10 Days & Nights to the Best Sleep of Your Life

10 Days & Nights to the Best Sleep of Your Life
Proper sleep is very important to a healthy body, and proper sleep is something you can work on, to improve your quality of life. Shuttertstock
By Nisha Jackson, PhD 
Updated:

Day 1—Set Your Internal Clock, And Leave It Alone!

Ever wonder why you can hardly pull yourself out of bed each Monday morning after sleeping in on the weekends? Readjusting your nightly sleeping and waking time makes it harder to sleep soundly and makes you more tired over the long run. Create a habit of going to bed and waking up at the same time each day, even on the weekends!

Day 2—Eat For Sleep

What you eat really does affect how you sleep. Food is the most potent drug you put in your body every day. Adjusting what you eat prior to bedtime will help you settle down and prevent revving you up. The goal is to keep your blood sugar stable and boost brain chemicals like tryptophan to slow down brain traffic.

Guidelines for food intake before bed

Avoid big meals and high-fat foods. Make dinnertime as early in the evening as possible and avoid rich, heavy foods close to bedtime. Heavy and high-fat foods are hard to digest and may interfere with sleep. This goes for all you late-night ice cream eaters! Also avoid eating spicy or acidic foods right before bedtime as they can cause heartburn, which may also disrupt your sleep.
Avoid sugar. Sugar prompts the brain to release cortisol (a stress hormone that causes blood sugar fluctuations), which can wake you up at night.
Nisha Jackson
Nisha Jackson
PhD 
Nisha Jackson is a nationally recognized hormone and functional medicine expert, lecturer, motivational speaker, radio host, columnist, author of “Brilliant Burnout” and founder of OnePeak Medical Clinics in Oregon. For 30 years, her approach to medicine has successfully reversed chronic problems such as fatigue, brain fog, depression, insomnia and lack of stamina.
Related Topics