12 Bedtime Habits That Can Harm Your Health

Every individual has different sleeping habits. Even though some of these habits are beneficial, others are actually disrupting your sleep and you need to stop doing them as soon as possible.

Here are 12 dangerous bedtime habits that will disrupt your sleep and damage your health.

Drinking before going to bed

If you consume a lot of water or other beverages before going to sleep, you will need to wake up and go to the bathroom at least 2-3 times during the night.

Using Electronic Devices before Bedtime

If you are unable to fall asleep, you should remove all the electronic devices from your bedroom. Aside from being harmful to your health, your laptop, tablet, and smartphone emit light which delays the production of melatonin, a hormone responsible for regulating the sleep and wake cycles.

Reading around evening time

Never bring your book to bed! If you want to read some book, make sure that is a little earlier before you go to sleep.

Eating before Going to Bed

In order to fall asleep, you should avoid eating at least 2 hours before going to bed. When you eat, the food needs a certain amount of time to be digested.

Therefore, if you lie down with a full stomach, you won’t fall asleep fast as the digestion process keeps the body awake.

The icy feet can cause sleep difficulties

If your feet are icy, put on some socks or try utilizing some heating pad in order to warm up your feet.

Consuming Caffeine before Bedtime

Coffee contains caffeine and caffeine is a known substance that keeps you awake

Caffeine blocks the sleep-inducing chemicals in the brain and increases the production of adrenaline, which makes you feel more alert and prevents you from falling asleep. A recent study has found out that the consumption of caffeine 6 hours before bedtime decreases the sleep time by 1 hour.

So, you should avoid consuming any caffeinated drinks and foods in the evening, such as coffee, green tea, soda, and chocolate.

Don’t buy cheap and low-quality mattress

A high-quality mattress will enable a comfortable sleep, thus keeping you fresh and rested. So, don’t save money when buying a new mattress!

Lacking a Bedtime Routine

A bedtime routine might sound as something that is necessary only for children. However, by following a certain nightly schedule, you will significantly improve your sleep. You should establish your own bedtime routine, such as washing your face, brushing your teeth, and then going to bed. This will help you to relax and to fall asleep fast and easily.

Using bright alarm clocks

This will also fortify your brain, and complicate your sleeping. Choose alarm clock having dimmer numbers!

Taking Naps in the Afternoon

Some people have a habit of sleeping in daytime. You should avoid doing so, because then the natural cycle of the body will be disrupted and you won’t be able to sleep at a decent time in the night. This will affect your health and your sleeping habits in night will go haywire.

In case you have to take a nap, you should make sure that it doesn’t last for more than 20 minutes.

Exercising before Going to Bed

A daily physical activity can help you to improve the quality of your sleep. However, working out before going to bed will make you unable to fall asleep.

This is because exercising stimulates the production of adrenaline, increases your body temperature, and boosts your heart rate. Therefore, you should make sure that you exercise at least 3 hours before bedtime.

Sleeping in an Improper Position

Your sleep position can have a great impact on your night’s rest. Improper position can be responsible for causing sleep apnea, fatigue, poor blood circulation, heartburn, stomach aches, headaches, back and neck pain, muscle cramping, as well as premature wrinkles.

Recommended sleeping positions are usually on the side and on the back rather than on stomach.

Source: healthandhealthyliving