Today's topic is on several vitamins and sleep !
Lately, personally i've been having a little bit of sleepless nights, but i took flu tablets for the sake of drowsiness . It helps, but this can't go on forever, eh ?
Some general tips for good sleep:
1. Drink warm milk .
I have many sources that state different reasons on how warm milk helps .
Warm milk contains tryptophan that help you relax indirectly .
Warm milk contains calcium that works together with magnesium that also help you to relax .
Warm milk has a laxative effect that makes people sleepy/tired .
Warm milk reminds you of your baby-hood, when you can sleep soundly without any hassle .
Now, what about cold milk ?
Cold milk has little or no laxative effect .
Furthermore, you don't take cold milk when your an infant .. supposedly .
On top of that, cold milk can affect your digestion and ultimately your sleep if taken right before sleep .
2. Consume other food that contains calcium and magnesium .
These two vitamins are co-dependant on each other in aiding you to go to sleep, as it calms you down and helps you to relax .
Good sources of calcium:
Milk
Cheese
Mainly dairy products
Good sources of magnesium:
Nuts especially almonds and cashews .
Vegetables especially spinach .
Many types of beans, like white/black bean, soy bean . Red and green bean are out, i think .
Bananas
Use a 2:1 ratio for optimum results .
2 for calcium, 1 for magnesium .
Vitamin B [All types, i guess] also help you to relax .
Don't take a heavy dinner .
Consuming a light meal [supper] before sleep helps too .
3. The direction you face affects your sleep .
Not sure if this is true, but here's the explanation:
Everyone has magnetism in their bodies, head equates to north and feet equates to south .
You should face north so you go with the magnetic flow, thus promoting better sleep .
However i have contradicting sources that states that some dead corpses have their heads face north, they rot faster than usual . But we're not corpses, right .. ?
Not very reliable but worth a try .
4. Have a fixed routine .
Sleep at the same time, and get up at the same time . Even during weekends .
If you have a completely different sleep pattern during your weekends you'll have a high chance to have some trouble with sleep . Your biological clock takes time to adjust, so you know what to do .
5. Exercise .
Exercising helps you in many ways ! Helps you to relax, relieve tension, etc . Exercising in the morning is better for many reasons such as fresher air .
Don't exercise an hour before you sleep .
6. Make sure the environment is sleep-worthy .
Take note of lighting .
Take note of noises and temperature as well .
Make it comfortable .
7. Avoid alcohol, caffeine and such .
Alcohol is bad for the liver, and caffeine is bad for the heart .
But you might take caffeine because of coffee ..
Ah yes, try not to take caffeine in conjunction with milk, etc .
Caffeine somehow stops the calcium absorbtion .
Maybe it stops prorennin converting to rennin .
I don't want to write another essay that is a football field long because of this rennin thing .
8. If you can't sleep, don't force yourself .
Get up and do light activities like reading a book or listen to soothing music for half an hour and try to go back to sleep afterwards . Don't do over-stimulating things like action-gaming .
I find humanities excellent bedtime-story material .
9. Air ventilation .
Make sure the room isn't too stuffy !
10. Only sleep in your bed .
If you read books, do work, or dance on your bed then it's wrong .
It makes your brain think that the bed is also for fun and stuff like that, but if you cultivate a habit of only sleeping in your bed, and not doing other things on it, will enhance your sleep .
11. What's on your mind ?
Compile a list of your worries and troubles, and try to settle them .
Some things cannot be forced though . If so, get it over with .
12. STRETCH !
Stretching helps me to relax .. Might work for you too !
Stretching before sleep will improve your sleep quality as well, if so .
13. Change your sleeping position .
Just like sexual positions, if you don't like it, you change it so you can get more pleasure from it, stuff like that . Works the same for sleep too . The sleeping position you have right now might not be the best posture for you . Adopt a new one if so .
As you can see, relaxing yourself is a milestone to good sleep .
Last section for today's sleep topic:
Do you find yourself sleepy even after adequate sleep ? Adequate like between nine to twelve .
Don't over-sleep like 18 hours . It doesn't work .
So, you might be suffering from some sleep problems if so . Otherwise you might be sleeping the wrong way .
Are you sleeping with your head on the floor and your body on the bed ?
Do you sleep with your feet on your shoulders ?
If you answered yes to both these two questions your probably better off in the asylum .
Right . Now, are you waking up frequently during sleep ?
To the bathroom or just suddenly wake up all of a sudden ?
Drinking too much water or have been watching too much horror/gore shows ?
Is your diet normal ?
Are you a vegetarian or the like ? If so, you might lack several vitamins that promote good sleep .
Usually, when one sleeps there are several phases, i cannot recall them clearly but i'll try to recall .
There are about 4 phases, including the REM sleep phase .
First phase-First 15 minutes
Light sleep . Easily woken up .
Second phase-Next 15 minutes
Third phase-Next 30 minutes
REM-Next 30-45 minutes, maybe up to an hour
Then the process repeats .
The reason why it's called REM because you can easily detect the eye moving quickly under the eyelids when it starts . REM sleep is one of the most, or the most important part of sleeping . It's the time where the body is relaxed fully .
During REM, one's muscles are relaxed and doesn't really work, so when you are deep in a sleep and woke up from a nightmare, and you find yourself unable to move, it's common, because your muscles are like 'locked' during REM, so it'll take some time for your body to adjust back to normal .
Therefore, if your waking up every hour your missing out REM sleep .
There are more than meets the eye to this, but i'm not working as a medical consultant or such, so i'll rest my case .
Should you find these methods useful or useless, please comment .
Good night people !
♥ is this my reflection? 7:27 PM