If you want to perform better in your sport, you need to have a body and mind that is ready for battle. In order to stay clear in the head and fresh in the body, there are many things to keep in mind. Regular exercise, a healthy diet that provides the necessary energy, and sleep are really important. This article is about the importance of sleep, and how to achieve an optimal night of rest.
If you look at the population in the west, there are many people who have problems with sleeping. If you have problems with sleeping, you are likely to have problems during the daytime. It can have negative effect on mentale health if you sleep too little, or if you sleep too much. The problem of having a bad sleep or being tired during the day may be associated with difficulty concentrating, memory lapses, loss of energy, fatigue, lethargy, and emotional instability.
Sleep is an extremely complicated process that consists of more than simply closing one’s eyelids. There is a very simple brain theory that tells us, that sleep is necessary for neural reorganization and growth of the brain’s structure and function. The basal forebrain is an important region for controlling NREM sleep. This region of the brain keeps track of how long we have been awake and how large our sleep debt is. We spend about one-third of our lives asleep – so lets make it a good night of sleep.
What to do to make sleeping better
Look at your sleeping environment and improve them for better sleep. There are some easy rules you can practice. Light, temperature and sound play a big role in sleeping well. If you use all these little tips and change your sleeping habits, you will feel a big difference. You will have even more energy, recover better after training, and last but not least, you will be happier.
It has documented that if you hit the 7 1/2 to 8 hours of sleep, you have less risk of injury. That is why it is very important that you, as an athlete, get your sleep under control!
- Cooler bedrooms are better.
Its true, cooler rooms are better than warm bedrooms if you want to achieve a deep sleep. It may be a good idea to turn down the temperature a bit, and instead have an extra blanket to control the temperature if you get too cold during the night. - The room must be dark.
Dark rooms with very little or no lights are better to sleep in. Studies has found that sleeping with lights on had an association with depression. Sleeping in total darkness will be good not just for your quality of sleep, but also for your mental health. - Alcohol intake does not promote a good night sleep.
Not even the myth that a single glass of alcohol helps the sleep on its way. It is true that alcohol makes you sleepy, but when your alcohol level drops while you sleep, your sleep is disturbed. - Get the right amount of shut eye.
You can sleep too long. If you after have slept continue to lay in bed for many hours frequent it will show to be a bad idea. Between 6-7.5 hours should be the perfect length of sleep for an regular adult. If you play sports at a high level – which means that you train almost every day – you need approx. one or 2 hours more. - Healthy diet = good night sleep.
Dietary nutrition is believed to play a significant impact on sleeping wellness. Nutritional factors vary dramatically with different diet patterns. Foods which create inflammation will directly or indirectly contribute to insomnia. Nutritional interventions have shown that healthy high carbohydrate diets with fiber, legumes, vegetables and fruit will improve sleep.
An nutrition tip for sleeping better
This is a special nutrition tips. Did you know, one in three adults suffers from not being able to sleep long enough! These people often use medicine like sleeping pills to sleep longer. This medicine can have various side effects, and in fact you often find that they don’t work at all.
Imagine if there was a completely natural remedy instead? Tada, the Kiwi fruit has been found to have a positive effect on people with sleep problems. Two kiwifruits 1 hour before bed for 4 weeks has been documented to help. It is very likely that other fruits will help too.
The kiwifruit was studied because of its high content of antioxidants and vitamins. Kiwifruit has twice as much serotonin as tomatoes. Serotonin is an end product of an amino acid (L-tryptophan), and serotonin is associated with REM* sleep. The researchers found that the kiwi fruit helped the participants’ of the study to get better sleep length – as well as to get a deeper sleep. The participants in the study went from sleeping 6 hours a night to being able to sleep 7 hours a night – just by eating kiwi fruit before bed.
*REM sleep: A sleep stage characterized by heavy sleep with rapid eye movements (rapid-eye-movement) and dreams.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK482512/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK20359/
https://thenewdaily.com.au/life/wellbeing/2018/03/31/sleeping-light-depression/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21669584/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32684833/