Here’s what we’ll cover in this blog post:
- How sleep affects longevity
- What keeps us from sleeping well
- Tips for better sleep
Tired of feeling tired?
When was the last time you woke up feeling energized, refreshed, and truly awake? Sleep isn’t just essential for survival—it’s the foundation for how we feel and function throughout the day.
Research shows that a good night’s sleep is just as important—if not more important—than regular exercise and healthy eating. That’s because poor sleep doesn’t just leave you feeling fatigued; it can have a profound impact on your food choices, exercise capacity, stress levels, and overall health. In this sense, quality sleep is the foundation upon which all other healthy lifestyle habits are built. A single night of poor sleep can significantly reduce the benefits you would gain from eating right and exercising hard, as it compromises next-day insulin sensitivity and recovery.
Prioritizing sleep is crucial for your health and longevity, as quality sleep supports cellular repair, hormonal balance, insulin sensitivity, and healthy immune function, all of which are essential for slowing the aging process.
Here are 5 science-backed tips to help you fall asleep faster, reduce nightly wake-ups, and optimize the quality of your sleep so you wake up feeling refreshed.
Tip #1: Exercise (Anything to Get Your Body Moving!)
Exercise offers numerous benefits, and one of the most valuable is its ability to promote better quality sleep. A growing body of research suggests that physical activity, especially high-intensity training, may help synchronize natural, healthy production of melatonin—the hormone responsible for regulating your circadian rhythm (your 24-hour internal clock) and helping you fall asleep more easily. You know the feeling when you get into bed and fall asleep instantly, like flipping a switch? You can thank your natural melatonin for that.
Exercise also boosts sleep quality in other ways. It helps reduce stress hormones like cortisol, which is one of the most common reasons people have trouble falling asleep. It also triggers the release of “feel-good” chemicals, such as endorphins, which improve your sense of well-being and relaxation. Additionally, exercise helps lower your body temperature at night—a key signal that tells your brain it’s time to wind down and prepare for sleep.
When fitting exercise into your daily routine, there’s one thing to keep in mind: watch the timing of your workouts. Exercising too late in the evening can delay melatonin production and raise core body temperature, making it harder to fall asleep. Morning workouts, especially in daylight, support your circadian rhythm and help you start your day feeling energized.
If it’s a sunny day, consider a morning walk or run. 15-20 minutes is all you need. It’s a simple way to boost your mood, regulate your internal clock, and set yourself up for a better night’s sleep.
Tip #2: Create a Comfortable Sleeping Environment
Your bedroom environment is key to a good night’s sleep. It’s not simply about having a comfortable mattress and pillows—it’s about creating a space that supports rest. Aim for a quiet, dark, and cool space for optimal sleep. Our brain evolved to sense cues in our environment, such as reduced light and lower temperature after the sun sets, to trigger sleep-preparation pathways. But in our modern environments with tightly controlled temperature regulation and artificial lighting, those environmental cues have faded, interfering with an evolutionarily programmed sleep trigger that has existed for hundreds of thousands of years.
While there’s no perfect temperature, experts recommend keeping the thermostat between 65 and 68°F. Cooler temperatures help signal to your body that it’s time to wind down, encouraging deeper, more restful sleep. Specifically, a drop in core body temperature. One extremely effective sleep hack is to ditch the thick blanket and replace it with a light sheet (yes, even in the winter). Thick blankets may feel cozy, but they keep our core body temperature warm and interfere with our brain’s sleep pre-game process. Another strategy is to sleep with little, light, or no clothing – except for socks. When your brain perceives your feet warming and your core body temperature dropping, it will trigger its “sleep prep response”.
Minimizing light is also crucial for maximizing your rest. If you watch TV, use your cell phone, or do work in your bedroom, your brain starts to associate the space with alertness instead of rest. To train your brain to associate your bedroom with sleep, reserve the space for sleep and sleep only. This way, when you enter the room, your brain knows it’s time to relax and wind down for the night.
By creating an environment that supports rest—both physically and mentally—you set yourself up for better, deeper sleep.
Tip #3: Unplug and Relax Before Bed
It’s essential to wind down your mind before bed to ensure quality sleep. Practicing relaxation techniques—whether it’s a 10-minute meditation, listening to calming music, taking a warm bath, or reading—can significantly improve sleep quality and reduce nighttime awakenings.
If you share a bed with a partner, one way to reduce excessive nighttime awakenings is to consider a “sleep divorce”. Much of the time, fragmented sleep is caused by our partners tossing and turning, especially for light sleepers. You and your partner should continue your nighttime routine: brush together, read next to one another, and enjoy time together in bed, but when it’s time to sleep, agree to make it a time for yourself. This can be absolutely transformative for your sleep and health.
Whichever method suits you best, make sure it doesn’t involve technology. The blue light from smartphones or TVs can make falling asleep harder. If possible, turn off bright lights two hours before bedtime for optimal results.
If you need to use technology before bedtime, turn down the brightness or wear blue-light-blocking glasses to reduce the negative effects.
Tip #4: Eat (But Not too Much)
An empty stomach can keep you awake, but eating too much before bed can place stress on the digestive system and leave you too uncomfortable to sleep. The trick is finding the right balance. From a biological perspective, eating raises your core body temperature, which promotes wakefulness.
To give your body time to cool down and prepare for rest, try to avoid large meals 2-3 hours before bedtime. If you’re feeling a bit hungry, consider a light snack like fruit, nuts, or crackers to hold you over without disrupting your sleep. This approach helps maintain a comfortable core body temperature and supports a better night’s sleep.
Tip #5: Stick to a Sleep Schedule
Our brains are predictive machines that thrive on routines and predictive schedules to regulate sleep physiology. Having an irregular sleep schedule can throw off your internal clock, disrupt your brain’s sleep prep pattern, and negatively impact your sleep quality. Studies show that sticking to a regular sleep schedule is even more important for reducing the risk of heart disease and death than getting 8 hours. Healthy sleep schedules aren’t necessarily early to bed, early to rise. Research suggests they are best constructed based on each individual’s chronotype.
Chronotypes are the set of unique genes each of us has that determines our optimal sleep-wake timing. Morning types benefit with a schedule that is early to bed, early to rise: 9 pm – 5 am, whereas evening Type “night owls” benefit from later nights and wake times (11 pm – 7 am), and intermediate types function best in between. You can find your chronotype and optimal sleep timing here.
Regardless of what time you go to sleep, try to go to bed and wake up at the same time every day—even on weekends. Staying consistent helps train your body to sleep better and can prepare your body to naturally wake up without the need for an alarm clock.
Sleep plays a critical role in maintaining your heart health, cognitive function, and metabolic balance, all of which are key factors in expanding healthspan. If enhancing your overall health and extending your lifespan are priorities for you, start by making quality and regular sleep a non-negotiable part of your routine.
Looking for more ways to optimize your sleep? Explore our sleep solutions designed to help you achieve deeper, more restorative rest and support your long-term health goals.
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Note: The above statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.