Many factors affect how well you sleep
Gannett News Service
Diet, stress, even your period can affect the quality of your shut-eye. Fitness magazine answers your top bedtime questions.
Q. Does exercising before bed make it easier or harder to fall asleep?
A. Most experts suggest keeping a four-hour window between gym time and bedtime, to avoid the disruptive effects of elevated body temperature and heart rate. But exercising at other times of the day may make you a more efficient sleeper.
Research has shown that people who work out regularly get more minutes of slow-wave sleep than people who don't.
Habitual exercisers who suddenly stop report feeling more tired than before they quit their routine, even though they're still sleeping the same amount.
Q. I have trouble sleeping when I have my period. Why?
A. Levels of progesterone, a female hormone that also induces sleep, dip right before your period. Cramps, bloating and hormone-related swings in body temperature also can keep you up.
Birth-control pills can even hormone levels. Or try 1,200 milligrams of calcium a day. Because it eases PMS symptoms and has a mild sedative effect, it may help you sleep easier.
Q. I feel fine on six hours of sleep, but is that enough?
Gannett News Service photo illustration
A. For optimal health, studies show that seven to eight hours is ideal. People who get less are more susceptible to hypertension, diabetes and heart disease as well as decreased immune function, problem-solving skills and creativity.
To determine whether you fit into this category, objectively assess how your sleep schedule affects you. You're sleep-deprived if you conk out almost immediately upon crawling into bed, you feel wiped out by mid-afternoon, you nod off at inappropriate times and places and you can't wake up in the morning without an alarm clock. Yawning frequently during the day and rubbing your eyes are other signs of fatigue.
