From improving your mood to supporting your memory, these are all good reasons to prioritize quality sleep this year (and beyond). Getting enough restorative sleep is also crucial to helping your body recuperate and may even help you achieve better cardiometabolic health.
What you don't want is to become sleep-deprived, a problem so common it affects around one in three American adults, according to HelpGuide.org. It can lead to adverse physical, mental, and cognitive health effects and may even reduce lifespan.
Recognizing the causes and signs of poor sleep quality and understanding just how critical it is nowadays to get quality ZZZs can help you make more informed choices about sleep hygiene, habits, and environments.
What Is Quality Sleep?
The term "quality sleep" refers to sleep that is of adequate duration and is restorative in that it makes you feel energized when you wake up in the morning. It's more than just sleeping for at least seven hours at night; it also means enjoying uninterrupted sleep.
What Causes Poor Sleep Quality?
Not getting enough quality sleep can result from personal and lifestyle habits and less-than-stellar bedroom environments. It can also be due to underlying physical and mental health conditions.
Personal Habits and Lifestyle Choices
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center notes that while alcohol may help you fall asleep, it can result in worse sleep efficiency (the time you're asleep) and lower-quality sleep. It can also lead to many other problems, such as snoring and worse sleep apnea.
Tobacco is another culprit behind poor quality sleep. As the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) explains, tobacco users are more than twice as likely to report experiencing insufficient sleep as those who don't use tobacco. The nicotine in tobacco products may also cause or worsen sleep difficulties.
Uncomfortable Sleeping Environments
If your bedroom is too bright, hot, cold, or noisy, the quality of your sleep can suffer.
Likewise, sleeping on an old mattress that's already sagging and no longer providing adequate support can contribute to poor quality sleep. If yours is over five years old and shows visible signs of degradation, consider exploring Wayside Furniture & Mattress for your replacement options.
Some of the signs you need a new mattress include:
- Multiple uncomfortable lumps
- Permanent body impressions
- Noisy or squeaky springs
- Musty or moldy odors that don't go away even after cleaning and vacuuming
Underlying Health Conditions
If you experience chronic poor sleep quality, it may be due to an underlying problem affecting your physical health, mental well-being, or both. Examples include:
- Insomnia
- Sleep apnea
- Chronic pain conditions, such as arthritis or fibromyalgia
- Anxiety
- Depression
Why Should Quality Sleep Be One of Your Top Priorities?
Adults should get at least seven hours of sleep each night. As you aim for this quantity, ensure you also prioritize getting sleep that is continuous, restful, and refreshing, as it can help you reap the following benefits.
Improved Mood
If you haven't been sleeping well for some time now, you may have noticed that you feel irritable, moody, or anxious. Help yourself reverse these unpleasant emotions by adopting healthy practices for better sleep hygiene and quality.
A meta-analysis published in the National Library of Medicine showed that improving sleep among adults led to a significant reduction in depression and anxiety compared to standard care. It also noted how insufficient sleep is a factor in the onset, recurrence, and persistence of mental health conditions.
Support Good Memory
Ensuring you get adequate rest helps you process new information when you wake up. Sleeping after you've learned something also enables you to consolidate new information into memories, as the Sleep Foundation explains. Once created, you can then store the "fresh" data in your brain.
Getting enough quality sleep can therefore help enhance the brain's ability to process new information and make memories. Conversely, allowing yourself to become sleep-deprived can lead to cognitive woes like poor memory.
Help the Body Recuperate
When you're asleep, your body goes into a restorative mode and starts to repair damaged tissues and synthesize protein (e.g., for creating new tissues). It's also during sleep when the body releases growth hormones, cleanses metabolic waste, and stores energy you can use the following day.
May Aid in Promoting Better Cardiometabolic Health
A study published in PubMed Central notes an association between abnormal sleep patterns and increased risks of conditions like:
- High blood pressure
- Obesity
- Cardiovascular events
- Type 2 diabetes
The researchers of the same study, however, also note that improving sleep may help support cardiometabolic health. It can aid in weight control and reduce disease risk, for instance.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should You Talk to Your Doctor About Sleep Problems?
Yes.
If you've been having sleep-related problems regularly (most days of the week) and for an extended period of time (several months), talk to your primary healthcare provider.
Your doctor will likely run diagnostic tests to rule out and determine any potential culprits. They can also prescribe medication to treat underlying health conditions, share tips for better sleep, or refer you to a sleep specialist.
How Can You Achieve Quality Sleep?
Too much caffeine won't do your sleep patterns any good, and neither will high alcohol intake. Instead of having too much caffeine or alcohol, help yourself sleep better by engaging in more physical activity. If you use tobacco, do your best to quit.
Another technique is to avoid using screened devices one to two hours before your usual bedtime. The blue light they emit may interfere with your circadian rhythm (your body's natural sleep cycle), making it harder for you to fall asleep and get uninterrupted sleep.
Make appropriate adjustments to your sleeping environment, too, such as by regulating its temperature and humidity levels with your heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system. If possible, you should also consider using blackout blinds or shades in the bedroom.
Get More Quality Sleep for Optimal Wellness
Remember: Quality sleep is critical to your physical, mental, and cognitive health and well-being, which is why you should always aim to get at least seven hours of refreshing, uninterrupted sleep each night.
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This article was prepared by an independent contributor and helps us continue to deliver quality news and information.