Sleep if you can

1999/07/25 Kortabarria Olabarria, Beñardo - Elhuyar Zientzia

• Osasuna

If you can't fall asleep, back in bed, it can help change your eating habits. It may help you regain sleep hours that are missing the right food measures. Cola cafes or soft drinks can reduce your need and ability to sleep. In small amounts, caffeine can cause sleep. So take it off your diet. It won't cost you anything to test. Spend a couple of weeks without taking caffeine and if during that time you notice that you sleep better and more, do not miss more of your diet.

About alcohol and the ability to sleep is also spoken a lot - it is called lethar-, but what is said does not make sense. If you drink a little alcohol, at first you may feel some sleep, but if you take more, you will sleep less and wake up more tired. In fact, alcohol influences one of the phases of sleep, the so-called REM, which is the phase of greatest sleep. By influencing this phase, we wake up more at night and do not sleep. A couple of hours before bedtime it would be better not to drink alcohol and of course not to mix it with sleeping pills.

Some tips for sleeping well

Eliminating myths like "coffee doesn't take away my sleep" and "alcohol helps me sleep", tips to sleep better:

• Large binges do not let you sleep well. If we fill the belly, at first the body tends to sleep, but having to do more digestive effort, this meets sleep. It is best to make the biggest meal of the day in the middle of the afternoon for light dinner (about 500 calories). In the mid-afternoon meal take chicken, fish or some meat, so you will no longer be hungry.
• Foods rich in condiments and spicy foods also cause problems — for example, if we use many garlic or peppers, etc. — and can cause a heart attack. Therefore, at dinner time, if possible, these issues should not be taken.
• Foods that produce gas or rush can also cause stomach problems that prevent rest. Therefore, they should not be taken at night, and should always be eaten calmly, well and chewing enough.
• Carbohydrate-rich foods — cookies, fruits, or jam filled toast — help release serotonin in the brain, which helps you sleep well. There is a new product called 5-hydroxy-L-Triptofan or 5HTP on the market, which apparently helps release serotonin and thus helps sleep. However, as it is not yet known which dose is most suitable, it is preferable to go to the usual foods to reduce serotonin levels, that is, foods rich in carbohydrates.
• The typical cup or glass of temperate milk, rich in protein, has nothing to do in theory with decreasing serotonin levels, but it gives a sense of well-being and helps the body relax. So you can sleep better.

How to avoid stress

Although all previous lines have referred to food, the main cause of insomnia is stress. In most cases, once stress and anxiety are released, sleep problems are also released and ended. Although, increasingly, the help of doctors is essential to cope with stress, one of the best ways to end daily stress is to practice sports.

According to recent research at Palo Alto University in California, sports practice helps you sleep better. The research gathered several adults, all healthy but with problems sleeping. Some played sports twice a week, about 40 minutes per session, and others were not given anything special. Those who started to play sports slept faster and slept 45 minutes more than others.

That is right. In fact, sport not only helps control everyday stress, it also produces body fatigue and leaves it ready for night sleep. However, you can not do sports in any way and without measures. Six hours before going to bed it is not advisable to do hard sport, but it is better to do some sport four hours before going to sleep, but without getting tired. Until next week, sleep well!

Published in 7