20 tips to sleep better

How much sleep do you need?

In general it is said that you need 8 hours of sleep a night. This is the average however, depending on what your needs are. Some are only really well rested when they sleep for 9 or even 10 hours a night. Others have enough sleep when sleeping for only 5 or 6 hours a night.
Your needs of sleep also change as your life progresses. A new born baby sleeps 16 to 18 hours per day for instance. Teenagers function the best when they get around 9 to 10 hours of sleep. Grown ups need around 7 to 8 hours of sleep on average.

Why is a sufficient amount 

Sleeping well is really important. Are you sleep deprived? Then your body can simply not function optimally. Long periods of too little sleep can even have disastrous results.

By sleeping too little you can gain weight

Did you not sleep enough? Then your body creates more of the hunger hormone. The hormone that lets your body know that you have eaten enough, decreases. This is why you might eat more during the day. It also disrupts your digestion, which is why you can also gain weight more quickly. Moreover a shortage of sleep can also mean that you choose unhealthy foods more quickly and do not feel the desire to move that much.

Weaker immune system because of a shortage of sleep

To keep your immune system strong, a good night rest is just as valuable as good food. If you sleep too little, you are more prone to get a cold, flu and other diseases

Sleep is important for your concentration

Having a good night of sleep will help your ability to concentrate and coordinate.

Bad nights of sleep can decrease memory functions

A night of bad sleep has a direct and proven negative effect on your memory. Sleeping well ensures that information is well stored by the hippocampus and cerebral cortex.

Chronic sleeping shortage

Research shows that if you sleep for less than 6 hours a night for prolonged periods of time increases the chances of getting a heart attack by 48%. A chronic shortage of sleep is also associated with arteriosclerosis, heart failure and an increased blood pressure.

Insufficient sleep is a risk factor for diabetes

Insufficient sleep can have as a result that your insulin sensitivity goes down, which is a risk factor for the development of diabetes.

Sleep deprivation increases the chances of getting a stroke

A study has shown that sleep deprivation has a big influence on the chances of getting a stroke. 6 hours of sleep or less a night has the result of people of middle age to older have 4 times as much chance of getting stroke, in comparison to people of the same age group that sleep 7 or more hours a night.

By sleeping more you will look younger

Your sleep has an enormous influence on how you look. During your sleep, your body makes a growth hormone. This hormone is, amongst other things, responsible for keeping your skin elastic.

Good nights sleep are important for how you feel

A good night's sleep ensures that you are less quickly irritated and you are less easily drawn into anxious and depressive states of mind.

20 tips to sleep better

1. Don't sleep for too long. This may appear odd, but laying too long in bed will ensure that you sleep less well. You will therefore sleep lighter and will wake up more often. By sleeping for shorter amounts of time, you sleep deeper and you wake up feeling more rested. 
2. Keep to a certain sleeping rhythm. Try to go to bed each day at the same time and wake up every morning at the same time. This way you will gain a particular sleeping pattern and the quality of sleep improves.
3. Make sure your bedroom is dark. Do not leave on any lights, not even the light of the hallway or a little night light. Curtains that really make your room dark are recommended here. This way you will also block the streetlights and morning lights. An eye mask can also be a good solution. 
4. Make sure that it is quiet in your bedroom. Are you annoyed by sounds of your housemates or neighbours? Then it could be a good idea to try putting in earplugs before you go to bed. There are different kinds of earplugs, we recommend those that are mouldable into different shapes so they can properly block out any outside sounds. 
5. Let fresh are daily blow through your room and make sure it is not too warm in your bedroom. A temperature of 16-18°C is ideal.
6. When you wake up, directly open up the curtains. Daylight in the mornings will help our biological clock function optimally.
7. Avoid bright lights before going to bed. Dim the lights down before you go to bed. Make sure that you also avoid the lights of your tv, pc, tablet or phone before you go to bed. These lights namely prevent your body from making certain sleep hormones.
8. Before going to bed, do not drink any cola, coffee or caffeine holding teas. During the day you are also better off not drinking too many of these, because they also influence your sleep in the night. 
9. Do not drink too much in the night, because then you will not wake up having to go to the bathroom.
10. Buy a good mattress and good pillow. A too hard or too soft mattress can severely disrupt your night's sleep. What the ideal mattress is for you depends of your body type and weight. Choose a neck pillow that supports your necks' vertebrae. 
11. Do not wear any constricting clothes in the night and avoid nylon. Instead of nylon wear natural materials such as cotton.
12. Use your bedroom only to sleep in. Using your bedroom as an office for example, is not a good idea. Make sure you do not watch any tv in bed. 
13. A partner that turns a lot or snores can prevent you from having a good night sleep. Do ear plugs and separate bedsheets not help enough? Then it might be the best to sleep in separate rooms. This may not be as cosy perhaps, but a having a good night's sleep is so important!
14. Taking a nap in the day can be really nice to do. Especially when you did not sleep so well the night before, it can be very tempting to make up for it during the day. The result of sleeping a lot during the day is however that you will not sleep well again the next day, which can get you into a vicious circle. Try not do have a nap more than once a day and do not sleep for more than 45 minutes. After 3 pm it is better to not take a nap at all anymore if you want to sleep well in the night. 
15. Daily physical movement improves the quality of sleep. Plan your sporting activities in the morning preferably, or in the early afternoon. Just before going to bed it is better not to do any stimulating exercises, with sex being the exception here. 
16. Try to relax before going to sleep. You can do this by taking a warm bath or doing some relaxation exercises for instance. 
17. Do not go to bed with a full stomach. Try to not eat any big meals starting from 2,5 hours before going to bed. Do make sure that you eat enough before that. A sense of hunger can be quite disruptive to a good night sleep. 
18. It may sound old fashioned, but drinking warm milk before going to bed really helps. In milk you can find the amino acid called tryptophan, which is a resource for the making of the sleep hormone melatonin. You can also find tryptophan in bananas. These yellow fruits also contain carbohydrates, which ensure that tryptophan is better absorbed by the body. Bananas are also high in magnesium, a metal that is important for relaxing muscles. A smoothy of milk and bananas can be a good choice!
19. Try not to use any sleep medication. Incidentally using it can be handy, for instance when you are travelling. Do not use it more often that once in a while however. Using sleeping pills regularly can be harmful for your health in the long term and create dependencies upon the medicine.
20. Can you really not go to sleep and do you keep thinking in circles? Break this pattern by going out of bed and doing something else for a while, for instance drinking a glass of milk. Do not sit behind the tv or pc, and also do not play with your phone or tablet.