Blog post:

This blog post was written for Paradise Herbs. The goal was to educate their readers and promote their “Earth Blend” magnesium supplement (spec piece.)

Sleep Quality Pitfalls:
Fix these 4 Things!

December 8, 2023

By Eldar Iz

It’s easy to take sleep for granted. Many of us tend to keep going and going, trying to fit as much into the day as possible. But what impact do our daily habits have on our quality of sleep?

Below are four of the most common pitfalls to good sleep quality.

1. The Digital Trap

The average screen time in America is about 7 hours per day. (1)

There is nothing wrong with enjoying a sitcom or watching some YouTube, but it can be a slippery slope. Especially in the one or two hours before bed when we relax and become less strict with ourselves. It’s easy for “one more episode” to turn into two or three. And we all know that social media is designed to keep us scrolling.

The problem is that blue light emitted from our screens interferes with the body’s production of melatonin.

Melatonin is a hormone that helps us fall asleep. (2) When the sun goes down and our eyes perceive darkness it starts the release of melatonin, inducing feelings of tiredness and relaxation.

How to Avoid the Digital Trap

1. Turn Off Useless Notifications

You don’t need to know that User123 reposted something that User456 said. Only keep the essentials, like direct message notifications.

2. Set a Curfew

Introduce a 30-60 minute pre-bedtime buffer that is device-free. Allow that brain-cloud of electronics to disperse before you lay down.

3. Set a Social Media Timer

Pull up your stopwatch app, put in 30:00, and hit start. Then open up TikTok or Instagram and use it as you normally would. You might be surprised by how quickly 30 minutes go by.

4. Books as a “Nicotine Patch”

Our entertainment options are endless. Information addiction is a real thing, but there are other ways to get your fix. Try reading a book or magazine instead of scrolling through TikTok.

5. No Phone Zone

Leave your phone outside of the bedroom. It’s important to develop a strong association between your bed and sleep. Do not use your bed as a hybrid office/entertainment lounge. It sends mixed signals to your brain and body.

2. Avoid Excitement

I used to work at an Italian restaurant. It was super social and stimulating, but when I got home my mind was racing! It took me forever to get to sleep.

Does this sound familiar in any way? Pretty much any activity that gets you amped up, physically or mentally, is a bad idea in the one or two hours before bed. If you’re having trouble falling asleep, these are some of the most overlooked culprits.

Exercise

Working out right before bed can make it difficult to fall asleep. Exercise raises the heart rate and releases endorphins that give us a high. This energizes us and interferes with relaxation. (3)

The raised body temperature after exercise is also a problem.

In a healthy sleep cycle, melatonin helps decrease body temperature. So exercise interferes with melatonin’s function, and delays its effects. (4)

We’ve all experienced the frustration of waking up in the middle of the night and being too hot to get back to sleep. It’s the cooling of our core that makes us feel sleepy. (5)

This doesn’t mean you should stop working out.

Generally speaking, exercise helps with sleep quality by regulating stress and anxiety. But it matters when you exercise, so try to finish your workout at least two hours before getting into bed.

Entertainment Genres

Apart from limiting screen time, it also matters what we watch.

Certain genres are designed to get us excited. A suspenseful action movie or thriller will stress you out and get you wired. That’s exactly the opposite of what we need for falling asleep.

Choose more soothing evening entertainment, like that guy on YouTube who builds Zen-style fish tanks. The same goes for music genres. Choose blues over house.

Charged Interactions

We all love that one talkative, high-energy friend, but it may be a bad idea to call them right before bed. Stimulating conversations will energize you and make it difficult to unwind once you lie down.

And leave the serious conversation you’ve been meaning to have with your coworker for the morning. Otherwise, you’ll be lying in bed wide awake, replaying the interaction and staring at the ceiling.

How to Relax before Bed

The evening should be a time of putting your nervous system at ease. Kind of like putting a baby to sleep. You’ve got to “There, there” yourself until your body and mind have settled down. Try out some of the methods below.

Don’t put pressure on yourself to fall asleep. Go to bed 30 min or an hour before you would like to be asleep. Give yourself that grace period.
Light a lavender candle. Lavender has a calming effect.
Put on some soothing music (anything by Enya)
Have a relaxing hot bath or shower
Sleep naked or in your underwear. Our core temperature needs to drop for us to fall asleep. Having fewer layers helps speed up the cooling process.
Any type of meditation will help you calm down.
Go for a short walk. It will help you unwind and cool down.
Light stretching is a great way to relax.
Experts recommend 65 degrees as the ideal bedroom temperature. (6) People who sleep in a warmer room produce less melatonin. (5)

3. Magnesium Deficiency

About 50% of Americans do not get their daily magnesium requirements. (9)

This is one of the most common causes of bad sleep quality. But it’s also one of the easiest to fix.

Running low on magnesium lowers the amount of GABA in our brains. This is a neurotransmitter that acts as a sedative. Without GABA it can be hard to wind down and quiet your mind. (10)

One capsule of Earth’s Blend Magnesium gives you your daily dose and also contains adaptogens for an added calming effect.

Magnesium controls the stress hormone cortisol and reduces adrenaline. These two are responsible for our fight-or-flight mode, which is about as far as we can get from being relaxed. (12)

Magnesium also supports melatonin production. Melatonin tells the body to prepare for sleep by lowering body temperature and inducing drowsiness. (11)

Magnesium decreases restless leg syndrome. (13)

4. Eating Late

Late-night snacks can be a difficult temptation to deal with. This is a time when the fridge seems to exert a magnetic pull.

The problem is that digestion is one of the most energy-intensive functions in the body.

Eating near bedtime activates a whole series of processes to break down the food in our stomachs. This takes several hours and engages our muscular and digestive systems, keeping us alert and awake. (7)

So avoid snacking before bed and plan your dinner time to give your body at least 2-3 hours to digest before bed.

Fasting (kind of)

You may have heard of intermittent fasting: a special diet that takes advantage of the health benefits of fasting. But have you ever considered that you already fast every night?

If you finish your dinner at 7.30 pm and eat breakfast at 7.30 am, you’ve just fasted for 12 hours!

Our bodies really need that break. (8) But many of us snack so often that the digestive system never gets any time off!

We often don’t even give ourselves the chance to get hungry! But eating is much more enjoyable when we leave some space in between meals. Because then every meal turns into a treat!

Summary

The rule of thumb for maintaining sleep quality is giving the body a predictable rhythm. (14)

Try to do the same thing every night to set the mood and signal to your body: “Hey, it’s that time again. It’s time to shut down the engines.”

It takes some experimentation to figure out a bedtime routine that works. Go easy on yourself and make gradual changes. Do the easiest thing first. Order magnesium supplements, or set a timer for your social media usage. Start simple, but start tonight!

Eventually, you’ll become like your own horse-whisperer! 🙂

Sources:

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