Page 18 - Florida Sentinel 2-3-17

Health
When your alarm clock goes off, do you hop out of bed feeling ready to meet the day? Or do you hit the snooze button and roll over trying to figure out how to stay in bed just a little longer because you’re so tired?
When it comes to catching your ZZZs, it’s not just about quantity. "It’s about the quality of your sleep, too," says sleep medicine expert Michael Breus, PhD.
Luckily, you can outmaneuver the most common sleep wreckers that block you from getting a good night's rest. In fact, you can get started doing that tonight.
Your Glass Of Wine After Dinner
Many people think that a nightcap is just the thing they need to help them relax and fall asleep. But it can backfire.
"Alcohol does make you feel sleepy initially," Breus says. But as your body breaks it down, "it can have a stimulating effect, keeping you out of the deeper stages of sleep, or even causing you to wake often throughout the night.”
Do this: You don’t have to swear off alcohol altogether. But don’t drink right before bedtime.
Your Smartphone
Electronic devices, including laptops, cellphones, and TVs, all give off light that can mess with your body’s production of melatonin.
"Melatonin is the hormone that helps you fall asleep at night," says Robert Rosenberg, DO, author of Sleep Soundly Every Night, Feel Fantastic Every Day.
Do this: Keep your phone in the kitchen or den at night to recharge. Don't keep it on your nightstand, where you'll be tempted to check it just before
lights out. "And no electronics for at least 60 to 90 minutes before bedtime," Rosenberg says.
Your Bedtime Snack
Foods that are high in refined carbohydrates (think chips or pretzels) can cause a quick rise in your blood sugar, Rosen- berg says.
"Your body then responds with a surge of insulin, causing a drop in blood sugar. That’s then countered by the release of stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline," he says. "This
seesawing back and forth can make it very hard to fall and stay asleep." Do this: A small snack at night is fine. But ditch the chips for a healthy carbohydrate com- bined with some protein. Some good choices include almond or peanut butter on a whole
wheat cracker, shredded wheat and milk, or a banana and yogurt.
SLEEP WRECKER #1:
SLEEP WRECKER #2:
SLEEP WRECKER #3:
Asthma is a type of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and is also related to allergies, whether seasonal/environmental or food-related.
Symptoms for the condition often worsen during bedtime, experts say, when hormone levels drop, leaving you vulnerable to the many triggers that lie buried in your surroundings.
Here are some tips to better control your asthma:
Dust mites are no good for someone with asthma. These little crit- ters hide in the mattress, sheets and pillows of your bed and become triggers for asthma attacks at night. Purchase mattress protectors and allergy-free pillows – which could really come in handy since your nose is most in contact with the pillow during sleep.
It’s also good to change sheets regularly and purchase a new mat- tress every few years.
Some of the most beneficial foods to include in your asthma diet plan are:
• Brightly colored carotenoid foods: Severity of asthma correlates with low vitamin A, so increase your intake of things like root veggies, sweet potatoes, carrots, leafy greens and berries.
• Prebiotics and high-fiber foods: These plant fibers help us elimi- nate toxins and feed healthy probiotic bacteria. Whole grains, nuts, beans, seeds and raw vegetables are loaded with prebiotic materials and are great sources of fiber.
• Omega-3 foods: Omega-3 is mostly found in oily fish, such as mackerel, sardines, orange roughy, salmon, trout and tuna.
• Foods fried in refined/processed vegetable oils.
• Pasteurized milk products, gluten, soy, eggs and nuts. Wheat gluten and soy are present in a wide variety of foods.
• Avoid MSG, tartrazine (yellow food dye), sulfites and sulfur diox- ide, to name just a few.
• Avoid animal products treated with hormones and antibiotics as well as pasteurized foods and drinks.
Protect the bed from dust mites.
What You Should Eat.
What You Should Not Eat.
PAGE 6-B FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2017