9 Tips for Getting a Good Night's Sleep

Good sleep is just as important to your health and wellbeing as a healthy diet and regular exercise. If you're not getting enough sleep, you may suffer from high blood pressure, high blood sugar and short-term memory loss. After six months or more of sleep problems, you may become depressed or suffer from anxiety.

The amount of sleep needed varies from person to person. Most people need between six and nine hours sleep every night. If you have trouble falling asleep or have poor quality of sleep due to sleep apnoea, stress, or insomnia, then you're not getting good enough sleep. Try these nine tips to improve your sleep.

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• Cut caffeine, nip nicotine
• Sleep regular hours
• Don't drink too much before going to bed
• Create comfort, peace and quiet
• Declare the bedroom just for sleeping
• Wind down
• Exercise during the day
• Catch some rays
• Skip the spice, forego the fat
• Get balanced

Cut caffeine, nip nicotine

Some people who suffer from insomnia find that cutting out caffeine is a quick, simple solution to their sleeping problems. This means completely avoiding coffee, tea, cola, caffeine-containing energy drinks and, to a lesser extent, chocolate. Instead of going cold-turkey with caffeine, try to cut down gradually and introduce some alternatives, such as decaffeinated coffee or herbal tea.

If you can't cut out caffeine completely, you may like to try limiting your intake of this stimulant to early in the day. You might notice some improvements in your sleeping habits if you have your last cup of tea or coffee before three o'clock in the afternoon.

Cigarettes are also stimulants that can play havoc with your sleeping habits - one more good reason to quit smoking!

Sleep regular hours

If you go to bed at about the same time every night and get up at about the same time every morning, you have good sleeping habits. Chopping and changing your sleeping times generally disrupts sleep quality.

There are differing opinions as to the benefit of sleeping during the day. Some experts recommend twenty minutes of shut-eye to refresh you during the day, while others warn against it. You need to work out what's best for you and stick with a sleeping schedule. If you find that sleeping during the day keeps you awake at night, it's best avoided.

Don't drink too much before going to bed

Alcohol may cause you to wake up frequently during the night and may make you snore. It is particularly bad for people with sleep apnoea as it reduces the brain's ability to respond when breathing has ceased momentarily.

If you find yourself getting up several times during the night to empty your bladder, avoid fluid intake for a few hours before bedtime.