In order to function perfectly throughout the day, science requires adults to have at least seven up to nine hours a day of sleep. Unfortunately, having enough sleep seems almost impossible for most people. It can be blamed to factors like their lifestyle, the food they eat, their health situation, and even the environment they belong to.
WHAT IS SLEEP DEBT?
Sleep debt is actually a term used by experts regarding a person's cumulative effect of insufficient sleep. This could eventually cause people to experience physical or mental tiredness, a decrease in productivity, anxiety, irritability, fuzzy-headedness, and difficult to focus. Aside from that, long term effects include other serious illnesses like diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, memory loss, insomnia, and obesity, the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development reported.
IS IT POSSIBLE TO REPAY YOUR SLEEP DEBT?
No matter how complicated and impossible it may seem, repaying your sleep debt is still possible. The good news about this is that paying this debt will never be with interest. The only thing that will cost you is a lot of effort and time. The process may be difficult at first, especially in altering your body's rhythmic pattern, but surely it will be beneficial in the end.
WHAT DO WE NEED TO DO?
You can start paying off your sleep debt by reprograming your body to sleep and wake up at the right time. Doing so can help the body refresh its circadian clock, which is basically the reason why the body has the urges to sleep at a particular time and wake up naturally without the pressure from any gadget or any clock. Though it may be hard at first, try to sleep early the next night and wake up at your most desired waking time. It may not guarantee you a complete and perfect rest yet, but at least you are already on your way to paying your sleep debt. Eventually, you will surely feel rested after a couple of nights.
Another thing you can do to completely pay off your sleep debt is to eat the right kind of food, which can help you correct your sleeping patterns. According to Healthline, there are nine best foods to eat before going to bed that can help a person have a well-rested and wonderful sleep.
These foods include turkey, almonds, chamomile tea, kiwi, tart cherry juice, fatty fish, walnuts, passionflower tea, white rice, milk, oatmeal, bananas, and cottage cheese.
