Chatelaine / November 2003
Nodding off as you read this? When you last slept might account for your drowsiness more than the amount of shut-eye you clocked. Stanford University researchers discovered that when sleep time is limited, the better hours for nodding off are from 2:15 am to 6:13 am. That could be because you sleep better when your body temperature dips late at night, says Dr. Alistair MacLean, a clinical psychologist and sleep researcher at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont. Here’s how to get a restful sleep if you travel, work shifts or sleep erratically:
· Determine your best sleep time. Then tell your family and friends when not to disturb you, suggests James MacFarlane, lab director at the Centre for Sleep and Chronobiology in Toronto.
· Walk in the early morning sunlight. This will synchronize your body to local time and ward off midday sleepiness. Light suppresses melatonin, a sleep-promoting hormone.
· Make up for lost sleep by napping. Twelve hours after the midpoint of your last night’s sleep is ideal. For example, if you normally sleep between 10 pm and 6 am, your ideal nap time would be 2 pm.
· Use prescription sleep medications on a short-term last-resort basis. Long-term use could kick-start an unhealthy psychological dependence.
KAREN RICHARDSON