How to beat Summer Insomnia
The two main things that make summer magical are never ending daylight and perpetual warmth. However, these are the exact things that make getting quality sleep difficult!
Temperature. Our body heat drops in preparation for sleep and raises again when we wake up so the ambient temperature needs to be as low as possible to assist sleep:
- Air conditioning should be set surprisingly low at around 17-19c.
- If air con isn’t available, windows and doors should be open wide to allow as much airflow as possible.
- Electric fans are great but they just move air around – to be effective they need an open window.
- Insect screens can be stuck over open windows for peace of mind; they stop insects getting in and Mr Tiddles jumping out.
- Cooling the wrists is a great way to cool the whole body. Soak some wristbands in water, pop them in the fridge and wear them at bedtime.
- Dump the duvet and just use the covers but if they contain polyester actually dump them for real and buy some good quality cotton ones.
Light . When our eyes stop receiving adequate light our brains start producing the sleep hormone Melatonin which allows us to drift off. When light hits us in the morning, production stops and we wake up. This is called our Circadian rhythm or 24 hour sleep/wake cycle. To assist this during summer we need to artificially make a clear distinction between light and dark:
- TV phones and tables all emit light so if you’re serious about your sleeping pattern then you’ll need to have some discipline and stay away from tech for a least an hour before bed. A great low tech solution is a good, old-fashioned book.
- Don’t take tech into your bedroom. Associate the bedroom with sleep, not the office or a games room. If you are awake go to a different part of the house.
- Blackout blinds (as the name suggests) completely block out all light no matter how bright it is outside. They’re great but can be expensive.
- An alternative to blinds are quality eye masks. They need to be contoured around the nose and eyes in order to prevent light pollution. The cheap, flat types are actually detrimental to sleep because they are not ‘eyelash friendly’. The mask needs to be cupped in order to clear the eyes. Lash reflex is definitely not conducive to sleep; in fact, it is so powerful that brushing the eyelashes is used by surgeons to test for anaesthetic induction.
- In artificial darkness alarm clocks are essential and as soon as we wake up we need to get as much light into our eyes as possible to halt the production of melatonin and kick-start our wake/cycle.
Melatonin is essential for our sleep/wake cycle but where does it come from? Well, we have to manufacture it using a building block (amino acid) called Tryptophan. Taking tryptophan as a supplement can be dangerous so we have to eat foods naturally rich in the substance, including turkey, eggs, milk and fish. However, really great (and convenient) sources are unsalted nuts and seeds, especially pumpkin, sunflower seeds and walnuts. Snaking on these, particularly in the evening, makes a huge difference to sleep quality and quantity. Everything looks better when the sun is shining…especially after a fantastic night’s sleep!
