Getting More Sleep Can Prevent Colds
July 2nd, 2009
There are many different ways you can help your body with cold prevention such as getting enough sleep, avoiding contact with sick people, building up your immune system, and washing your hands or using anti-bacterial spray /gel. There are many people who find it very difficult to get enough rest, which can oftentimes lead to a nasty cold. Here are a few great tips to help you be able to get better sleep at night and more of it.
Tip #1: Limit caffeine intake
Even if you are used to drinking a lot of caffeine, drinking it too close to bedtime can impede your ability to fall asleep quickly. A good rule of thumb is to not drink caffeinated beverages later than 6:00 pm.
Tip #2: Drown Out Your Thoughts
Oftentimes our brains are the cause of our sleep issues. Going over the next day’s tasks, thinking about our financial problems, or pondering on how to improve our children’s behavior can all impede our ability to get to sleep. Listening to a soothing cd or watching a familiar movie can be helpful for some people. They are able to tune out their thoughts and drone out to the background noise. If these methods are too engaging for you, try turning on a fan or humidifier to distract your thoughts. Or as a last resort, keep a notebook by your bed and write down all your thoughts before turning out the lights.
Tip #3: Exercise
Getting enough exercise throughout the day prepares your body to be more tired and relaxed and ready to go to sleep at a reasonable hour. However, it’s a good idea to avoid exercising too close to bedtime as it can get your heart and mind racing and have the opposite affect.
Tip #4: Limit screen time
Having your mind actively engaged in a mentally stimulating activity right before bed can cause some difficulty in falling asleep. For some reason adjusting from computer or television time can be hard for the brain. The best thing to do is pull yourself away from those types of activities as it gets closer to your bedtime. Use some of the suggestions in tip #5 for ideas on better activities to engage in.
Tip #5: Engage in relaxing activities
One of the best ways to get to sleep is to read something BORING. Reading can be a useful tool to help you calm down, but if you are too involved in the book (think Twilight or Harry Potter) it can just cause more problems because you might find yourself staying up too late to finish the story. Some people don’t have that problem, but if you do, grab a few non-fiction books to keep on hand for this purpose. Other relaxing activities such as knitting, just sitting and chatting, playing a calm board game, taking a hot bath, etc. are all great ways to calm yourself down right before bed.
Hopefully some of these tips might be useful for you in getting some better sleep. I know I prefer to use natural cold remedies for prevention and cold treatments instead of always pumping over the counter drugs into my body.
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