Alteril Promotes Good Sleep Hygiene

You've heard it said that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. This applies as much to your sleep life as it does to your wake hours. Adequate sleep is so important to our well-being and ability to function throughout the day. This makes good sleep hygiene all the more important.


Before we proceed any further, let's clarify a few things. Sleep hygiene refers to controlling the environment and behaviours that influence sleep.

Over half the American population claims to have sleeping problems at least once a week. The reasons for this are varied, from bad sleep habits, to stress, to acute and chronic insomnia.

This article outlines how to incorporate good sleep hygiene in your life, to minimize sleeping problems and to create the conditions required for good, restful sleep each night.

Good sleep hygiene starts with routine. Yes, routine can be boring and can be difficult to maintain. But developing and sticking to a daily routine is necessary to establish circadian rhythm � your body's internal clock. By waking and going to bed at the same time, every day, your body acclimatizes to the schedule you've set and adjusts accordingly.

This includes the same sleep schedule on weekends.

As a general rule, only go to bed when you feel tired. By adopting a sleep routine this shouldn't be a problem, as your circadian rhythm will adapt to your lifestyle and you'll most likely get drowsy around the same time each night, and ideally, wake refreshed at the same time each morning. If you're not tired at your scheduled bedtime, do light activity. Reading is great. So is listening to light music or relaxation techniques. But keep it light. Then, when you feel tired, go to bed.

On a similar note, try to develop a ritual within an hour of bed. Light music and reading can help. A warm bath can work, or a light snack. Turkey and light chicken meat are high in tryptophan and are effective foods for encouraging sleep.

Try to get a good night's sleep each night. This sounds like an obvious statement, but by adopting an effective sleep hygiene you're increasing the chance that you'll sleep soundly each night and reducing the chances that you'll be drowsy in the morning. Again, all about routine. On the days when you wake up tired, avoid napping, and never nap after 3PM. A bit of tough love on your body here, but stick to the routine, and more than likely you'll make up for it the next night.

Stay away from coffee and caffeinated beverages after dinner. Some people find alcohol can lead to sleeping problems. Alcohol is proven to reduce sleep quality, and depending on your physiology, you might want to avoid alcohol altogether after dinner. At the very least, you won't do harm by avoiding it.

Avoid heavy meals within three hours of bed, as they take hours to digest. The same goes for exercise. While exercise is very beneficial to overall quality of life and longevity, nothing strenuous within six hours of bed. Better yet, do your exercise early in the day.

Deal with your finances, career issues and other potential stressful factors during the day. A little stress management goes a long way. You can't avoid stress, but you can manage where, when and how you deal with it. Like exercise, do it in daylight hours, preferably away from home.

Don't bring stress to bed!

Keep your bedroom a sanctuary for sex and sleep. Avoid watching TV or reading in bed. If possible, keep all activities other than sex and sleep for other rooms. On nights when you're having problems falling asleep, get up and do something light in another room.

A good analogy for your bedroom is to keep it like a cave. Your bedroom should be dark, quiet and cool. This minimizes stimulating activities and encourages sleep. And by adopting good sleep hygiene methods, it's an effective way of dosing off and staying asleep for the night.

There will be nights when, no matter what you do, you just won't sleep. Avoid sleeping pills. They're addictive and have unpleasant side effects and withdrawal symptoms. They also come with the risk of accidental overdose and are dangerous when combined with alcohol.

Try Alteril instead, an all-natural sleep aid of proven and highly effective ingredients, including tryptophan, melatonin, theanine and valerian root. They're natural and produce no known side effects. Alteril doesn't require a doctor prescription and is specially formulated for short-term sleeping problems. Alteril is a comforting back-up plan, for those nights when it's difficult to sleep.

Just knowing that Alteril is there will put your mind at ease.

By implementing good sleep hygiene in your life and having Alteril as your safety net, you're on your way to sleeping soundly and waking refreshed each morning.