Sometimes it’s quite easy to determine the poor quality of sleep. For example, if you have insomnia or sleep five hours instead of at least seven. However, the range of bad sleeping patterns is far more diverse. They include:
- irregular sleeping hours;
- oversleeping;
- eating heavy food before sleep;
- drinking alcohol or caffeine beverages at late hours;
- taking the wrong sleep position, etc.
The signs of a bad night sleep can often be seen the next day. If you always feel tired and drowsy, or experience headaches and throat dryness in the morning, it’s highly likely that the reason is hidden in sleep. So let’s find out more about the features of inadequate sleep.
Signs and effects of bad sleep
Sleep is a period when we refresh our energy. Its quality directly affects our productivity. Furthermore, rest is proved to be involved in many brain processes, like memory, creativity, and so on. That’s why it’s essential to be aware of the signs and effects of bad sleep.
If you go to bed and can’t turn in for more than 30 minutes, it might be an alarm bell. If you regularly wake up at night for whatever reason (nightmares, urinating, gasping, snoring, etc.), your sleep gets interrupted, and it deprives you of quality rest again. Speaking about snoring, it can be a symptom of sleep apnea, a disorder characterized by breathing pauses during sleep and causing significant harm to your wellbeing.
On the other hand, you can ask ‘is too much sleep bad for you’? Of course, it is. If you overeat, do you feel well? Same works for sleep.
Why is sleeping too much bad for you? When you spend a lot of time in a horizontal position, it creates additional effort for your heart to pump the blood which can further flow into such issues as heart disease, diabetes, memory problems, anxiety or depression. So be careful with it.
Returning to food, there is a popular question: ‘Is it bad to eat before sleep?’. It depends on what and how much you eat. Avoiding fast carbs, fried food, alcohol and caffeine drinks will be great. Opting for light whole-grain products, nuts, warm milk or green tea will probably not cause any damage.
Sleeping on your stomach: right or wrong position?
Sleeping on the side is the most popular sleep position that delivers the best night’s rest. Know more here about it. If there was a sleep position ranking, an on-stomach would be the outsider. Although it sometimes helps with snoring, it can be harmful to the rest of the body.
Why is it wrong to sleep on your stomach? Firstly, it’s hard for your neck and spine to get a neutral position. Secondly, your bones create additional pressure on muscles which can lead to numbness, pain, and nerves irritation. Sleeping on the side is much better.
So, if you want to increase sleep quality, you can start with easy things like creating a regular sleep routine, avoiding heavy food and drinks, or just changing a sleep position.
If you want to get more expanded information on key sleep indicators, feel free to use our app Goodsomnia Lab. It helps to monitor your sleep and figure out the existing alarm bells, especially snoring sounds.
