Sleep Your Way to a Healthy Heart
By Sara Butler
Getting a good night’s sleep has a lot of benefits to your health and one of the most important is the health of your heart. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, when you don’t get enough sleep then you increase your chance of chronic disease. That makes quality sleep vital to your overall health and well-being. Here are a few tips to help you sleep your way to a healthy heart.
The Disease Connection
If you don’t get enough sleep, or enough quality sleep each night, then you’re leaving yourself more susceptible to diseases such as:
- Diabetes
- Cardiovascular disease
- Obesity
- Depression
Simply working toward healthier sleep habits can have an impact on your overall health and help to thwart these health conditions -- when combined with other healthy lifestyle choices, of course!
Tips for Better Sleep
Obviously, sleep is very important to heart health. So, how can you get better sleep? Here are a few tips you can start tonight:
- Work on quality – How much you sleep is important, but so is the quality of the sleep you get. If you wake up several times through the night, then you may find yourself exhausted even after the customary eight hours of sleep. Many things can disturb your sleep, so make sure to see a healthcare professional if your quality of sleep is really suffering because there may be something deeper going on.
- Don’t get too much – It may seem that when it comes to sleep, more is better, but that’s not the case. If you sleep more than nine hours per night and you’re not a child, that could be an indication of illness.
- Get up at the same time – This may not sound like a great plan for the weekend, but it’s crucial to the quality of your sleep. If you can train yourself to go to bed and get up at around the same time each day, then you’re on the road to healthy sleep habits that support a healthy heart.
- Control your stress – Too much stress isn’t good for your heart or your sleep. Take time to do an activity that helps you find stress relief each day. It could be exercise, meditation, or even listening to your favorite music.
Sleep is important to your health, so do what you can to make sure the sleep you’re getting is the best it can be!
To learn more about your health, wellness, and fitness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic in Sandy, Utah.
