Sleep Healthy sleep is essential for everyone. Useful sleep

We assume that it is unlikely that someone will meet who would not dream of always being beautiful, full of strength and happy. Sometimes many try different sports, gyms, diets, walks in the parks. However, what do we know about a healthy lifestyle? It is rare to find someone who fully observes it. Why is this happening? What prevents people from monitoring their health? What do you need to do to look and feel great? And how to live long and successfully? We will try to answer all these questions below.

Healthy lifestyle - what is it?

Today everyone's life is full of events, technologies and temptations. In our developed time, people are used to running somewhere and in a hurry, to make the most of it. Work fast, learn new things, eat fast food, be treated with drugs with an immediate effect. There is no extra minute for relaxation and elementary attention to yourself. However, sooner or later health will fail. It does not happen on time and always brings bad results.

It is easy to avoid this outcome. Just know and follow the rules of a healthy lifestyle. What kind of "beast" is this? A healthy lifestyle is a set of healthy habits that only positively affect a person’s life. With it, you can improve health, increase life expectancy and be happy. Healthy lifestyle is especially relevant in recent times. Technological progress, poor ecology and inactivity have a detrimental effect on people. Various kinds of loads appear, leading to diseases, often chronic. In this regard, healthy lifestyle is extremely important for our society.

What does the HOS consist of?

Maintaining a healthy lifestyle helps everyone to take care and care for their body. It contributes to its strengthening, stability and strength. This is true only on one condition. You need to use all of its components. There are many classifications of them. We chose simple and meaningful. So, the HOS consists of:

proper nutrition;
sports;
personal hygiene;
different types of hardening;
giving up or minimizing bad habits.

Proper nutrition

Eating right, first of all, means eating only healthy foods. They provide replenishment of the body with various substances that help it grow and function. Proper nutrition should be exceptionally balanced.

A person, especially with the problem of excess weight, should adhere to several principles of proper nutrition:

Food should be varied. This means that the diet must include products of both animal and vegetable origin;
The calorie content of the diet should not exceed the daily allowance. Everyone has her own. When calculating the calorie intake, many aspects of lifestyle are taken into account. For example, the presence of physical activity, excess weight, illness, etc.
At least 5 meals per day. They include three main and two snacks. You can't starve - it's an axiom. To always feel good, learn to eat 5 times a day at the same time;
Eat slowly. Thus, you will feel a sense of fullness in time, do not overeat and enjoy the taste;
Chew food well. This is a salvation for the stomach and the entire digestive system. Experts recommend chewing food at least twenty times;
Eat liquid. Be sure to eat soups daily. They promote the secretion of gastric juice. This soups simplify the process of digestion of other dishes;
We eat vegetables and fruits rich in vitamins. This is a great snack option. Fresh vegetables and fruits will not only satisfy hunger, but also replenish the lack of nutrients;
Drink, drink and drink again. The norm of water per day is 1.5-2 liters. Tea, coffee and soups do not count. Drink a glass of water in the morning on an empty stomach. For taste, you can add lemon;
We use dairy products. Best low fat, but not fat free. They contain healthy protein and contribute to speedy digestion;
Don't be lazy, eat only freshly prepared meals. Over time, food loses its beneficial properties.

The rules of healthy eating are quite simple and do not require special skills. Today, a lot of services are available, where everyone will find recipes to their liking, will be able to control the calorie content of dishes and the amount of water consumed.

Sports and physical activity

Our body is our main instrument. With it, we can perform all our functions. Therefore, it is very important that the body is always in order. First of all, they need to be used. Movement is life. Better not to say. Let's take a car as an example. If it sits idle for many years, it will rust and become unusable. So is our body. The less we move, the greater the risk of disease. Well, if you have a lot of free time. You can attend group classes, work out in the gym or dance. There are a lot of options. But what to do if you are a busy person and have almost no free time? The ideal option for you is morning exercises. Dedicate 10-15 minutes a day to it, and your body will always be in excellent condition.

On the Internet you can find a huge amount of information about exercises and techniques for morning exercises. In addition to the above, running has a great effect on the human body. Morning or evening jogging is uplifting. By choosing picturesque places for running, you can clear your mind of unnecessary thoughts and relax. It doesn't matter what type of exercise you choose. It is important that they give you pleasure.

Personal hygiene and healthy sleep

hardening

To reduce the risk of disease to a minimum, it is worth hardening. It helps the body fight against adverse external factors. There are many ways to increase resistance and immunity:

Taking air baths. This is the most affordable and easy way. Try to often arrange walks in the fresh air, ventilate the premises. Get out of town in the summer. Clean forest air is the best disease prevention;
Sunbathing. No less effective for a person is being in the sun. However, you should be careful with it and avoid direct rays at noon. Also, burns and heat strokes should not be allowed;
Walking barefoot. Our feet have many sensitive points. Their massage leads to the normalization of the work of important organs;
rubdowns- soft and gentle way of hardening. It is suitable even for small children. The process involves rubbing the body with a massage mitt, washcloth or wet towel;
Pouring cold water- the most famous way. Can be covered completely or partially. It is important to wipe yourself with a dry towel after the procedure;
Cold and hot shower. The alternation of cold and hot water gives the skin tone, rejuvenates and hardens the body.
Winter swimming. This type of hardening requires a responsible and careful attitude. Before starting the procedure, you should consult with your doctor.

Rejection of bad habits

We will not go deep and talk for a long time about the dangers of smoking, alcohol and drugs. This is a well known fact. We really hope that each of you, our readers, values your health and has long abandoned these destructive habits or is now on the way to it.

How you feel during the day depends on how you slept at night. If during the day you constantly yawn and think slowly, then it's time to think: do you sleep correctly and do you follow all the rules of healthy sleep?

What is healthy sleep? This is sleep, during which the body has time to recover and rest. And for this, a night's rest must meet several requirements:

Sleeping with an open window (needs enough oxygen)
Sleep 2 hours after eating (a full stomach disrupts the heart)
Sleep in complete darkness (any light sources interfere with the production of the sleep hormone, melatonin)
Sleeping in the correct position (on the side, with neck support)
Sleep with the right mindset for rest (daily habit of falling asleep on a schedule and without distractions)

Air

Ventilate the room before going to bed. Lack of oxygen reduces the quality of sleep, making it intermittent and shallow. You will not have time to recover and the next morning you will get up broken.

A hearty dinner at night will not let you fall asleep, lead to indigestion and even to heart failure. During sleep, the activity of the digestive system is significantly reduced. This affects the quality of digestion. The redistribution of blood flow can cause ischemia of the heart muscle, so people with coronary heart disease are not recommended to overeat at night.

But there is food that promotes sleep. The hormone melatonin is responsible for sound sleep. Foods with the amino acid tryptophan (the precursor of melatonin), such as cherries, cherry juice or bananas, will help its production.

Light

It's easier to fall asleep in the dark. If there is a light source in the room, the light will penetrate the retina and melatonin, the "sleep hormone", will not be produced. That's why you need to remove the TV and glow-in-the-dark clocks from the bedroom. Waking up in the middle of the night and looking at the luminous alarm clock, you can lose sleep until the morning. For the same reason, the display of a mobile phone can spoil the rest. It is better to use a mechanical watch.

Medications

In many hypertensive patients, the pressure rises at night and early morning hours. The fact is that the effect of drugs taken before bedtime ends in the morning, and just in the morning the risk of developing a stroke of the brain or myocardial infarction increases. That is why it is recommended to take long-acting antihypertensive drugs at night.

Pose

If a person falls asleep sitting, his head leans to the side or forward. In this position, breathing is disturbed, the vertebral arteries that feed the brain are bent and compressed. The brain lacks oxygen. In addition, the intervertebral discs of the cervical spine are deformed. Those who are forced to sleep sitting up (in an airplane, train, bus) should definitely use a neck pillow. It forms a soft support for the neck.

For the same reasons, it is dangerous to sleep on your stomach. In this position, the head is turned to the side. This posture again compresses the arteries of the neck, and the brain again receives less oxygen. Lying on his stomach, a person is not able to take a full breath. Respiratory hypoxia develops.

What to do?

Train yourself to sleep on your side or back. It's simple, just give yourself such a "installation". If the posture on the back leads to apnea, that is, stops breathing during sleep, you can accustom yourself to sleep strictly on your side. There is a simple and effective method for this: a tennis ball in a pocket sewn on the back of pajamas will prevent you from rolling over onto your back.

If lying on your back, you put a high pillow under your head (for example, it’s so convenient for you to watch TV), and then you fall asleep, then your chin rests on your chest. In this position, the intervertebral discs are deformed, nerve endings are pinched and blood vessels are pinched. The height of the pillow should be adjusted according to the principle “the line of the neck is parallel to the line of the bed”.

In order to avoid pain in the neck and lower back in the position on the side in the morning, it is necessary to adjust the height of the pillow. First of all, the pillow should provide support for the neck. The principle is the same - "the line of the neck is parallel to the line of the bed." The head rests on the pillow, and the shoulder and arm rest on the mattress. Also, the pillow between the knees contributes to the unloading of the spine.

Avoid sleeping on hard surfaces that flatten the curves of your spine. If your neck or back hurts after waking up, then your sleep is unhealthy, and you need to see a doctor.

The right mattress

You can probably solve many sleep problems if you choose the right mattress for yourself. How to do this, learn from the test. And at this link you can choose centers where you can contact about a mattress for a healthy sleep.

Healthy sleep is the key to health and career success, and its absence is a sure guarantee of a decrease in working capacity and the occurrence of various diseases.

Dream- a certain physiological state, the need for which occurs in a person regularly. This condition is characterized by a relative lack of consciousness and activity of the skeletal muscles.

Dream It is a significant and important part of everyone's life. During sleep, our body must recover psychologically and physically, stock up on strength and energy for a new working day.

For healthy sleep it takes 6-10 hours, and 8 hours of sleep is ideal. Each person has an individual need for sleep, and it is necessary to determine the optimal period of time for which you get enough sleep, and provide the conditions for a healthy, full sleep.

Tips for ensuring a full and healthy sleep

Healthy

Forget about the existence of a computer and TV in the house. This is especially true for children and teenagers. It is better to listen to some calm music.

Result

Doctors say that television and the Internet are the biggest sleep disruptors of our time. Even if you halve the night vigils

Healthy

Sleep on a good mattress and the right pillow and not on a soft couch.

Result

Properly selected pillows and a mattress will make your sleep comfortable and help you stay healthy for many years. It is especially important for children to choose a good mattress, since the correct posture is formed at an early age.

Healthy

Walk outside before bed.

Result

Even a short light walk in the fresh air before going to bed can relieve the stress that has accumulated during the day.

Healthy

Eat at least 4 hours before bedtime.

Result

At night you will not be tormented by nightmares. After all, overeating at night is the cause of heavy dreams.

Healthy

Ventilate the bedroom, light an aroma lamp for a short time or put aromatic pads with useful herbs (hops) next to the headboard, turn off the bright light.

Result

The body tunes in to a calm and healthy rhythm, which means you don’t have to worry about sleep.

Healthy

Do not drink coffee, black tea, carbonated drinks, alcohol at night.

Result

You can fight insomnia if you refuse invigorating drinks in the evening, and drink herbal tea.

Signs of healthy sleep:

1. a person falls asleep imperceptibly, quickly;

2. sleep is uninterrupted, there are no night awakenings;

3. sleep duration is not too short;

4. sleep is not too sensitive, the depth of sleep allows a person not to respond to external stimuli.

Consequently, healthy sleep is a calm, deep and uninterrupted process. It is natural for a person when he sleeps because he wants to sleep, and not because it's time. And it is also natural that he wakes up when he has had enough sleep, and not because it is necessary. But the way of life of a working person does not allow to live according to such a scheme. Therefore, many suffer from lack of sleep, sleep disorders.

Sleep deprivation or lack of sleep leads to daytime sleepiness, memory impairment, difficulty concentrating, etc. That is, the daily physiological and mental state of a person worsens, which leads to a decrease in his working capacity.

Remember that we spend a third of our lives sleeping. Therefore, it is important to take care of this third of our lives and maintain its natural rhythm.

So mother nature decided that a person, in addition to active existence, must sleep.

Healthy sleep is an integral and significant part of life, it is an invaluable source of not only good health and good mood, it also contributes to the preservation of beauty and youth.

Sleep is considered the best way to relax, distract from life's problems. “Lie down, sleep and everything will pass”, “Morning is wiser than evening” - these old sayings will never lose their relevance. But for a good rest, it is very important to observe equivalent phases of wakefulness and sleep.

Sleep is a vital state of brain activity, and it is a healthy, sound sleep that a person needs. Anxious sleep, unlike healthy sleep, has few advantages: the brain cannot relax, and when you wake up in the morning, you feel tired. Mankind complains of insomnia, resorting to sleeping pills in desperation. But this is a double-edged sword - at first you can fall asleep, but later the dream becomes more restless, and then the sleeping pills completely stop working.

Experts have proven that more than a third of the population suffers from insomnia or other sleep disorders that prevent night rest and recovery. In the absence of healthy sleep, the possibility of a productive day life is sharply reduced. Healthy, restful sleep is an important factor that positively affects health, especially in our stressful time.

Of course, there are many people who do not have any problems sleeping! They go to bed when they feel like it and wake up refreshed and refreshed. They fall asleep perfectly everywhere and always, and can afford a cup of coffee in the evening. But, alas, there are also many people suffering from sleep disorders.

Even if from time to time the body suffers from insomnia, it is possible that it will develop into a nightly problem. Sleepless nights can and should be left in the past. Establish healthy sleep habits and you will be able to get rid of insomnia and achieve healthy sleep without intermediate awakenings.

It has been found that the human body tolerates lack of sleep much harder than hunger. Normal people cannot stand without sleep for more than two days - they involuntarily fall asleep, and during daytime work they may experience short-term dreams and naps, even imperceptible to others.

Usually an adult needs 7-8 hours of sleep. But of course, all people sleep differently, some need more time to rest, some less. Determine how many hours of sleep you personally need to get enough sleep and feel good in the morning. But remember that trying to sleep more than your body needs will make you feel bad all day long. No wonder some people notice: "I've been rushing about all morning, now I'm all broken." But it was simply necessary to get out of bed on time.

Following simple tips, you can not only normalize your sleep, but also make it healthy - and you will feel good!

Go to bed before 24:00, approximately between 22:00 and 23:00.

Don't eat before bed.

Try not to take stimulating drinks in the evening.

Breathe fresh air before bed.

Do not engage in mental and physical work immediately before bedtime - this leads to overexcitation and difficulty falling asleep.

Do not read or watch TV in bed. The bedroom is a sleepy abode, it should tune in the appropriate way.

A warm shower or bath with soothing herbs can help you fall asleep quickly and sleep soundly.

Sex before bed sometimes helps to relieve tension, usually after it they quickly fall asleep and sleep soundly.

Choosing the right bed is of the utmost importance. Listen to the opinion of orthopedic surgeons. The bed should be hard enough.

Don't use high pillows. The neck should be flush with the body.

Sleep on your side - this is good for the spine, and also reduces the likelihood of snoring.

The bedroom should be quiet and ventilated.

Pleasant music, recordings of the sound of the surf or birdsong contribute to a pleasant bedtime.

Learn the basics of auto-training - it helps a lot with relaxation and healthy sleep.

Fall asleep in comfortable clothes, or naked - as you like!

How does sleep affect health in general and weight loss in particular? How much sleep do you need? How to improve sleep patterns and get rid of insomnia? Read about all this in a new article.

With the modern rhythm of life, a full sleep is considered a luxury and even an excess. After all, you need to have time to work, and chat with friends, and check the feed in all social networks, and generate new content for these same social networks, and go to fitness, and also English courses, and clubs, and ...

Sleeping in this whole schedule seems like a waste of time, an obstacle that does not allow you to reach your maximum potential.

Is this true? Let's understand how sleep, health and weight loss are interconnected.

During a night's rest, all recovery processes go faster. Ask an athlete, and he will say that it is in sleep that muscles strengthen and grow.
Ask a beautician, and he will answer that during sleep, the skin absorbs nutrients better (for this reason, night and day creams can vary greatly in composition).

The role of sleep in our health is invaluable. It ensures the normal functioning of the nervous system, which every adult has repeatedly seen - even one night without sleep, you can become irritable, gloomy, distracted and whiny. And regular lack of sleep leads to increased anxiety, decreased performance, neurosis and depression, and also greatly impairs memory.

A study conducted by California scientists at the San Francisco Institute showed that people who sleep more than 6 hours a day are 4 times less likely to get colds. Good sleep helps maintain a healthy heart and immune system.

However, sleeping too long is also not worth it, as well as neglecting sleep. According to research from the University of Cambridge, people who sleep more than 8 hours a night are almost 50% more likely to have a stroke. An excess of sleep also reduces physical activity, provokes headaches and worsens the condition of the spine, if there are already problems with it (the third thesis directly follows from the second).

How much sleep do you need?

Based on the foregoing, we can conclude that the optimal duration of sleep is 6-8 hours a day. At the same time, in most cases, it is much better for the body that all these hours are “worked out” at night and in a row. People with a “broken” regime, who sleep 3-4 hours at night and the same amount during the day, are more prone to neurosis and depression.

But do not forget that there can be no ideal universal sleep regimen - each body has its own needs. For example, during intense physical exertion and during rehabilitation after illnesses and injuries, doctors recommend sleeping more.

Sleep and weight loss

Another good news: healthy sleep helps to get rid of excess weight. In a dream, growth hormone is produced more actively, which, among other things, also performs a fat-burning function. In addition, lack of sleep increases the level of ghrelin, the “hunger hormone”.

Therefore, if you do not sleep enough, cravings for overeating will not be long in coming. This does not mean that you will automatically if you start sleeping for 12 hours. Proper nutrition and exercise are still essential if you want to lose weight. But healthy sleep can be a reliable ally on the path to harmony.

Sleep and mass gain

Another important function of somatotropin is an increase in muscle volume (it is not for nothing that it is a growth hormone). With regular training, the muscles need a full recovery. It is sleep that provides both good rest and stable growth. So, if you want to “pump up”, spend enough time not only in the gym, but also in bed.

How to get rid of insomnia and improve sleep patterns?

2-3 hours before bedtime, stop interacting with any screens, be it a smartphone or a TV. Better read a book, chat with your family, play with your pet
ventilate the room before going to bed
do not drink coffee and strong tea in the afternoon
remove unnecessary light and sound sources
don't overeat or fast before bed
minimize stress (difficult but worth it)

If you are experiencing sleep problems for more than 2 weeks and the reasons for them remain a mystery to you, do not look for folk remedies and do not prescribe sleeping pills for yourself. Consult a good doctor.