Getting your beauty sleep

Stock image of a woman asleep. As is typical of all women, she is sleeping in full make-up and has no drool or pillow marks.

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​I love my sleep. Throughout my life I have instinctively held it to be the cure-all for everything - colds, headache, heartbreak. You name it, I'll try to sleep it off.  Sleep has been in the news this week, with a global study of sleeping habits revealing that the 'winners' in the Netherlands sleep on average nearly an hour longer each night than in sleep-deprived Singapore and Japan. In the UK, we average just under eight hours, which is somewhere between the two. The conclusion was that we are experiencing a 'global sleep crisis', and we have recently been warned that ignoring the need to sleep is supremely arrogant. Poor sleep patterns have been linked to cancer, heart disease, type-2 diabetes, infections and obesity. 

An interesting finding that was new to me was that waking time has little effect on sleep duration, but time going to bed plays a big role. So, if you want to improve your sleep duration, don't have a lie in, get yourself to bed earlier! If you're not tired in the early night time, then consider the following:

• Spending time outdoors was linked to longer sleep duration. The colour of sunlight that reaches us changes throughout the day, and our bodies respond by producing less of the sleep hormone melatonin in the morning, making us feel more alert, and more melatonin in the evening, so that we feel sleepy.
• Artificial light can affect melatonin production. This applies to all light bulbs. However, blue light - such as is emitted from TV and computer screens - is particularly responsible for reducing melatonin, so late night screen time can be unhelpful if you are having trouble sleeping. I envisage that in the future, we'll have LED lights that change colour throughout the day to reflect the cycles of the sun, but I haven't seen any on the market yet. If you happen to work in this area of research, let me know!
• Eating foods containing the amino acid tryptophan can also help in melatonin production. High-tryptophan foods include chicken, turkey, milk, nuts and seeds. Tryptophan is made more available to the brain when combined with carbohydrates. 
• Eating too much and too late can mean that your body is still busy digesting dinner when you are trying to sleep. So, if you are eating much later than usual, consider eating a smaller meal. Conversely, if you are hungry before bed, the best choice of food to eat to avoid hunger pangs keeping you awake, is a small carbohydrate snack, to help tryptophan availability.
• Don't underestimate the power of caffeine. Cutting down or cutting out caffeine, can really help with your sleep. The effects of caffeine can last for several hours, so it is particularly to be avoided after lunchtime. It also helps to abstain from other stimulants, such as nicotine.
• Although alcohol can make you feel relaxed and sleepy, it also serves to disrupt sleep patterns later into the night, and prevents you from entering deep sleep, so too much alcohol is best avoided.
• What if you get bored waiting to fall asleep, or start to worry and need something to take your mind off things? Some people like to read before bedtime - again the colour of light may affect your drowsiness. I often like to listen to a few minutes of spoken word radio, or a quiet podcast. However, try to avoid using your bed for activities you associate with the daytime.
• Moderate exercise in the evening has been shown to decrease the time it takes to fall asleep, and to increase sleep duration in people suffering from chronic insomnia, possibly due to the body cooling down after the exercise. A similar effect can also be achieved by taking a warm bath for 20-30 minutes, 2 hours before bed.
• We all have times when life is stressful, and anxiety can make it harder to fall asleep. Where they are within your control, reducing anxiety triggers in your life can help. Exercise can help to reduce the feeling of stress - and it's all good - vigorous, moderate and gentle exercise each help. But if you are suffering from chronic anxiety and can't seem to shake it, please seek help. Your GP may be able to provide support.

Good night, sleep tight, and don't let the bedbugs bite!