New Research Shows sticking to a sleep routine in the Summertime Keeps You Healthy!
The secret to a more healthy lifestyle might be the Sleep you get. New research and guidelines demonstrate a growing understanding of how proper Sleep benefits an adult’s heart health, overall immunity, and physical well-being.
Sleeping in the Summertime
Summer is a time of heightened energy and often elevated effort, too.
We slip into Daylight Savings Time, which changes our circadian rhythm, demanding a reset of our inner sleep clock. We also can take on more responsibilities, even as we shed them to go on vacations near and far—sometimes with significant others and families in tow! An irresistible urge to pack as many activities as possible during the 13-15 weeks of Summer creates its own stresses—as can sleeping in an unknown vacation bed, dealing with all the details of travel, and working hard to get back up to speed when we return home. All these “summer circumstances” can lead to more stress or introduce schedule changes or new sleep settings that undermine our usual rest routine.
How to Keep Your Kids Active, Prevent Summer Slump, and Get Good Sleep!
If we have children, they’re usually out of school and under our own care in the hot months. We might send them off to summer camp, summer school, or time with the grandparents, lessening the stress of looking out for them hour after hour—but that’s an ideal setup not all of us get to have.
If they’re home, we may put the responsibility for entertaining them on our shoulders—and that can become a full-time job for some. Kids get riled up by sun and fun even more than we do, and we may be tasked with a heroic effort here and there to get them to bed—and then get some rest ourselves!
So, how do we go into this good season maintaining good sleep habits and understanding how Sleep impacts our overall health?
Here are five ways.
5 Tips to Get Solid Rest in the Summer
Every mechanic, doctor, or dentist visit starts with a routine diagnosis and answering a few basic questions. If we are aiming to get a handle on the state of our Sleep—or that of our loved ones—we first need to know what will tell us whether our sleep tank is empty or full.
With kids, sometimes it’s all too easy to see when their Sleep’s out of whack, but—to review—parents might look out for:
- A tendency to be hungry more often
- Problematic behaviors with peers
- Unexpected acts of defiance
- Hyperactivity
- Difficulty focusing, listening, or solving problems
- Temper tantrums
Here are some ways to ensure a good night of slumber to keep your kids (and yourself!) calm and focused when the hot months happen:
1. How to Limit Your Screen Time
Modern phones, computers, and TV screens bend toward the blue light spectrum, and that’s bad news for the sleep serum in our bodies—melatonin. We’ve already got a melatonin deficit because of the season—no need to make it worse by piling on some of that ever-present blue light.
The scientific studies agree: get away from blue light (even street lights!) at least 30 minutes before bedtime and, if you’re a superstar, get away from the blues a full hour before you crash.
Want three more light-control pro tips?
- Get some red lightbulbs installed in table lamps for use in those same hours (it cues the brain to steer toward snoozing),
- Lower the lights throughout the house to a manageable dimness 60 minutes before bed, and
- Wear blue-light-blocker glasses if you must check a screen here or there in the closing minutes before hitting the hay. Heck, get some cheap ones for your kids to wear!
They’ll enjoy the masquerade, and you’ll all be rewarded with healthier rest.
2. Follow a sleep schedule to feel alive and refreshed the next morning
Scientists know we all have a “circadian rhythm,” and we can use this quirk in our biological make-up to supercharge our Sleep.
Our habits partly influence this inner sleep clock, so if we keep our waking and sleeping times steady, we’ll fall into the “z” state quicker and wake up more refreshed.
If we’re on a vacay or tempted by summer festivals or other diversions, this can be challenging but keep hobbies and late-night activities to a minimum from your regular Sleep and wake schedule, and your whole household with reap the reward.
3. Set your thermostat for Sleep
The research is consistent here, too.
A body sleeps best in a room cooled to 66-69 degrees Fahrenheit. Your ideal temperature might lie a bit outside these parameters, and you might be used to something hotter or colder, but we suggest experimenting with this temperature range and seeing what happens.
We’re gambling your snoozing will be more satisfying, and you will experience a night of deep relaxing Sleep. Depending on where you live or how you’re used to cool your house, this may mean more AC than you’re used to using at night.
4. Find the morning light
There are many ways to leverage the circadian rhythm that are extremely simple, and spending time outside as soon as you get up is easy.
If you’re someone who gets up early, take a few minutes to stare in the general direction of the rising sun. In most parts of the world, you’ll see the “rosy dawn” there, and this red light cues our sleep system to calm down and our wake system to rev up.
5. Say No to Coffee and Alcohol in the Evening for Better Sleep!
Some people are fond of taking coffee or a drink before bedtime. The caffeine fans usually say they sleep fine even when downing a latte after 10 pm, while those fond of whiskey, beer, or other brews say a little nip improves their time between the sheets, but the science has spoken clearly on this topic, too. Scientific consensus says regardless of how they make you feel, both alcohol and caffeine corrupt your rest time.
The caffeine in a cup of coffee has a half-life of 6 hours. That means that amount of time is required for half the substance to be metabolized. In other words, your last cup of coffee should be downed 12 hours before your bedtime. Otherwise, not only might you have trouble attaining the sleep state, but your Sleep will be lighter and less curative for your body.
Alcohol can have similar effects. Like sleep medicines, it sedates us—it delivers us into a drowsy, unconscious sleep, but we might call this “cheap sleep.” It’s a form of rest that serves up none of the deep relaxing states of brain activity that helps get both psychic and material toxins out of our bodies. Alcohol makes sleep apnea worse, too.
And, as far as insurance goes, be aware that not all sleep apnea sufferers are rejected from Final Expense Insurance. Take care of your apnea by getting good insurance coverage and moderate alcohol intake!
How lack of Sleep harms your immunity:
Adults between eighteen and sixty-five years old should maintain a healthy regular sleep cycle, as its medically recommended to rest between seven and nine hours each night. If you don’t get sufficient Sleep regularly, your body will suffer. Take care of your Sleep, and you will notice the effects soon.
Your body generates proteins that are known as cytokines and have immune-boosting effects. When you don’t get adequate rest, cytokines production diminishes, and it is an early biomarker for inflammation and other health complications in the long run, and you become more susceptible to illness and infection.
If you are above fifty years, then it is even more important to prioritize Sleep as a critical component of life and allocate some quality time for planning and seeking motivation to prioritize deep sleep/wakeful rest as a high priority, as it is so crucial for our health and general quality of life.
Other factors at this time of year that can cause trouble are sleeping even more than usual. The human body makes less of the sleep-potion called melatonin once Summer comes. There’s a good reason for this. Summer nights are shorter, the summer heat and sun give our nervous systems wakeful energy, and most of us feel less need for Sleep in these hot months. Be that as it may, that doesn’t mean the lack of rest still won’t catch up to us. In short, Summer seduces us to rest less in more ways than most people are aware.
When you rest, your body can rejuvenate itself. During Sleep, the lymphatic system can expel toxins, which boosts overall immunity.
Don’t neglect Sleep! It’s a crucial part of a healthy lifestyle and a critical component of how well you age and stay healthy. When you sleep, you allow your body to restore and rejuvenate itself. During a restorative deep sleep phase, your body can clear toxins from the lymphatic system, which boosts the immune system. Sleep also helps with protein synthesis and tissue growth and regulates hormone production.
Sleep Well, Age Well, and Live well !
Good Sleep does many things: it elevates our mood, increases our capacity to endure stress, improves memory, strengthens our immune system, and reduces the risk of Alzheimer’s Disease.
Deep restorative daily Sleep will make you live healthier and longer. Being healthy contributes significantly to your quality of life because it allows you to live your best life and helps reduce life insurance rates. It is well worth having some form of life insurance, as it gives your family peace of mind if you suddenly pass away.
Our Licensed Agents at Meta Senior Insurance are ready to help you figure out what kind of insurance is ideal. Answer a few basic questions, and we’ll zero in on a plan for your lifestyle, needs, and income.
You can contact us to learn about Final Expense Life Insurance policies, get a free quote, and compare your options. Please call us at 603-696-4394 or 1-833-META-T65 for a free comparison of Final Expense Insurance Policy options.
Don’t wait. Call today!
References:
- https://www.dovepress.com/associations-of-sleep-insufficiency-and-chronotype-with-inflammatory-c-peer-reviewed-fulltext-article-NSS
- https://www.sleepfoundation.org/circadian-rhythm
- https://www.verywellhealth.com/why-you-should-never-regret-a-good-night-s-sleep-5088198
- https://www.wsj.com/articles/what-a-good-nights-sleep-can-do-for-your-heart-11658066400
- https://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements-melatonin/art-20363071
- https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/blue-light-has-a-dark-side#:~:text=The%20effect%20blue%20light%20has%20on%20your%20sleep,and%20people%20spent%20their%20evenings%20in%20%28relative%29%20darkness.
- https://www.sleepfoundation.org/bedroom-environment/best-temperature-for-sleep
- https://www.goviter.com/blogs/viter-energy-blog/half-life-caffeine
- https://www.verywellhealth.com/how-alcohol-affects-sleep-apnea-3014680
- https://bestlifeonline.com/sleep-night-alzheimers-news/
- https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/sleep-newzzz/201801/alcohol-and-sleep-what-you-need-know#:~:text=Alcohol%20is%20highly%20effective%20at%20suppressing%20melatonin%2C%20a,can%20reduce%20melatonin%20production%20by%20nearly%2020%20percent.
