling asleep. If you do nap, keep it short. A brief 15-20-minute snooze about eight hours after you get up in the morning can actually be rejuvenating.
- 8. Keep pets off the bed. Does your pet sleep with you? This, too, may cause you to awaken during the night, either from allergies or pet movements. Fido and Fluffy might be better off on the floor than on your sheets.
- 9. Avoid watching TV, eating, and discussing emotional issues in bed. The bed should be used for sleep and sex only. If not, you can end up associating the bed with distracting activities that could make it difficult for you to fall asleep.
- 10. Full Moon Effects. Many disorders seem to follow the phases of the moon.
Cluster eadaches and epilepsy often follow this cycle. Women’s menstrual cycles tend to be very cyclic. Read more about Full Moon Effects
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7 Responses to “10 Dangerous Enemies of Sleep”
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That is very helpful and I am going to share this with my hubby. He has trouble sleeping every night.
[…] admin wrote a fantastic post today on “10 Dangerous Enemies of the Sleep”Here’s ONLY a quick extractAvoid alcohol as a sleep help. Alcohol may initially help you fall asleep, but it also causes disturbances in sleep resulting in less restful sleep. An alcohol drink before bedtime may make it more likely that you will wake up during … […]
Very interesting, but what about people who need too much sleep? I’m also glad to see you read stave Pavlina’s blog, he’s my favorite blogger.
And where’s StumbleUpon on this list? Definitely an enemy to my sleeping pattern, anyway!
Very interesting and very informative. Thanks!
Insomnia is a battle that I waged for years of my life. It eventually gets to the point where it stresses you out so much that you perpetuate it yourself and don’t know which way is up anymore. I wrote all about this at my blog http://battlinginsomnnia.blogspot.com check it out it may help you or you may just find it entertaining! And good luck to everybody who has trouble sleeping!
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