The major culprits of sound sleep are the jolting substance nicotine, alcohol, and caffeine. Several studies suggest that the stimulating effects if cigarette smoking steal sleep time. Heavy smokers tend to take longer to fall asleep, rouse more often, and experience less deep sleep. Some smokers wake up craving a cigarette during the night. In one study, those who quit their cigarette habits also cut their insomnia by half.

The paradox of alcohol is that it acts as both a relaxant and a stimulant. Some people insist that imbibing before bedtime helps them fall asleep. But physiological changes caused by alcohol deprive the body of needed rest. Drinking in the evening alters to stay deeply asleep stages, making it harder to stay deeply asleep. It is also important to note that the process of withdrawing from nicotine and alcohol may initially increase insomnia in formerly heavy users.

Coffee drinkers, beware: Your habit may be hazardous to your sleep. The aroma of a freshly brewed cup of coffee and the jolt of alertness it brings make coffee drinking an attractive activity. But consuming 300mg of caffeine, the equivalent of three cups of strong coffee or six cola drinks, at any time during a single day causes nighttime awakenings and disruption of the REM phase of sleep. Habitual coffee drinkers have excessively high levels of stress hormones and slight elevated blood pressure many hours after coffee consumption.

Caffeine sensitivity increase with age. The snakes you once enjoyed, such as a cup of java in the afternoon or a slice of double chocolate cake for dessert, may now keep you up at night. Other stimulating substance that you may want to eliminate or reduce includes chocolate, some over the counter medications, and coffee flavored ice cream and yogurt.

If you are having sleep problems, you should bypass all beverages with a buzz. In addition to limiting coffee consumption, drink less tea and fewer soft drinks that have high caffeine levels. Tea drinking is charming and healthful, but it can be stimulating, too. The common green and black teas, which contain caffeine, give you a physiological boost and strong antioxidant protection. Tea’s health benefits include reducing cancer risk, increasing cardiovascular strength, and normalizing intestinal flora. So savor your tea, but drink it 3 or more hours before bedtime.

Bookmark to:

This entry was posted on Monday, June 30th, 2008 at 10:43 am and is filed under Insomnia. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.