Ah, it’s this time of the year that I got an influx of patients coming in for a tune-up treatment because of the sleep problems.
Well, it is the holiday season when we stay up a little later, or feel lazy to take a walk outside because it’s cold, or wake up a little later because we want to sleep in. By the time you know it, you start to feel more tired in the daytime and have difficulty sleeping at night.
Why do we need sleep?
What is the best way to ensure you get a good night’s sleep?
How to improve your sleep?
These three questions are essential to keep in mind. In the hustle culture of modern society, we praise the “keep going” but not the “stop and rest”.
In the last newsletter, I talked about how preserving kidney essence and Qi plays a vital role in overall health. It can also apply to our sleep. Sleep has been linked to impact immune system functioning and emotional health.
Many studies show that prolonged sleep deprivation or disorders can lead to an increase in pro-inflammatory cytokines (Research Article). This unfavorable impact on health can be associated with poor sleep quality and quantity.
During our sleep, our body is still hard at work. Our body produces growth hormones, immune cells, melatonin, and other internal regulating hormones to help us repair, restore and maintain the functions of our body. While lack of good quality sleep can lead to the overproduction of proinflammatory cytokines, it can also lower our natural immune defense (Research Article).
Naturally, we want to start building good habits to improve sleep quality. There are a few tips that you can start implementing to improve your sleep at home before you reach for medications.
- Keep your room cool: keeping the room around 60 to 67 degrees can help the body’s sleep rhythm that mimics the sleep state.
- Declutter the room: decluttering the space and changing the sheets frequently can reduce exposure to allergens and allergy responses that might disrupt sleep.
- Keep the room dark: keeping the room dark can help to reduce light exposure that might interfere with melatonin production.
- No alcohol at least 3 hours before bedtime or caffeinated drink 10 to 11 hours before bedtime.
- Expose to sunlight for at least 30 minutes in the summer or 1 hour in the winter every day to keep a good circadian rhythm.
I encourage everyone to keep a good sleep schedule and practice good sleep hygiene.
When to talk to your health care professionals about sleep issues?
We can have a few bad nights’ sleep from time to time, but if the sleep problem turns into something chronic and starts to have impacts on your health, emotion, and day to day life, then it’s time to call your healthcare professionals.
I grew up being taught that to achieve good health, we need to work to get it, not just depend on medicine to do the work. Doctor might know a lot of the medicine, but WE know our body.
That might be the secret to a long life.
If you are interested in kick starting your health recovery journey, book your free consultation below!
