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Sleep is one of the most if not the most important thing you can ever do to your body. You can survive three times as long without food than you can without sleep. Along with the obvious reasons, a proper nights sleep is beneficial to your health, sex life and it can even help with body pain. But the sad truth is that around 40 million people in the United States have chronic long term sleep disorders and 20 million experience occasional sleep disorders. With these kinds of numbers its a surprise that anybody gets any sleep at all. Seeing these numbers made me start to wonder about what could cause all of these sleepless nights. Of course medical history has a large part of it, but many people with sleepless nights could remedy them if they just followed some simple steps, that is why I compiled this list of simple reasons why you could be getting those restless nights. Plus things that can fix them!

1. Your room isn’t dark enough.

Ideally, your bedroom shouldn’t have any lights on, especially light emitted from a TV or any electronic device. When your eyes are exposed to light during the night, your brain is tricked into thinking it’s time to wake up and reduces the production of melatonin, a hormone released by your pineal gland that causes sleepiness and lowers body temperature. Try covering up lights on electronics or even unplugging them.

2. Exercising too late.

If you exercise within three hours of trying to sleep, you’ll overstimulate your metabolism and raise your heart rate causing restlessness and frequent awakenings throughout the night. Try to exercise in the morning or no later than mid to late afternoon, which will result in sounder sleep.

3. Drinking alcohol too late.

We tend to think of alcohol as a sleep inducer, but it actually interferes with REM sleep, causing you to feel more tired the next morning. Granted, you may feel sleepy after you drink it, but that’s a short-term effect. Here’s a great video at WebMD about alcohol and sleep.

4. Room not correct temperature.

Your body and brain like to sleep at a certain comfortable temperature, so when your room is too hot or too cold it thwarts your sleeping process. Try keeping a fan in your room, that way if it is too hot or cold you can adjust your blankets to compensate plus the white noise will help drown out noise.

5. Caffeine still in your system.

The average half-life of caffeine is 5 hours, which means that you still have three-quarters of the first dose of caffeine rolling around in your system 10 hours after you drink it. Most of us drink more than one cup of coffee, and many of us drink it late in the day. If you’re going to drink coffee, drink it early.

6. Clock watching.

Though it’s hard not to do, don’t look at your clock when you wake up during the night. In fact, it’s best to turn it around so it’s not facing you. When you habitually clock watch, you’re training your circadian rhythms the wrong way, and before long you’ll find yourself waking up at exactly 3:15 every night.

7. Getting up to watch TV until you’re sleepy.

This is a bad idea for a few reasons. First, watching TV stimulates brain activity, which is the exact opposite of what you want to happen if your goal is to sleep soundly. Second, the light emitted from the TV is telling your brain to wake up (see #1 above).

8. Trying to problem-solve in the middle of the night.

All of us wake up at times during the night, and the first thing that pops into our heads is a big problem we’re worried about. The best thing you can do is stop yourself from going there and redirect your thoughts to something less stressful. If you get caught up on the worry treadmill, you’ll stay awake much longer.

9. Eating protein too close to bedtime.

Protein requires a lot of energy to digest, and that keeps your digestive system churning away while you’re trying to sleep — bad combination. Better to have a light carbohydrate snack.

10. Smoking before bedtime.

Smokers equate smoking with relaxing, but that’s a neurochemical trick. In truth, nicotine is a stimulant. When you smoke before trying to sleep, you can expect to wake up several times throughout the night; much as you would if you drank a cup of coffee.

What do you guys do that helps you sleep at night?

Happy Discovery

resources: Disalvo, David. “10 Reasons Why You Can’t Sleep And How To Fix Them.”Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 11 Oct. 2012. Web. 30 Jan. 2015.

Swierzewski, Stanley J. “Sleep Disorder Overview.” – Sleep Disorders. N.p., 01 Jan. 2010. Web. 30 Jan. 2015.

We all know sex is fun, but what some people don’t know is how beneficial sex can be to your health. That is why this weeks top ten list is all about the tried and true horizontal hokey pokey!

1. Orgasms Can Relieve Pain

During an orgasm, the body releases a hormone known as oxytocin. Among other things, oxytocin is responsible for other sexual functions and can also be a powerful pain killer. According to a study by Beverly Whipple, professor emeritus at Rutgers University, when women had an orgasm “the pain tolerance threshold and pain detection threshold increased significantly by 74.6 percent and 106.7 percent respectively.”

2. Semen May Have Antidepressant Properties

Not only is human sperm full of protein and can be a powerful antioxidant, but women who have unprotected sex might be happier. A study conducted a few years ago by researchers at the Department of Psychology at the State University of New York at Albany found that female students who were having sex with condoms showed more symptoms of depression than those who had sex without.

“These data are consistent with the possibility that semen may antagonize depressive symptoms and evidence which shows that the vagina absorbs a number of components of semen that can be detected in the bloodstream within a few hours of administration,” said researchers.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that you unprotected sex is always the way to go — using a condom significantly lowers your risk for sexually transmitted infections like gonorrhea, HIV, chlamydia, and more. Always use protection with casual or new partners.

In addition, the findings in the study are not necessarily relevant to all sexual relationships. Studies have also shown that multiple sexual partners, promiscuity and unprotected sex may also have a correlation to depression and lower self-esteem.

3. Sex Can Strengthen Your Cardiac Muscles

Researchers at the British Royal University found that when they had examined a group of men leading sexually active live they had a much lower risk of having either heart attacks or strokes. The hormones released during sex can physiologic benefits.

“They produce a healing effect on the whole body, improve digestion and expand blood vessels. Rhythmic motion during sex and delightful cramps improve the muscle tone, especially stomach muscles,” said Dr. Alexander Poleyev, professor in the Institute of Psychoanalysis at the Moscow State University.

4. A Boost To Your Immune System

The Department of Psychology at Wilkes University conducted a survey on 112 college students; those with more frequent sexual encounters showed higher immunoglobulin A (IgA) levels when saliva testing was done. IgA is a protein that fights infections is plays a major role in human immune systems.

5. Fights Aging

Dr. David Weeks of the Royal Edinburgh Hospital claims that having sex three times a week can make you look four to seven years younger. In a previous study he noted that “pleasure derived from sex is a crucial factor in preserving youth. It makes us happy and produces chemicals telling us so,” said Weeks.

Also, because of an increase in blood pressure to various parts of the body including the face, fresher skin cells are pushed up higher to the surface giving a more youthful looking appearance.

“Sex is the most intense kind of pleasure and that triggers certain chemicals. In women it produces a human growth hormone which helps the process,” said Weeks.

6. Countering Prostate Cancer

In the U.S,, almost 30,000 men die from prostate cancer related causes every year. Research has found that frequent ejaculations may lead to a lower risk of prostate cancer later in life.The Journal of the American Medical Association published a study which found that men who had 21 or more orgasms a month were 30 percent less likely to develop prostate cancer than those who has less than 10 per month. The study was conducted by Michael Leitzman, a cancer researcher at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland.

7. Better Sleep

Laura Berman, the director of the Berman Women’s Wellness Center of Beverly Hills, California found that the endorphins released during sex can actually promote a better night’s sleep.

“We also found that sexual satisfaction not only is a stress reliever but impacts intimacy. Taking a vacation together, going on a date night a week, taking care of yourself, exercising,”Berman said. “All of that will do great things for your stress levels, to alleviate depression, to enhance your relationship, which really enhances your quality of life and your sense of wellbeing, which will all contribute to your sleep.”

8. Prevent Future Incontinence

During an orgasm the pubococcygeus muscle, or PC muscle, contracts during sex. This muscle also controls urine flow and aids during childbirth in women. As women age, this muscle gets weaker and can sometimes lead to urinary incontinence. Doing Kegel exercises will not only help in preventing bladder issues, it can also increase the pleasure from an orgasm.

9. It Can Make You Smarter

Dr. Jens Forster at University of Amsterdam and Jacobs University Bremen found that people who merely thought about sex had better critical thinking skills than those who didn’t.

Forster and her team discovered accelerated brain cell growth in sexually active lab rats as compared to their virgin control counterparts. While the basis for the study is derived from the conclusions of lab rat testings, research has shown that in the past 10 years, findings conclude that there is a correlation between sexual activity which releases positive chemicals in the body and promotes healthy brain cell growth.

10. It’s Good For Your Overall Happiness

A study conducted at UC Boulder found that people who had sex at least two to three times a month were 33 percent more likely to self-report higher happiness levels than those who reported having no sexual encounters.

Tim Wadsworth, an associate professor of sociology determined that “people reported steadily higher levels of happiness as they reported steadily higher sexual frequency. But he also found that even after controlling for their own sexual frequency, people who believed they were having less sex than their peers were unhappier than those who believed they were having as much or more than their peers.”

What are your favorite reasons to have sex?

Happy Discovery

This list was found on Medical Daily, for more great articles like this you can head over to Medical Daily by clicking here.

Source: Bachai, Sabrina. “The Top 10 Reasons Why Sex Is Good For You.” Medical Daily. N.p., 20 May 2013. Web. 28 Jan. 2015.