There is no greater disappointment than waking up in the morning more tired than the night before, even though we slept seven to eight hours. If you don't feel refreshed in the morning or full of energy, something is definitely going on.
Read some of the most common reasons for lack of rest and what you can do to improve the quality of your sleep, according to 'Marie Claire'.
Fatigue
"There are many reasons that cause fatigue, but that doesn't mean they always make us want to sleep." says Jennifer Martin, professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco.
“These can include chronic pain, metabolic syndrome or thyroid dysfunction, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. If you feel unexplained fatigue, you may need to visit your doctor and try a different sleep schedule, as the recommended eight hours may not be enough for you. You can go to bed earlier or wake up an hour later and see if that works for you."
Exposure to blue light
We all know that exposure to screen light is not the best thing to do before bed. However, often the last thing we look at before falling asleep is our mobile screen. "Using cell phones, tablets, computers or television too close to bedtime can inhibit the release of melatonin, the sleep hormone, and thus cause us to wake up..
"The best thing to do is to turn off our electronic devices an hour before bed and sleep in a dark and not particularly warm room”, says Dr. Peter Polos, a fellow of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.
Anxiety or depression
"Stress and depression are extremely serious for our health, but also for our sleep. They negatively affect the time it takes us to fall asleep, but also how often we wake up during the night. In fact, it has been proven that, sometimes, the treatments followed against anxiety or depression can cause insomnia or block the deeper stages of sleep. notes sleep expert and associate professor of medicine at the University of California, Dr. Raj Dasgupta.
Sedentary life
"If your body is used to producing and expending low levels of energy, due to your lifestyle that does not involve manual labor or exercise, then you may feel tired very quickly when doing even basic daily activities", says Dr. Jennifer Martin.
The World Health Organization, in fact, recommends that adults get at least 2 hours of moderate or vigorous physical exercise per week.
Consumption of heavy food or alcohol
When we sleep, the system responsible for rest and digestion is activated in the body. But if, for example, you consume alcohol, heavy food or caffeine close to bedtime, then your body may find it difficult to metabolize food, focus on digestion, and stay awake longer than normal.
"Avoid eating for at least two hours before bedtime. And if you can't stand it, prefer light foods that are easily digested. Heavy meals or alcoholic beverages and coffee are most likely to prevent your body from entering the stages of sleep, which are also the stages in which we fully rest." suggests Robin M. Tucker, Ph.D, associate professor of nutrition and food science at the University of Michigan.
