There’s no unimportant part of your body, but we can’t overstate the significance of your heart. This powerful muscle ensures that all your organs and tissues receive the oxygen and nutrients they need to function properly.
Unfortunately, heart problems are all too common, and the dominos that fall affect virtually every aspect of your wellness.
You likely know that a poor diet, sedentary lifestyle, and smoking can harm your heart, but there’s another threat you might not know about: sleep deprivation.
Dr. Fahmi Farah and our team at Bentley Heart in Fort Worth, Texas, are here to explain the intricacies of the connection between your sleeping habits and your heart health.
When you don’t get enough sleep, your hormones are among the first to react. Hormones are chemical messengers that come from various glands in your body and travel through your bloodstream (thanks, heart) to be used by your cells and organs.
Your hormones control everything from your body temperature to your growth and development. They also regulate your hunger and appetite.
Lack of sleep ramps up the production of those hunger hormones, which can cause you to overindulge in your not-so-good-for-you cravings. Studies show that those who average fewer than seven hours of sleep per night actually tend to have higher rates of obesity compared to those who get more sleep.
Furthermore, insufficient sleep triggers changes in your body that increase blood pressure, blood sugar, and inflammatory markers. This trifecta threat makes you more likely to develop heart disease and the complications that follow, including heart attacks.
Some of us simply have poor sleeping habits that keep us up into the wee hours; others have a serious sleep disorder that makes it difficult or impossible to get enough sleep.
One of the most common sleep disorders is sleep apnea. If you have sleep apnea, your breathing pauses during sleep due to an obstruction of your airway. This reduces the amount of oxygen in your blood, which affects heart rate and blood pressure and makes heart problems more likely.
Whether you’re a late-night binger or a victim of sleep apnea, you can get your sleep and your heart health back on track. Experts recommend that adults sleep between seven and nine hours every night, and many agree that women should get closer to nine.
Here are some simple ways to hit those marks.
Your bedroom should be a dark, cool, quiet, comfortable shrine to sleep. We recommend removing anything from your room that disrupts the peaceful atmosphere (excess noise, bright screens, etc.) and doing your best to block out as much light as possible.
You should also reserve your bedroom for sleep (and sex) only. Try not to make your bedroom a multi-purpose room.
We recommend powering down your devices at least an hour before bed, if not earlier. This will help you curb your scrolling addiction and prevent blue light from disrupting your body’s natural sleep cycles.
Avoid exercising within two hours of bedtime. The more you move, the higher your body temperature is, which can make it harder to fall asleep.
You can help your brain recognize its bedtime by following a bedtime routine. This might include personal hygiene, reading, drinking a sleepy-time tea, etc.
Caffeine blocks the chemicals in your brain that are responsible for regulating sleep, so we suggest cutting off caffeine after midday, especially if you’re more sensitive.
The same goes for alcohol. Alcohol’s sedating effects may help you fall asleep, but you’re much more likely to wake up in the middle of the night and have trouble falling back asleep.
Bentley Heart offers at-home testing for sleep disorders like sleep apnea and insomnia. If we discover that you have one of these conditions, we can connect you with the right specialists to help you manage them.
Don’t work overtime cleaning up your lifestyle to support your heart health; forget about shoring up your sleeping habits.
If you have any concerns about your heart health, don’t hesitate to call our friendly staff at 817-720-5185 or use our online booking tool to schedule a consultation today.