Sharing Your Bed May be Bad for Your Health

[Guest guest]

Importance of good sleep... -------------http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/02/13/Sharing-Your-Bed-May-be-Bad-for-Your-Health.aspx

It should come as no surprise that sleeping alone can improve the quality of your rest.

Ever wonder why children with their own bedrooms seem to sleep so

well through the night, while their parents sharing a bed down the hall

tend to toss and turn and have trouble falling or staying asleep?

There are many reasons for sleep differences between children and

adults, of course, but the benefit of sleeping in a bed and bedroom

alone is certainly one of them.

Movement in or on your bed not made by you has the potential to disturb your sleep. So do light, noise, electromagnetic fields, and any number of other disruptive influences in your bedroom.

Why Good Sleep is So Important

The amount and quality of your sleep isn’t something to be taken

lightly. Many people give sleep too little priority on the list of

things they do to be healthy.

The consequences of a chronic lack of rest are much more serious and

far-reaching than the vague feeling of fatigue you experience on and

off during the day.

Sleep is just as important to your overall health and longevity as good nutrition, sufficient exercise and the ability to manage your emotions and the stress of daily life.

Insufficient, poor quality sleep can undermine all your other

efforts to lead a healthy lifestyle. Lack of sleep can set the stage

for some very serious illnesses, including:

 

 

Changes in your brain activity similar to those experienced by people with psychiatric disorders

 

Entering into a pre-diabetic state

 

Weakened immune system

 

 

Faster tumor growth

 

Hormonal changes and fertility problems

 

Increased risk of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and obesity

 

Do You or Your Partner Have Insomnia?

The average night's sleep lasts under seven hours according to a 2008 poll by the National Sleep Foundation (NSF).

The NSF recommends seven to nine hours of sleep each night as a

guideline, which you should then tailor to meet your individual sleep

requirements.

Despite these recommendations, up to 40 percent of adults report

symptoms of insomnia that make it difficult for them to fall asleep and

stay asleep.

Insomnia, whether chronic or occasional, is defined as:

 

Difficulty falling asleep

 

Waking frequently during the night

 

Waking too early in the morning and not being able to get back to sleep

 

Waking feeling un-refreshed

 

Insomnia affects your hormone levels, accelerates aging, and increases your risk for serious disease.

The top underlying causes of sleep disorders include:

 

Stress: All types of negative emotions, including

worry, fear, anxiety, etc., can keep you up at night. Stress tops the

list when it comes to pinning down the cause of insomnia and other

sleep disturbances.

 

Overactive adrenals: Increased levels of stress hormones in your body can lead to a hyper-aroused state that makes it difficult to sleep.

 

Eye problems: People with damage to their optic nerve

can have problems sleeping, including difficulty falling asleep, waking

up at strange times, sleepiness during the day and insomnia at night.

 

EMF Disturbances: Using a cell phone before going to bed

could cause insomnia, headaches and confusion, and may also cut your

amount of deep sleep, interfering with your body‘s ability to refresh

itself. Additionally you may have an improperly wired bedroom with

unshielded wires or you might have a point source of high EMFs such as

a refrigerator on the other side of your bedroom wall. Magnetic fields

are not blocked by walls and it will go right through them.

 

If either you or your partner suffer from insomnia and share a

bedroom, neither of you is getting the high quality sleep you need for

good health.

Could Separate Bedrooms Be the Answer?

Many couples object strenuously to sleeping apart. In fact, less

than 10 percent of partners in their 40’s and 50’s surveyed for the

British study had separate bedrooms.

However, if you and your partner aren’t sleeping well together and

you’re willing to try an alternative arrangement, I strongly recommend

experimenting with separate sleeping quarters.

You may discover your own bedroom is exactly what you need for proper sleep, especially if your partner snores, hogs the covers, moves around or gets up frequently during the night.

The sacrifice you make by parting ways at bedtime could potentially

mean the difference between good and poor health for both of you. I’m

sure many couples, given an informed choice, would gladly trade

sleeping in the same bed for robust good health and vitality into their

golden years together.

Top Tips for Getting a Good Night’s Sleep

If you and your partner are not prepared to sleep separately, there

are still plenty of things you can do to improve the quality of your

rest.

 

Exercise regularly. A Stanford University

Medical School study found that after 16 weeks in a moderate-intensity

exercise program, subjects were able to fall asleep about 15 minutes

earlier and sleep about 45 minutes longer at night. However, don't

exercise too close to bedtime or it may keep you awake.

 

Address the emotional component of insomnia by using the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT).

EFT can help balance your body's bioenergy system and resolve some of

the emotional stresses that are contributing to your insomnia at a very

deep level. The results are typically long lasting and the improvement

is remarkably rapid.

 

Make sure your

sleeping environment is comfortable and conducive to sleep. This

includes keeping the temperature cool, adding in some white noise if

you need it and making sure your room is pitch-black. If there is even

the tiniest bit of light in the room it can disrupt your circadian

rhythm and your pineal gland's production of melatonin and serotonin.

For this reason, I highly recommend adding room darkening drapes to

your bedroom, or if this is not possible wearing an eye mask to block

out any stray light.

 

Get to bed as

early as possible. Our systems, particularly the adrenals, do a

majority of their recharging or recovering during the hours of 11 p.m.

and 1 a.m. In addition, your gallbladder dumps toxins during this same

period. If you are awake, the toxins back up into your liver, which

then secondarily backs up into your entire system and causes further

disruption of your health.

 

Eat a

high-protein snack several hours before bed. This can provide the

L-tryptophan need to produce melatonin and serotonin. Avoid before-bed

snacks, particularly grains and sugars. This will raise blood sugar and

inhibit sleep. Later, when blood sugar drops too low (hypoglycemia),

you might wake up and not be able to fall back asleep.

 

No

TV right before bed. In fact, get the TV out of your bedroom. It is too

stimulating to your brain and it will take longer to fall asleep. It

also disrupts the circadian rhythm of your pineal gland and production

of melatonin and serotonin.

 

For more ideas to resolve insomnia and other sleep issues, read my 33 Secrets to a Good Night’s Sleep.

It is very important to value sleep as one of your most precious

resources for health and happiness. If you do that, you can then figure

out what you need to sleep really well.