| | A quick note: These newsletters can help you optimize your sleep, but if you think you have an underlying sleep disorder like insomnia or sleep apnea, talk to your primary care provider about referring you to a sleep specialist. |
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| Strategy 1: Don’t drink alcohol before bed |
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Some people drink alcohol before bed to help them fall asleep. Unfortunately, alcohol is only a temporary solution, says Michael Grandner, a psychologist and sleep researcher at the University of Arizona.
While alcohol may initially sedate you, “the pendulum swings in the opposite direction and wakes you up” as it leaves your system, he says. It makes your sleep “shallow, choppy and broken up.” |
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Try this tonight: If you’re considering a nightcap in the evening, don’t drink it right before bed. Have your little tipple a few hours earlier. You want to give the alcohol “time to exit your system,” says Grandner. If you think alcohol is affecting your sleep, try and cut your consumption in half, says Dr. Fariha Abbasi-Feinberg, a sleep specialist and medical director based in Florida. “We're not saying stop alcohol completely. Change the timing and the amount a little bit.” |
Strategy 2: Skip that afternoon latte |
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If you are in the habit of drinking an afternoon coffee to give you that buzz you need to power through the rest of your day, know that the caffeine will affect your sleep, say our experts.
Caffeine makes you feel alert because it blocks adenosine, a chemical that builds up in the body during the day and makes you feel sleepy at night.
Caffeine can also stick around in your body for a while. In a Life Kit episode, sleep researcher Matthew Walker said that caffeine has a half-life of about six hours in most people. That means if you have a coffee, tea or an energy drink at 5 p.m., around half of that caffeine may still be in your body at 11 p.m.
And it can actually reduce the amount of sleep you get at night. One study from 2013 found that consuming 400 milligrams of caffeine (that’s about two energy drinks) six hours before bedtime reduced total sleep time by one hour. |
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Try this today: Sensitivity to caffeine varies, but the American Academy of Sleep Medicine says to avoid caffeine in the late afternoon and evening. Experiment with the timing that works best for you. For some people, cutting out caffeine by late morning is best. |
Strategy 3: Go easy on the late-night snacks |
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Eating a big meal, like a hamburger or a plate of pasta, right before bed can disrupt your sleep, says Abbasi-Feinberg. Digestion slows at night and laying flat after eating can lead to physical discomforts like heartburn and reflux.
Put simply, “you’re not supposed to eat and then lay down for hours at a time,” says Grandner.
You might have heard that specific foods, like tart cherry juice or turkey meat, may aid in sleep health. But there isn’t a whole lot of current evidence that any one food can make us feel sleepy, says Dr. Chris Winter, a neurologist and sleep specialist in Charlottesville, Va. For example, while turkey contains tryptophan (an amino acid that converts into serotonin and then eventually, melatonin) there isn’t enough tryptophan in turkey to explain your desire for that post-Thanksgiving nap. |
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Try this tonight: Stop eating a couple of hours before bed, says Abbasi-Feinberg. “If your digestion is done, you tend to sleep better.”
It’s fine to eat a little snack in the evening, says Winter. But keep it light: think hummus and chips or a bowl of cereal. |
Strategy 4: Exercise to heighten your sense of day and night |
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Exercise is a strong circadian marker. When you work out during the day, you send a powerful daytime signal to your body that “reverberates into a strong nighttime signal,” says Grandner. Essentially, it heightens your body’s sense of what is day and what is night – helping you feel drowsy at bedtime.
As for the timing, Winter says whenever you can fit it in a workout is best. That said, exercising right before bed can make some people feel more alert. So if you have a hard time sleeping after working out, do it another time, says Grandner.
It doesn’t matter what kind of workout you do, says Winter. It’s more about getting your body moving. So don’t worry “if Pure Barre is better than pilates.” |
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Try this tonight: Regardless of your workout routine, try going for a walk after dinner. It can aid in digestion and the dim light of the evening can help regulate your circadian rhythm, sending a nighttime signal to your body to prepare it for sleep. Plus, those softening colors at dusk can be calming, helping you wind down mentally before bed, says Abbasi-Feinberg. |
A note about supplements Melatonin: Helpful in shifting your biological clock, but not for insomnia
If you regularly take a melatonin supplement at night, it probably isn’t dangerous for adults, says Winter. But it also probably isn’t doing what you think it is.
“Melatonin is not a sleep aid. It's a timing aid,” he says. The naturally occurring hormone signals to your body that it’s time for sleep. According to the AASM, many people use melatonin to self-medicate for insomnia -- and there is little to no evidence that it works as a sleep aid for this purpose.
The supplement can be effective, however, in shifting your biological clock. People who are jet lagged may take it to help adjust to a new time zone. And people who work irregular shifts may take it to tell their bodies it’s time for bed, even if it’s 6 a.m.
Magnesium: More research is needed
This important mineral naturally occurs in foods like avocados, leafy greens and almonds and is part of a well-balanced diet. Some people take it in supplement form to help with insomnia, a symptom of magnesium deficiency.
However, little research exists on the effectiveness of magnesium supplements on healthy people and their sleep.
Magnesium is non-sedating and won’t help with more serious sleep problems like insomnia, says Grandner. “Magnesium is not herbal Ambien.” |
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The nice thing about these tips is that they’re also great for your overall wellbeing. “Good health practices usually lead to better sleep health practices,” says Abbasi-Feinberg.
In our last newsletter in this series, we’ll cover technology and sleep. Are you glued to your phone moments before you turn off the lights? Do you have a favorite TV show that lulls you to sleep? Whatever your before-bed screen time looks like, our experts share tips to help you manage it.
Sleep well,
Clare Marie
P.S. Let us know if you try any of these tactics tonight. Email us at lifekit@npr.org -- we’d love to hear from you. |
This newsletter series was edited by Malaka Gharib, Meghan Keane and Carmel Wroth and fact-checked by Susie Cummings. Beck Harlan is the visual editor. Special thanks to Emily Barocas, Joy Yoo, Arielle Retting, Kelley Holden, Kristin Hume and Raquel Scoggin. |
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