Do you burn the midnight oil or get 8 hours of sleep?
According to a study by Jawbone, Tokyo is the world’s most sleep-deprived city, with residents averaging five hours and 44 minutes per night. Melbourne was the most well-rested with six hours and 58 minutes – still an hour short of the ideal eight.
Deep sleep is a free form of cosmetic medicine. Repair mechanisms within our cells respond to the body’s natural 24-hour clock, shifting up a gear at night. The hormone melatonin – which repairs free-radical damage – peak between 10pm and 12am, but the production of reparative growth hormones also spikes during the first two hours of rest.
A study by Estée Lauder and the University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Ohio showed that those who regularly get less than five hours sleep have more dehydrated skin. So, when extra time under the sheets isn’t an option, how can we maximize our beauty sleep?
Here’s what-to-do:
In the morning: Wake up at the same time every day, whether that’s 5:30 or 8:30. This ritual will help maintain your circadian rhythms and make it more likely you’ll fall asleep at the same time every night, too. {Yes, you can sleep an hour later on weekends.} As soon as you wake up, get into some sort of daylight situation really quickly, even if it’s just stepping out on a balcony. Bright light suppresses the production of melatonin, a sleep-inducing hormone in your brain, and helps set your body clock. If you’re going to have coffee, this is the time, avoid it from noon on, and limit your morning dose to a cup or two.
In the afternoon: At lunchtime, choose wisely: A high-fat diet has been linked with disrupted sleep. At least three hours before bed, get some exercise that raises your heart rate. Aerobic exercise in the late afternoon — even just walking — can help you burn off the stress of the day and raise your body temperature. This has the potential to deepen your sleep later on.
In the evening: Eat dinner several hours before bed to give your body time to digest, and avoid spicy or heavy foods if you’re prone to heartburn. If you drink wine or beer, do so three or four hours away from bedtime; while alcohol may speed the onset of sleep, it can disrupt the sleep cycle later.
Before bedtime: Avoid watching intense TV shows, paying bills, or engaging in other stimulating activities an hour or two before bedtime. Instead, dim the lights to stimulate the release of melatonin and do a few relaxing yoga poses {such as Legs Up the Wall and Child’s Pose} or 10 minutes of deep breathing or meditation. If you have a bathtub, use it. {Adding relaxing lavender oil will help.}
