健康睡眠的12个秘诀

作者花了二十多年时间研究睡眠，又花了许多时间写出《Why We Sleep》，在书的末尾提供了12条提升睡眠质量的建议，我尝试着用自己的语言进行一次翻译。

  1. 坚持规律作息，让睡觉时间与醒来时间每天都保持一致，周末也不要例外，毕竟周末的晚起并不完全弥补工作日欠的睡眠账，还会让周一更难起床。设定一个提醒自己睡觉的闹钟吧，让我们每天都规律睡眠。如果这12条建议，只能留下一条，那就是这条了——规律作息 。（书中经常举例的睡眠时间是11点到7点。）

  2. 运动是棒棒的，不过不要太晚运动，最好早于睡觉时间两到三个小时。如果可以的话，每天至少运动30分钟。（我的亲身体会是，打球确实能够提升我的睡眠，但如果晚上10点还在打球，当天晚上的11.30甚至到12点，我的脑子会不停地胡思乱想，导致第二天精神略差。）

  3. 尽量别喝咖啡、别抽烟。咖啡、可乐、某些茶和巧克力都含有咖啡因，摄入的咖啡因需要8小时左右才能被身体排除干净，它会抑制adenosine（腺苷，清醒时分泌的一种化学物质，积攒的越多越想睡觉）的效果，下午喝的咖啡排不干净就可能会影响晚上的入睡了。尼古丁也是一种兴奋剂，会导致吸烟者睡的很轻，另外，尼古丁被身体排出体外，可能会导致吸烟者早上醒的过早。

  4. 睡觉之前不要饮酒。喝一小杯能够放松身心，喝多了会剥夺REM睡眠，一直处于浅睡状态。过度饮酒还会导致夜间呼吸障碍，也会导致半夜醒来。（最后一句我是不太懂的，不过晚上会醒来是肯定的，喝啤的，会一直起来上厕所，喝白的，就会一直想要喝水；都会在半夜醒来好几次。作者这里说能够放松身心，并不是建议睡前喝一杯，少量的酒能使人放松，但对睡眠质量并无帮助。）

  5. 避免深夜暴饮暴食。少吃点没关系，吃多了会消化不良，喝多了会频频起床。

  6. 如果可能的话，避免使用会影响睡眠的药物。一些药物会影响睡眠，如果有睡眠问题，在医生开药的时候咨询一下是否可以每天早点服用。

  7. 下午3点之后不要小睡啦。小睡可以弥补睡眠不足，但是太晚的小睡，会使得晚上难以入眠。

  8. 睡觉前需要放松一下。忙碌一天之后，请在睡觉之前给自己留一点放松时光，看看书、听听音乐。（或者摆摆家常？）

  9. 上床之前洗个热水澡。洗澡之后身体温度的下降能够让人产生睡意，洗澡可以使人放松、让自己慢下来，更好入眠。

  10. 让卧室保持黑暗、凉爽、安静，选择适合自己、让自己舒服的床和枕头，将一切可能影响睡眠的事物都搬离卧室。

  11. 如果可能的话，多晒晒太阳。有条件，每天晒太阳至少30分钟。日光是调节日常睡眠模式的关键，日出而作、日落而息，不止美，也是人类进化了340万年的生理规律。

  12. 如果闭眼超过20分钟后还清醒、或者在床上开始感到焦虑担忧，不要一直躺着，起来做一些放松活动，直到有了睡意。担心自己睡不着会让自己更容易睡不着，相信自己，一闭眼就能进入梦乡！

翻译添加了一些我自己的理解，下面是英文原文：

  1. Stick to a sleep schedule. Go to bed and wake up at the same time each day. As creatures of habit, people have a hard time adjusting to changes in sleep patterns. Sleeping later on weekends won’t fully make up for a lack of sleep during the week and will make it harder to wake up early on Monday morning. Set an alarm for bedtime. Often we set an alarm for when it’s time to wake up but fail to do so for when it’s time to go to sleep. If there is only one piece of advice you remember and take from these twelve tips, this should be it.

  2. Exercise is great, but not too late in the day. Try to exercise at least thirty minutes on most days but not later than two to three hours before your bedtime.

  3. Avoid caffeine and nicotine. Coffee, colas, certain teas, and chocolate contain the stimulant caffeine, and its effects can take as long as eight hours to wear off fully. Therefore, a cup of coffee in the late afternoon can make it hard for you to fall asleep at night. Nicotine is also a stimulant, often causing smokers to sleep only very lightly. In addition, smokers often wake up too early in the morning because of nicotine withdrawal.

  4. Avoid alcoholic drinks before bed. Having a nightcap or alcoholic beverage before sleep may help you relax, but heavy use robs you of REM sleep, keeping you in the lighter stages of sleep. Heavy alcohol ingestion also may contribute to impairment in breathing at night. You also tend to wake up in the middle of the night when the effects of the alcohol have worn off.

  5. Avoid large meals and beverages late at night. A light snack is okay, but a large meal can cause indigestion, which interferes with sleep. Drinking too many fluids at night can cause frequent awakenings to urinate.

  6. If possible, avoid medicines that delay or disrupt your sleep. Some commonly prescribed heart, blood pressure, or asthma medications, as well as some over- the-counter and herbal remedies for coughs, colds, or allergies, can disrupt sleep patterns. If you have trouble sleeping, talk to your health care provider or pharmacist to see whether any drugs you’re taking might be contributing to your insomnia and ask whether they can be taken at other times during the day or early in the evening.

  7. Don’t take naps after 3 p.m. Naps can help make up for lost sleep, but late afternoon naps can make it harder to fall asleep at night.

  8. Relax before bed. Don’t overschedule your day so that no time is left for unwinding. A relaxing activity, such as reading or listening to music, should be part of your bedtime ritual.

  9. Take a hot bath before bed. The drop in body temperature after getting out of the bath may help you feel sleepy, and the bath can help you relax and slow down so you’re more ready to sleep.

  10. Dark bedroom, cool bedroom, gadget-free bedroom. Get rid of anything in your bedroom that might distract you from sleep, such as noises, bright lights, an uncomfortable bed, or warm temperatures. You sleep better if the temperature in the room is kept on the cool side. A TV, cell phone, or computer in the bedroom can be a distraction and deprive you of needed sleep. Having a comfortable mattress and pillow can help promote a good night’s sleep. Individuals who have insomnia often watch the clock. Turn the clock’s face out of view so you don’t worry about the time while trying to fall asleep.

  11. Have the right sunlight exposure. Daylight is key to regulating daily sleep patterns. Try to get outside in natural sunlight for at least thirty minutes each day. If possible, wake up with the sun or use very bright lights in the morning. Sleep experts recommend that, if you have problems falling asleep, you should get an hour of exposure to morning sunlight and turn down the lights before bedtime.

  12. Don’t lie in bed awake. If you find yourself still awake after staying in bed for more than twenty minutes or if you are starting to feel anxious or worried, get up and do some relaxing activity until you feel sleepy. The anxiety of not being able to sleep can make it harder to fall asleep.

（原文链接）