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a30 health
Thursday 2 april 2020
Health and Beauty Sleep

By: Carlos M Viana, CCN, ORANJESTAD — After greeting our patient, the first question a woman experiences
OMD I ask is: “How did you sleep last night”? Sleep is a basic throughout the month, like
human need, as important for good health as diet and estrogen and progesterone,
exercise. have an impact on
sleep. Understanding the
Only when we are sound asleep do our bodies repair. effects of these hormones,
When we sleep, our bodies rest but our brains are active, environmental factors and
laying the groundwork for healing and productivity. Most lifestyle habits can help
people need eight hours of sleep nightly. Unfortunately, women enjoy a good night’s sleep.
for 10% to 25% of us, not being able to get to sleep or Having trouble getting to sleep? The following ten
insomnia can be a chronic condition. Approximately 98 suggestions might help.
million dollars a year is spent in the United States alone on 1. Maintain a regular bed and wake time schedule
over-the-counter sleep aids. Not getting enough restful including weekends.
sleep results in daytime sleepiness, increased accidents, 2. Establish a regular, relaxing bedtime routine such as
problems concentrating and poor performance on the soaking in a hot bath and then reading a book or
job and in school, and increased sickness and weight listening to soothing music.
gain. 3. Create a sleep-conducive environment that is dark,
Lack of sleep seems to be a major stress factor. Regularly quiet, comfortable and cool.
catching only a few hours of sleep can hinder metabolism 4. Sleep on a comfortable mattress and pillows.
and hormone production in a way that is similar to the 5. Use your bedroom only for sleep and sex. It is best to
effects of aging and the early stages of diabetes. Chronic take work materials, computers and televisions out of
sleep loss may speed the onset or increase the severity of the sleeping environment.
conditions such as type II diabetes, high blood pressure, 6. Eat a healthy diet and finish eating at least 2-3 hours
obesity, and memory loss. Medical researchers have before your regular bedtime.
shown that just one week of sleep deprivation altered 7. Exercise regularly. It is best to complete your workout
subject’s hormone levels and their capacity to metabolize at least a few hours before bedtime.
carbohydrates. Research has shown that in developed 8. Avoid caffeine (e.g. coffee, tea, and soft drinks, or
countries, the average night's sleep has grown chocolate) close to bedtime. It can keep you awake.
shorter since the beginning of the century, from 9 hours to 9. Avoid nicotine (e.g. cigarettes, tobacco products)
7.5 hours. People who give up sleep to make more time for Used close to bedtime, it can lead to poor sleep.
work and leisure are aging must faster than they should be. 10. Avoid alcohol close to bedtime. It can lead to
During sleep-deprivation, researchers found, men's disrupted sleep later in the night.
blood sugar levels took 40% longer to drop, compared 11. Do not run electrical wires under or over your bed.
with the natural sleep-recovery period; and their ability to Pharmaceutical drugs to get to sleep are not a healthy
secrete and respond to the hormone insulin, which helps solution. These drugs do not produce the deep curative
regulate blood sugar, dropped by 30%. These changes sleep needed to regain our health and are habit-forming.
reflect the effects of insulin resistance. In addition, the There are natural food supplements like 5 – HTP that can
sleep-deprived men had higher nighttime concentrations help considerably if taken with a little natural fruit juice
of the hormone cortisol, which also helps regulate blood thirty minutes or more before you eat. If your sleep cycle
sugar, and lower levels of thyroid-stimulating hormone. has changed the natural supplement melatonin will help
These raised cortisol levels are often seen in older people, reset your sleep cycle. Acupuncture helps balance your
and may be involved in age-related insulin resistance body and encourages restful sleep. A visit to a natural
and memory loss. physician could help you determine the cause of your
Many childhood sleep problems are related to irregular sleep problem and how to best help it. Remember, you
sleep habits or to anxiety. Persistent sleep problems may cannot restore your health without sound sleep.
also be symptoms of emotional difficulties. “Separation Get the Point! Getting the right amount of sleep is vital, but
anxiety” is a developmental landmark for young children. just as important is the quality of your sleep. An adequate
Bedtime is a time of separation. Some children will do all amount of sleep is as important as an adequate amount
they can to prevent separation at bedtime. of exercise. Most of us do not fully appreciate the value
The average woman aged 30-60 sleeps only six hours of a full night’s sleep. I believe that seven hours is an
and forty-one minutes during the workweek. Conditions absolute minimum for most all of us, and most of us would
unique to women, like the menstrual cycle, pregnancy benefit from closer to 9 hours. Ask any woman how much
and menopause, can affect how well a woman sleeps. better she feels and looks when getting her full allotment
This is because the changing levels of hormones that of beauty sleep.q