{"id":110029,"date":"2015-04-21T14:45:08","date_gmt":"2015-04-21T14:45:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=110029"},"modified":"2015-04-21T14:45:08","modified_gmt":"2015-04-21T14:45:08","slug":"sleepless-nights-here-are-6-tips-for-a-restful-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2015\/04\/sleepless-nights-here-are-6-tips-for-a-restful-one\/","title":{"rendered":"Sleepless nights?: Here are 6 tips for a restful one"},"content":{"rendered":"

11 days versus 40 days: That is how long you can avoid sleep versus how long you can avoid food. According to Scientific American (a popular science magazine), the longest [properly documented] time someone has survived without sleep is 11 days, while for food, it is 40 days. The argument goes on about which is more important, but with these statistics, it seems sleep is, at least, 29 days ahead.<\/p>\n

Sleep is crucial for optimal human functioning. It is the time when the brain is cleansed of the toxic by-products produced during the working day. It is the time when the body repairs worn out tissues and revitalizes the body.\u00a0 It is the time when growth is maximal. As such, sleep deprivation affects good health.<\/p>\n

According to experts at Harvard University \u201cLack of sleep may be related to obesity, diabetes, immune-system dysfunction, and many illnesses, as well as to safety issues such as car accidents and medical errors, plus impaired job performance and productivity in many other activities\u201d. In short, sleep deprivation can really mess you up.<\/p>\n

Many working adults and even some young ones do not get the recommended hours of sleep (that is about 10 to 11 hours a night for kids, 8.5 to 9.25 for teens and 7 to 9 for adults, according to the Sleep Foundation). From my interactions with patients over the years and from scientifically proven data, there are things we can do to maximize the efficiency and duration of those precious forty winks.<\/p>\n

Here are six strategies to help you have a good sleep;<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Do not eat a heavy meal close to your bedtime<\/strong> – After a heavy meal, the metabolic rate of the body increases while the food is being digested; this increased metabolic rate inhibits restful sleep. Also, lying down with food in the stomach is in itself uncomfortable and may delay recumbent sleep. Food may also move into the oesophagus in certain individuals when they lie down after a heavy meal, an uncomfortable and sometimes painful condition that can keep them awake for hours. As a general rule, try to eat your last meal 2 to 3 hours before bedtime.<\/li>\n
  2. Do not exercise too close to your bedtime<\/strong> – Regular exercise is a healthy practice, but exercising makes you highly energized and if done too close to bedtime it may delay the onset of sleep. It must be admitted, though that exercise improves the quality of sleep. Just don\u2019t do it too close to bedtime.<\/li>\n
  3. Avoid noisy environments- A noisy generator set, a loud party, a busy highway, raucous music- these and many others are situations that keep your brain active and therefore sleep elusive. Even a refrigerator humming too loudly can prevent a restful sleep. Avoid these situations as much as you can. On the other hand, listening to calm music improves sleep. So if you are finding it difficult to sleep, try some overtures of Vivaldi or singles of Luther Vandross.<\/li>\n
  4. Turn off all lights<\/strong> – When the lights are on, the photo-reactive cells in the back of the eye are kept active, attempting to form images, and the brain tries to make sense these images; this means the brain that needs to be resting is still working, and thus sleep is not as rejuvenating as it ought to be. So make sure there is minimal to no lighting in the room while you sleep.<\/li>\n
  5. Avoid a snoozing alarm<\/strong> – Try and avoid the disturbance of a snoozing alarm. The time between the first snooze and when you are fully awake are likely wasted hours- it is neither restful nor productive. So determine how much sleep will be adequate and set the alarm accordingly. If you have to \u201csnooze\u201d the alarm when it goes off, it probably means you are not catching enough sleep.<\/li>\n
  6. Sleep on a comfortable bed<\/strong> – The last thing sleep is supposed to be is painful. Make sure your bed is firm enough to support your weight. Waking up with posture-induced bodily pains is a result that must be avoided at all cost. It defeats the purpose of sleep and sets you off to a suboptimal start to your day. So get a comfortable mattress- or at least one that doesn\u2019t sag at the lightest pressure- and enjoy a good night\u2019s rest.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    With these strategies we should get the required rest sleep is supposed to provide. It is not for naught that we spend a third of our lives sleeping; it is to make the remaining two-thirds as productive as possible. So make sure you are getting enough sleep so you can make the best of your life.<\/p>\n

    The conversation continues this Wednesday on the Citi Health Chat at 1pm.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    By: K.T. Nimako (MB ChB)<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Dr. Kojo Nimako is a private medical practitioner with an interest in public health and Citi FM\u2019s Chief Medical Correspondent. He is also the Executive Director of Helping Hand Medical Outreach, an NGO focused on health education.<\/p>\n

    E-mail: kojotwumnimako@gmail.com<\/p>\n

    Twitter: @KTNimako<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    11 days versus 40 days: That is how long you can avoid sleep versus how long you can avoid food. According to Scientific American (a popular science magazine), the longest [properly documented] time someone has survived without sleep is 11 days, while for food, it is 40 days. The argument goes on about which is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":69253,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[8,15],"yoast_head":"\nSleepless nights?: Here are 6 tips for a restful one - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2015\/04\/sleepless-nights-here-are-6-tips-for-a-restful-one\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sleepless nights?: Here are 6 tips for a restful one - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"11 days versus 40 days: That is how long you can avoid sleep versus how long you can avoid food. According to Scientific American (a popular science magazine), the longest [properly documented] time someone has survived without sleep is 11 days, while for food, it is 40 days. The argument goes on about which is […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2015\/04\/sleepless-nights-here-are-6-tips-for-a-restful-one\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/citi97.3\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-04-21T14:45:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Kojo-Nimako.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"750\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kojo Akoto Boateng\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@citi973\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@citi973\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kojo Akoto Boateng\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2015\/04\/sleepless-nights-here-are-6-tips-for-a-restful-one\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2015\/04\/sleepless-nights-here-are-6-tips-for-a-restful-one\/\",\"name\":\"Sleepless nights?: Here are 6 tips for a restful one - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-04-21T14:45:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-04-21T14:45:08+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1642ef473fe39bf0c4e2f2f252678eb1\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2015\/04\/sleepless-nights-here-are-6-tips-for-a-restful-one\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2015\/04\/sleepless-nights-here-are-6-tips-for-a-restful-one\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2015\/04\/sleepless-nights-here-are-6-tips-for-a-restful-one\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Sleepless nights?: Here are 6 tips for a restful one\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/\",\"name\":\"Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always\",\"description\":\"Ghana News | Ghana Politics | Ghana Soccer | Ghana Showbiz\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1642ef473fe39bf0c4e2f2f252678eb1\",\"name\":\"Kojo Akoto Boateng\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ba51f5385119e83762c67ecd6aa410ab?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ba51f5385119e83762c67ecd6aa410ab?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Kojo Akoto Boateng\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/author\/kojo\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Sleepless nights?: Here are 6 tips for a restful one - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2015\/04\/sleepless-nights-here-are-6-tips-for-a-restful-one\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Sleepless nights?: Here are 6 tips for a restful one - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always","og_description":"11 days versus 40 days: That is how long you can avoid sleep versus how long you can avoid food. According to Scientific American (a popular science magazine), the longest [properly documented] time someone has survived without sleep is 11 days, while for food, it is 40 days. The argument goes on about which is […]","og_url":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2015\/04\/sleepless-nights-here-are-6-tips-for-a-restful-one\/","og_site_name":"Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/citi97.3","article_published_time":"2015-04-21T14:45:08+00:00","og_image":[{"width":750,"height":500,"url":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Kojo-Nimako.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Kojo Akoto Boateng","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@citi973","twitter_site":"@citi973","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kojo Akoto Boateng","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2015\/04\/sleepless-nights-here-are-6-tips-for-a-restful-one\/","url":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2015\/04\/sleepless-nights-here-are-6-tips-for-a-restful-one\/","name":"Sleepless nights?: Here are 6 tips for a restful one - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-04-21T14:45:08+00:00","dateModified":"2015-04-21T14:45:08+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1642ef473fe39bf0c4e2f2f252678eb1"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2015\/04\/sleepless-nights-here-are-6-tips-for-a-restful-one\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2015\/04\/sleepless-nights-here-are-6-tips-for-a-restful-one\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2015\/04\/sleepless-nights-here-are-6-tips-for-a-restful-one\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Sleepless nights?: Here are 6 tips for a restful one"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/","name":"Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always","description":"Ghana News | Ghana Politics | Ghana Soccer | Ghana Showbiz","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1642ef473fe39bf0c4e2f2f252678eb1","name":"Kojo Akoto Boateng","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ba51f5385119e83762c67ecd6aa410ab?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ba51f5385119e83762c67ecd6aa410ab?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Kojo Akoto Boateng"},"url":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/author\/kojo\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110029"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110029"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110029\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69253"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110029"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110029"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110029"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}