There’s nothing worse than not being able to sleep. You can end up spending hours watching the clock throughout the night which can make it even harder to nod off.
Not getting enough sleep can have a huge impact on your health, as well as affecting your physical and mental performance during the day. It can leave you feeling pretty tired and grumpy, too.
From taking hot baths to not using your phone before bed, there are lots of tricks you can use to help you get to sleep. What you eat ahead of bedtime can make a difference, and there’s one fruit in particular which can help you wind down, the Mirror reports.
READ MORE:
Experts at BedKingdom.co.uk have shared why kiwi fruit is a fantastic way to wind down before bedtime, and how it can make you feel better in the long run.
They said: "Kiwi fruit has been a feature in many people's bedtime routines for many years, and the science backs up the kiwi's value as a sleep aid.Studies have shown that kiwi fruit can help improve sleep quality, sleep timings, and sleep efficiency after a month of regular kiwifruit consumption before sleep.
"Kiwifruit contains high amounts of serotonin and antioxidants, as well as vitamins like folate, and B vitamin, which can help to treat sleep disorders as well as help reset your sleep schedule."
Avoid caffeine consumption late in the day is another tip the experts recommend as it can "take up to 10 hours to leave the bloodstream completely", therefore, it can interfere with sleeping properly. And if you exercise at night time, it may be time to switch up your routine, as studies have found that morning time is the best time to work out.
They said: "A 2015 study by Yamanaka et al. found that vigorous exercise before bed disrupts the body's natural rhythm and makes it harder to get to sleep. This then makes it harder to keep to a sleep schedule, as well as reduces the quality of sleep achieved after intense exercise performed before bedtime.
"This study found that rapid eye movement (REM) sleep was decreased by 10.5% in the people that performed intensive exercise before bed.
"REM sleep is important because it is the time when your brain consolidates your memories, committing things learned during the day to long-term memory, as well as being the time when you dream most vividly.
"The same study found that sleep quality was improved when the intensive exercise was done in the morning.
"Therefore, it is best to avoid intensive exercise in the run-up to bedtime, ideally moving the exercise session earlier in the day to accommodate the best quality of sleep and allow for the best sleep schedule."
For more of today's top stories, click here.
READ NEXT:
- The streets where the day you die is decided from the moment you're born
- 'I bought my house mortgage-free. When I moved in I thought I'd made the biggest mistake'
- The Lazy Sunday Quiz: Test your general knowledge with these 10 questions - April 2
- Things to do in Greater Manchester in April
- Supermarket shamed over price hikes now second cheapest behind Lidl - and it's not Aldi
