Five daytime hacks to fight fatigue and improve your sleep (while you’re awake)

The secret to feeling good after a good night’s sleep can start during the day. Here are some tips on how to improve your sleep and feel less tired.

Feeling tired? You’re not alone—and you may be wondering how to change your sleep habits as a result.

Often, the strategies we are told will help us feel calmer, focus on nighttime strategies, such as having a regular bedtime and not moving on the phone in bed. (Read more about some Science-backed ways to improve your sleep).

But a good night’s sleep isn’t just about your nightly routine. And feeling fresh isn’t always about a good night’s sleep. There are other things you can do earlier in the day while you’re awake that can have an effect.

Here are five ways to feel more rested, boost your energy levels and, yes, even improve your sleep, that don’t involve changing your own sleeping habits.

If you often feel tired despite making adjustments to your sleeping habits, it may be worth seeing your doctor to test your ferritin levels (a protein that helps store iron), or hemoglobinwhich transports oxygen throughout the body.

Several large-scale studies have found that adults who consume more fruits and vegetables report better sleep, while those who consume more fast food and soft drinks report worse. In particular, research has found that individuals who eat the so-called Mediterranean diet — characterized by high levels of vegetables, fruits, nuts, legumes, whole grains and low-fat dairy — sleep more consistently and better than those who don’t. Meanwhile, people who slept less than five hours a night were found to consume lower amounts of iron, zinc, selenium, phosphorus and magnesiumas well as vitamin C, lutein and selenium, than those who slept more.

It is always difficult to sort out the relationship between cause and effect, especially with subjects as difficult to study as food and sleep. For this reason, it is not clear from most studies whether people eat better when they sleep more, sleep better because they eat better, or both.

However, it is not just that we are more likely to seek out junk food when we are tired – it can also change the type of sleep we get. A study of 15 young people in Sweden found that when they consumed diets high in fat and sugar brain waves changed while they slept and the quality of their deep sleep had worsened. When they switched to a healthier low-fat, low-sugar diet, their deep sleep improved.

While such studies are small because of the difficulties in collecting data on brain activity while someone sleeps — they have to attend a sleep lab and be monitored overnight — there is plenty of other evidence showing the benefits of a more nutritious diet. healthy sleep.

Several randomized controlled trials show that taking five (or ten) vegetables a day can improve our sleep. A study of more than 1,000 young adults who ate less than three servings of fruits and vegetables a day, for example, looked at their sleep after increasing their intake. Three months later, the women (but, interestingly, not the men) were twice as likely to improve their insomnia symptomshad slightly better sleep quality and took less time to fall asleep if they increased their meals to at least six a day compared to those who did not.

Meanwhile, a randomized controlled trial found that when children were put on a diet that included eating green vegetables five times a week, they said they felt more rested and slept better. The researchers write that this is likely due to the high levels of vitamins in green vegetables, especially A and C, which also help absorb other minerals that can help with sleep, such as iron.

While the exact link between physical exercises and sleep is still being researchedphysical activity, in general, seems to help us sleep longer AND better – and you don’t have to do as much as you might think.

An authoritative 2015 meta-analysis of 66 studies, for example, found that even just a few days of exercise helped people fall asleep faster and sleep morewhile exercising more regularly also improved sleep quality. Most of the effects were small, but they were larger for people with sleep complaints. In other words, adults who struggle with their sleep can especially benefit from sweating.

Other studies show that exercise doesn’t have to be intense, or even daily, to make a difference. A review found that it was working three times a week had better sleep results rather than working every day (or just once a week). Moderate-intensity exercise can induce more sleep than high-intensity exercise, and even just 10 minutes of exercise a day can make a difference. And another review of the research shows this exercising in the eveningup to two hours before bed, it doesn’t disrupt your sleep – good news for those of us who don’t have time to lace up our trainers.

It appears on many people’s list of New Year’s resolutions, but for those of us who drink or smoke regularly, suddenly stopping it can be difficult to climb. This is probably because approach-oriented goals – those that are achievable and where success can be easily measured, such as adopting a new habit or introducing a positive change – are more successful than those that focus on abstinence. However, this year, you may want to try kicking a drinking or smoking habit as a way to feel more relaxed.

The benefits of breakfast are a bit clearer, however, when it comes to the meal’s potential effect on feeling mentally alert and sharp. A review of 43 studies found that eating breakfast can improve our memory and concentration – and while these effects were generally small, they were also consistent. The same has been found to be true for children, with randomized controlled trials finding this children eating a meal after waking up experience a boost in attention, memory and executive function.

Eating at regular intervals can also be helpful. Both the study of medical school students and other research, including a study of more than 1,800 graduate students in Taiwanfound that participants who ate at irregular times experienced more fatigue than those who did not.

These two studies were observational, so it’s possible that more tired participants were less likely to make time for breakfast or eat at regular times. However, a growing body of research has found that our circadian rhythms affect when we eatand that when we eat affects our circadian rhythms – so it seems likely that the relationship goes both ways.

If nothing else, if you struggle with fatigue, squeezing in time for a few eggs or a bowl of porridge before heading out the door might be an easier solution to try.

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