Drinking Montmorency cherry juice, which contains natural melatonin, may help you sleep longer. Adequate sleep (7-8 hours per night) is essential for good health, as a lack of sleep can weaken the immune system and make you more prone to sickness. It’s crucial to avoid driving when tired, especially for those who sleep less than five hours per night, as this increases the risk of accidents.
Fatigue can also affect decision-making, leading to poor financial choices. While alcohol can help you fall asleep, it negatively affects the quality of sleep, making it harder to stay asleep and recall memories the following day. When fighting an infection, allowing yourself to sleep as much as your body needs can enhance your immune system’s ability to fight the virus.
Drink cherry juice
If you drink cherry juice every day, it might help you sleep longer. In a study done at Northumbria University, people who drank 1 oz. (30 ml) of Montmorency cherry juice twice a day for a week slept longer at night and didn’t nap as much during the day. Researchers found that the juice makes more melatonin, which is a natural chemical that helps people sleep.
Sleep well to prevent colds
Every night, you should sleep for at least 7 to 8 hours. Even though some successful people say they can get by on only 3 or 4 hours of sleep a night, not getting enough sleep can make you less smart and more likely to get sick. In a study of 153 healthy men and women who were given nose drops with the common cold virus, those who slept less were more likely to get sick.
Don’t drive when tired
Before you drive, you should make sure you’ve had enough sleep. If you sleep less than 5 hours a night, you’re four times more likely to get into an accident. Statistics from the UK show that falling asleep is a factor in about 20% of all accidents. Young guys under 30 are most likely to fall asleep while driving. Brake, a UK organization for road safety, says that people with sleep apnea are seven times more likely to be in an accident. When you’re tired, it’s much harder to organize your eye movements or handle the steering wheel well. Take a break or a nap every two hours if you have to drive. If you feel sleepy while driving, pull over right away and rest before going on.
Don’t make decisions when you’re tired
Before making important financial choices, it’s important to get a good night’s sleep. If you don’t get enough sleep, it can make it hard for you to make good decisions, especially when it comes to high-risk trades or gambling. Studies have shown that people who don’t get enough sleep are more likely to take risks and have a hard time stopping when they’re ahead. This is partly because the stress hormone corticosterone is made more and the memory cells in the hippocampus don’t work as well. Get enough sleep before making financial decisions to avoid making mistakes that will cost you a lot of money.
Use your body to fight off a virus
Use sleep to your advantage if you are ill or battling an infection. Your body begins making interleukin-1 when it notices an infection, such as the common cold virus. Your lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell, are stimulated by this molecule to make antibodies. Because interleukin-1 also has a sedative impact, having an infection makes you feel sleepy. Your immune system helps you sleep, which in turn makes your immune system more successful at fighting off infection. Don’t fight your desire to sleep if you have the flu or a cold; permitting yourself to do so will speed up your body’s recovery.
Be a sober sleeper
Moderate drinking of alcohol can help you fall asleep, but it can also make your sleep less good as the night goes on. Alcohol is a sedative that lowers the amount of REM sleep, which is important for keeping your mind sharp. It can also make thoughts turn into scary nightmares and wake you up many times during the night. It can be hard to fall back asleep if you are sweating and can’t settle down. To get a good night’s sleep, it’s best not to drink booze in the hours before bed.
Sleep more to improve recall
When studying for a test or learning a new skill, it is best to get a full night’s sleep. Researchers in the US used MRI scans to find out that some parts of the brain are more active during sleep than others. When people were learning to play the piano, the part of the brain that controls motor skills (the cerebellum) was the most active, while the parts of the brain that control worry and stress (the limbic systems) were less active. This made them do better the next day. There is also proof that the part of the brain where memories are stored, the hippocampus, is more active when you are sleeping. So sometimes it’s better to get a good night’s sleep than to study or practice more.
Sleep to stay slim
Getting enough sleep can help you keep your weight at a good level. In the US, a 16-year study found that women who slept 5 hours or less per night were 32% more likely to gain a lot of weight than those who slept an average of 7 hours per night. It’s not clear why this is, but it could be because people who sleep more tend to use more energy during the day by moving and doing other small things. It also seems that people who sleep less may make more of the hunger-stimulating stress hormone cortisol. In any case, a simple way to help you control your weight is to get enough sleep every night.
Let ‘em sleep in
For their growth and development, young people need enough sleep. The growth hormone is released when they sleep, which is important for their health as a whole. Also, if they can, they should sleep later in the morning because their hormones make their body clock run on a different timeline than adults’. Melatonin, a hormone that makes people sleepy, is usually released around 10 p.m., but in teenagers, it often doesn’t come out until after midnight, around 1 a.m. Some schools in the US have started putting off the start of morning classes for this age group, which has helped them learn a lot. It might be better to work with nature instead of trying to change it.
Sleep to maintain blood glucose stability
Chronic lack of sleep can make it harder for the body to use insulin to handle sugar, which can cause symptoms of type 2 diabetes and raise the risk of getting it. Studies have shown that these bad things happened to young people who didn’t sleep for six days, but they went away quickly after 12 hours of sleep. But the changes are hard to fix for older people who have trouble sleeping all the time. Getting 7 to 8 hours of sleep most nights is important if you don’t want to get diabetes.
Nap is a bright idea
Taking a nap during the day might help you think of new ideas. Studies have shown that about 30% of office workers have their best thoughts when they are sleeping instead of working at their desks. Research has shown that dreams can sometimes lead to real answers to problems. This is an easy way to boost creativity for people who work from home, and some companies have even set up “nap rooms” where workers can take creative naps during work hours.
Avoid cheese
It is true that eating cheese late at night can make you have bad dreams. Cheese has the amino acid tyramine in it, which helps make adrenaline, which is a stress hormone. Too much of this hormone can cause high blood pressure, which is linked to bad dreams. Other things that have tyramine in them and may make it hard to sleep are fermented soy products, lima beans, chocolate, and cured meats.
Learn to control over your dreams
Researchers have found that people with post-traumatic stress disorder can benefit from lucid dreaming, which is when you are aware of your dream and can control where it goes. However, anyone can benefit from lucid dreaming. It can help you feel less stressed and anxious and help you rest. Flying around your house, picturing yourself on a quiet beach, or sitting in a beautiful yard can all help you relax. Try thinking about a dream you want to keep going as you go to sleep or teaching yourself to go back to a dream when you wake up.
Note down your dreams
Keeping a dream journal can be a useful aid for figuring out any issues that are bothering you. You can concentrate on any issues that may be long-lasting or stem from your early years by writing down your goals. There is growing proof that the nightmares that follow a divorce, bereavement, or separation can actually help you cope with your loss. Dreams help you visualize what is happening in your life and find solutions to issues by drawing on your previous experiences. To help you use your dreams:
- Keep a notebook and pen next to your bed so you can write down your dreams as soon as you wake up.
- Don’t try to write down your thoughts in the middle of the night, because it could wake you up.
- Give as many details as you can, such as the colors and feelings you felt in the dream.
- Leave some room on the page so you can explain or analyze your dream.
- Before you go to sleep, think about what you dreamed about the night before. This will help your mind focus on the dream world.
Catch up on your sleep
A study from the University Of Pennsylvania School Of Medicine found that it is possible to make up for lost sleep. In the study, people who normally slept between 6.5 and 8.5 hours per night were only allowed to sleep for 4 hours per night for 5 nights in a row. This made them less alert and slowed down their ability to focus. But when they were let sleep as long as they wanted, their brains started to work normally again. It’s important to keep in mind that this healing time may take longer for people who work in shifts or cross time zones often.
