Sleep is a very important part of everyday life. If you do not get enough sleep you can become stressed and irritable. You can also lose focus which means you do not perform tasks as well; this can be both inconvenient and dangerous. You can see why it’s vital you get enough sleep each night and you try to establish regular and healthy sleep patterns.
One of the biggest factors in helping you get the sleep you need is making sure you have a bed and a mattress that are right for you. You can check out the information at Sleep Judge to help you make this happen. You may not think so but drinking caffeine and alcohol, and smoking, can also have an effect on your sleep.
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The Effect of Caffeine On Your Sleep
You can find caffeine in plenty of everyday products, such as chocolate, cola, coffee and tea. It is a stimulant and it can a have a significant effect on your sleep. The first thing that caffeine can do, when it comes to sleep, is that it can make it harder for you to get to sleep in the first place. Once you are asleep you tend to wake up more in the night if you have been drinking caffeine, both because you are sleeping more lightly than you should and because you may need to go to the bathroom.
The best way to stop any of these problems from happening is to avoid caffeine altogether. If you do not feel that you are able to do this, it’s worth noting that it takes around an hour for caffeine to take full effect and the effects usually last for between four and six hours. This means that you should at least avoid eating or drinking anything containing caffeine for a few hours before you go to bed.
How Alcohol Affects the Way You Sleep
Drinking alcohol may seem like fun at the time but it can have a detrimental effect on the way you sleep. You may actually fall asleep more easily in the first instance. It’s as the night progresses that the problems can start. You can start to feel restless and suffer nightmares and headaches. None of these are good if you are trying to get a good night’s sleep. You should try not to drink any alcohol within four hours of going to bed.
Does Smoking a Cigarette Help You to Sleep?
Many people are of the opinion that smoking a cigarette before falling asleep helps them to relax and sleep better. This is definitely not true. The nicotine in a cigarette is a stimulant, so smoking actually makes it harder for you to fall asleep and to stay asleep. Of course, any doctor will recommend that you should not smoke at all, but if complete abstinence is too much you should at least not smoke in the two hours directly before you go to bed.
You can see that drinking caffeine or alcohol, or smoking, can make it very difficult to get the sleep that you need. If you follow our advice you may just be successful in cutting down on all of these things and sleeping more soundly.