Sleep - What The Young Know and the Adults Ignore.
January 12, 2018
When I was younger I used to think it was great that on weekends and school holidays I could lie in bed and sleep past my usual get up time. Unfortunately my parents had a different idea, they seemed to think that lying in bed was lazy and sleeping-in was not a good thing for a young person to be doing.
Come 2018 and suddenly it has become apparent that most people are sleep deprived. We get up early, go to bed late, have TV’s or electronic deviceson on in our bedroom that emit blue light late into the night. Not to mention the long days at work, a caffeine enriched diet, daily workouts and all the other things that we have to do on a daily basis all lead to sleep deprivation.
So what are the effects of sleep deprivation?
Well according to Examine.com, sleep deprivation has both short term and long term effects, including:
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Impaired focus
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Impaired skill acquisition
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Increased inflammation
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Impaired cardiovascular health
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Impaired muscle gain and,
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Increased fat gain
So what can you do?
Duh - go to bed earlier and turn off those electrical devices; not exactly rocket science but is there anything else you can do to help with the quality of your sleep?
Apart from taking pills to knock you out, which I don’t recommend, you could take some supplements. Supplements not only have the potential to help you fall asleep and stay asleep but they could also help you with better quality sleep. That said supplements are not going to help much if you are drinking alcohol or coffee late at night, playing video games and trying to survive on 5 hours sleep at night.
So what supplements could you take?
Magnesium- a deficiency could impair your sleep, whilst generally safe to take, it should not be taken with some medications. Check with your doctor if it’s safe to take magnesium and medications.
Melatonin - this hormone helps with your circadian rhythm and is usually higher when you are asleep and lower when you are awake so increasing the amount of Melatonin may help with your sleep.
Lavender - those herbal teas you see at Pak N Sav, Countdown and New World might be worth a look at as a night time drink. That said most of the research comes mainly from oils used in aromatherapy studies so that could also be another avenue to consider.
If you are considering trying these I suggest just one at a time, trial it for a month or so and then see how your sleep is. If its working great, but come off for a week or so every now and then.
If it’s not working try the next supplement. How do you know if its working? Most smart watches have a sleep app on them, look at your deep sleep and see if there is a trend. As with all of these devices it just gives you an indication of movement but less movement may indicate better sleep.
You want to wake up so be careful
Medications and supplements can be a dangerous mix, so if you are using supplements always check with your doctor before taking any supplement to see if there are any contra-indications.
Supplements are made by companies who are looking to make money from the un-informed so if you are using supplements my go to site is Examine.com. They don’t sell supplements, they just do research.
What they do sell is easy to understand guides with a lot more detail that I have put here. So if you are looking for more information that’s up to date click HERE. They also do quite a bit of free information as well, backed by science, so its definitely worth a look.
So coming back to what the young know and adults ignore, let your kids lie in bed, its good for them and you.
Written by Lee Jones - Source Examine.com