Healthy Tips Video: The Importance of Healthy Sleep

Hi, I'm Scott Black with Owensboro Health lifestyle and sports medicine at the Healthpark. I'm here to talk about today's tip regarding healthy sleep. Here's a fun fact to get started. Did you know that we spend about a third of our lives asleep?

Also, insufficient sleep has been associated with all kinds of medical problems, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and even weight gain. So let's talk about things that you can do to improve the quality of your sleep.

Be Consistent

Number one, be consistent, both the time you go to bed and the time you set your alarm in the morning. Try to keep that as regular as possible. Our bodies love consistency. If you're going to plan on sleeping in on the weekend, try not to do that for more than about an hour longer than you typically would sleep on a workday.

Prepare Your Environment

Also number two, keep your bedroom ready to help you go to sleep. Keep it cool, keep it quiet, and most important keep it dark. Our brains are tuned in to light exposure as one of the things that cues us that it's time to get up. So just think about light wake up, dark go to sleep. So we want our bedrooms really dark, really quiet when it's time to go to sleep.

Establish a Routine

The third thing is establish a routine. Let your brain know that it's time to start slowing down at the end of the day. Have a consistent ritual or a consistent routine that you do at the end of the day that let your brain know it's time to start slowing down.

Be Mindful of What You Eat or Drink

The fourth thing you need to think about is food. Don't eat very close to bedtime. It's really hard to sleep if you have a big meal sitting in your stomach. Also, caffeine late in the day can make it much harder to go to sleep. So make sure you cut off your caffeine after lunch.

Exercise

The last thing is exercise. Physical activity is a great part of your daily routine. However, you don't want to put it too close to bedtime because there again it may wake you up and make it harder to go to sleep. Keep your exercise early in the day.

So that's it. If you want to have great sleep follow those health tips, and happy dreams. For more information on this topic or other well-being resources, please contact the Healthpark at 270-688-5433.