Mois : mars 2018

Easter weekend is just around the corner! Do you know what rhymes with Easter weekend? Chocolate bunnies, candy eggs, chocolate eggs etc. in other words, sugar sugar and more sugar! Don’t worry, this article is not going to be a sugar/witch hunt. We acknowledge that sugar is an essential ingredient of any diet: carbohydrates “also known as saccharides or carbs, are sugars or starches. They are a major food source and a key form of energy for most organisms.” Unfortunately, when we talk about a sugar rush, we usually refer to the real witches: processed and refined sugar found in sodas, candies, cookies and cakes. These can bring harmful symptoms of a sugar rush that will directly affect your sleep.

The chocolate bunny rush

Did you know that eating chocolate at night could potentially keep you awake? You probably already know about it but chocolate contains caffeine and caffeine (which has been called the most popular drug in the world, by the way) is a stimulant: it “enters the bloodstream through the stomach and small intestine and can have a stimulating effect as soon as 15 minutes after it is consumed”. It easily causes sleep disturbance or insomnia in some cases. You should definitely avoid any source of caffeine, including this tempting chocolate bunny close to bedtime, otherwise you’ll be counting sheep for the rest of the night.

The jelly beans rush

Wikipedia describes a jelly bean as a “small bean-shaped sugar candies with soft candy shells and thick gel interiors”. This description should make you drool with envy… Just looking at their bright, colorful and tasty colors, is an invitation to eat them all! However, have you ever consider looking at the ingredients and nutrition facts of your favorite Easter candies yet? Well it’s easy, they are primarily made of sugar. These types of processed sugar/carbs can screw with your sleep : they can “delay your body’s release of melatonin, a hormone that controls your sleep-wake cycle and helps you slide into deeper, higher-quality sleep” as explains a recent Columbia University study from Marie-Pierre St-Onge, Ph.D.

Every day, the average American consumes 23 teaspoons of added sugar.

While sleep can affect your blood sugar levels, your blood glucose control can also affect your sleep. It’s a vicious cycle and you must tackle this problem seriously. I’m sure that you’re going to say: But it’s Easter! Therefore, our final advice would be: do not restrict yourself too much but eat your Easter treats with moderation and you should avoid sleeping crash for the rest of the weekend.

Happy Easter and good night to everybunny!

Most adults need between seven to nine hours of sleep per night. It may sound a lot but it is the result of an actual study made by the US National Center for Biotechnology Information, showing that sleeping below this average significantly reduce our cognitive skills. Keeping that in mind, our main concern should be how do we make the most of these crucial hours? Today, we want to go through the list of few items that could help you to fall asleep easily moving forward.

Clothing can provide enough insulation to cause overheating.

Our second tip is to sleep nude and stop buying pajamas! Body temperature is one of the major key component of a good night. Ideally, your bedroom should never be warmer than 70 degrees Fahrenheit. If you don’t like being naked in bed, your go to pajama should be made of silk (silk is a thermoregulatory, it keeps cool when you’re hot and warm when you’re cold). You also have the casual 100% cotton option, to keep you cool and non-clammy. The best pick will be a pajama that is comfortable for you.

A good mattress is good but don’t underestimate the power of bed sheets and pillow cases.

When buying new bedding, don’t take a higher thread count for granted. It may sounds like you’re buying a luxurious product but as Ariel Kaye (CEO of the Parachute Bedding company) mentioned, « Anything that’s over 400 is a manipulation of fabric or thread ». In terms of raw material, cotton or Egyptian cotton are the best choices versus synthetic fabrics. You’ll certainly get a more uncomfortable sleep experience with synthetics: they have a tendency to wrap heat.
Quick reminder, you must always wash new bed sheets before using them: so many irritants could transfer from the packaging to the fabric. Bedding must be tossed to the laundry basket every week: the more you’re active, the sooner you should wash them.

Free bonus item: get as much natural lighting exposure as you can!

Did you know that exposure to more light during the day and less light at night is critical for healthy sleep patterns? Light exposure affects our cortisol patterns, melatonin production and our sleep/wake cycles. One solution to improve your sleep is to make sure to expose yourself to natural lighting during the day and before bed. If you’re working in an office 9 to 5, we know it’s a challenge but you must find a way to “look out a window, seek light during the day, especially during the morning or go out during lunch time” as advised by Mariana Figueiro, Director of the Lighting Research Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Keep in mind however, that simply buying new pajamas and bedding or relax in the sun will never be the only things that will help you sleep well at night. Following a sleep schedule and obeying proper sleep hygiene rules are both essential to a good night’s sleep.

Sweet dreams!

The weekend is almost here! You’ve been waiting the entire week to hashtag TGIF on your favorite social media, and you already know how you’re going to enjoy your well-deserved out of office: you’re going to use one of your favorite glass, pour your favorite liquor in it, and enjoy the most relaxing and peaceful moment of your week.

The first thing you’re going to feel, will be this very special relaxed and uninhibited pleasure.

Like a drug, alcohol has direct effects on the brain. It “may seem to be helping you to sleep, but overall it is more disruptive, particularly in the second half of the night,” based on researcher Irshaad Ebrahim from the London Sleep Centre in the U.K. The more you drink before bed, the more pronounced these effects. Alcohol consumption can trigger:

– New or deeper sleep disorders including insomnia and sleep apnea.
– More frequent need to get up to the bathroom (the body wants to evacuate toxins from kidneys and bladder)
– Greater risk of snoring (due to excessive relaxation of head muscles)
– Increased sleep walking

The results of these triggers speak for themselves: a light and disrupted night’s sleep that leads to exhaustion and dehydration.

Alcohol is the most common sleep aid: at least 20 percent of American adults rely on it.

The truth is, drinking regularly (even moderate drinking) is much more likely to interfere with your sleep than to assist it.
Nevertheless, we are all humans, we know that nobody is perfect; we also know that St Patrick’s Day is just around the corner and we’re not going to judge you by your whisky consumption… This is why we want to give you a few tips to let you enjoy your favorite one, while considering your sleep moving forward:

– Try to empty your last glass of alcohol, 3 to 4 hours prior bed.
– Avoid sparkling wine or alcohol and soft drinks mixes. They are MVPs for bloating issues!
– One drink of alcohol = one drink of water! That’s the best anticipated hangover cure.
– Never ever, combine alcohol with sleeping pills. These two encourage respiratory difficulties.

Once again, we come face to face with the simple fact that, no matter how you look at it, moderation is always the key.

Today is the day to set the record straight. First, we are celebrating overall achievement of all women for this International Women’s day 2018, but we also want to take the time to remind you (or to teach you) that gender gap issues are not only linked with salaries or opportunities: they are also impacting our sleep patterns.

There is scientific evidence that women need approximately 20 minutes more sleeping time every day.

This evidence based on Professor Jim Horne studies, seems surprising at first sight. However, if science is able to acknowledge that the “man flu” really exists (when a man is regarded as exaggerating the severity of his flu symptoms), why not also rethinking our preconceived gender sleeping notions?
It is known that women’s brain activity is different from men. A woman instinctively knows how to switch rapidly between several tasks, which is something good and bad at the same time. Switching also means frequently interrupting the brain’s activity and this could potentially leads to anxiety. Since we sleep to heal and regenerate our brain, it is also obvious that the more the stress, the worst it is for our sleep length and quality.

Another scientific fact: women suffer from insomnia a lot more than men do.

There are many physiological reasons to explain that: periods, estrogens, progesterone, hormonal fluctuations, pregnancy, stress, anxiety, menopause… On top of that, have you ever heard about the “mom’s ears”? In other words, a mom never really sleeps deeply because there is a mysterious physiological internal body clock, that wakes her up at night, to respond to any infant or children’s need. All these wonderful events directly affect women’s ability to sleep or to stay awake.

Now, are there solutions to help improving women’s sleep?

Dear women, we are not going to let you down! Thanks to the National Sleep Foundation, we listed below some of their most relevant tips to improve your sleep moving forward:
• You need to maintain a regular bed and wake time schedule.
• Bedtime routine should be relaxing! You better leave your cell phone and Instagram feed closed…
• Your bedroom should be comfortable, quiet and dark as much as possible.
• Finish eating at least 2 or 3 hours before bed. Nobody ever slept peacefully with bloating discomforts.
• Avoid nicotine, caffeine and alcohol prior to bed (and in general, that goes without saying)
• Sleep on your side for a better breathing.

Ladies, please use our tips and have a good night! We wish you a wonderful International Women’s day.