Are You Hurting Your Sleep This Summer?
Summer is the season of barbecues, beach trips and some of the simplest joys of life, but if you are not careful, it can also be the enemy of sleep.
The ideal temperature for sleep is between 60-67 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the National Sleep Foundation, so summer – with its hot temperatures and increased daylight – is not often a welcome answer for sweet slumber. Coupled with more activities throwing off your routine, how can someone enjoy summer and still sleep well?
Yana Banerjee, a nurse practitioner in the University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Sleep Center, regularly sees patients for sleep apnea, insomnia, narcolepsy and other sleep disorders, but many of the same techniques she prescribes for them are helpful to anyone looking to maintain a good night’s sleep.
Your room is too hot and bright
To stay cool, fans and air conditioning are common solutions, but also consider sheets made with more breathable fabrics, like cotton. Banerjee says while there is no exact temperature that is perfect for everyone, the bedroom should be cool.
As you begin sleeping, your body temperature decreases. Having a room that falls within this temperature range helps your body get to this ideal temperature, which helps prevent restlessness and helps ensure quality rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, the stage of sleep characterized by the highest brain activity.
Research in 1997 by Alan Pack and David Dinges found that restorative sleep including healthy REM, has strong influence on mood and alertness.
To keep the room dark, consider blackout curtains, which can help shield you from outside light at night. If you are unable to put down your cell phone or other blue-light emitting device in the couple hours before you sleep – downloading a blue light app on your phone can help your body produce melatonin to ease you into sleep.
You are lying awake in bed
Banerjee, like many other sleep experts, says that the bed is “for sleep and sex and nothing else.”
If you are in your bed for reading, hanging out or watching TV, it becomes harder for your body and brain to separate sleep from everything else.
If you lie awake at night and can’t fall asleep, experts recommend getting out of bed to do another activity, such as reading, doing a crossword puzzle, etc., and then get back into bed – you are more likely to fall asleep that way.
“If I have a lot on my mind, I may write down some thoughts to help me know I will revisit them in the morning so I can clear my mind. Once I feel tired again, I will go back to my bedroom and try to sleep,” Ilene M. Rosen, a professor of sleep edicine, recently said in a Time article.
You are relying on unproven tools
Banerjee does not prescribe lavender and other popular remedies for sleep because the evidence for their success is still under debate. “There’s all these different studies about things that can help, like lavender, and while some of these have been effective for some of my patients, none are proven,” Banerjee said.
You let late-night activities interfere with your sleep routine
There are more activities at night and during the weekend in the summer that tempt us to be out longer, but can throw off our sleep schedule. Although there will be occasional times when it is not possible, Banerjee recommends maintaining a regular sleep schedule, including a “wind-down” period to tell your brain it is time to go to sleep. The wind-down can include taking a shower, reading, deep breathing or some other routine to prepare your body to go to sleep each day.
You are eating unhealthy food and drinks late at night
Drinking caffeinated beverages late at night can make it harder to fall asleep and worsen the quality of your sleep.
Also, timing meals later at night, rather than eating earlier in the day, can cause weight gain and impair fat metabolism, according to research from Namni Goel, a research associate professor of psychology in sleep and chronobiology, and Kelly Allison, director of the Center for Weight and Eating Disorders. It can also raise your insulin, fasting glucose, cholesterol and triglyceride levels.
You don’t exercise
Physical activity is good for sleep, and has been shown to reduce insomnia. As little as 10 minutes of regular aerobic exercise, even if it is walking, can significantly improve the quality of your nighttime sleep, the National Sleep Foundation reports. The important thing is not to exercise too close to your bedtime, as the added energy from the activity can keep you awake.
You nap too long in the afternoon
A 10- or 15-minute nap can help be healthy, as it sends the brain into light non-REM sleep. Naps for longer than 20 minutes increase the risk that the body will enter deep sleep – which causes that groggy feeling. “Being awake is like carrying a bag on your back,” David Dinges, chief of sleep and chronobiology, told the Wall Street Journal. “The longer you’re awake, the more bricks you add. And when you take a nap, you remove some of those bricks.”
Summer can be good for sleep, if you know how to manage it
Natural sunlight generally does improve our mood. Sunlight also can help us wake up in the morning and contributes to regulating our circadian rhythms over a 24-hour day.
“People tend to feel better in summer months,” Philip Gehrman, an associate professor in psychiatry and the Sleep Center, said in a Cheat Sheet article. “There’s a slight elevation in our mood. More positive emotions are reported.”
Sleep may be tougher or easier in the summer – the key is being thoughtful about how aspects like temperature, light and activities influence that critically important slumber.
“In the summer, it’s hotter and there’s more light, and those are two main things you want to avoid for quality sleep,” Banerjee said. “You want it to be cool and dark, and the summer is hot and bright.”
Article by Greg Richter, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
This article was written by the guest author listed at the end of the article.