URBAN DISEASES 101: SLEEP HYGIENE
Whether you're a habitually unhealthy night owl, or a victim of blue-light impairment, chances are you live in an urbanised environment where issues like loneliness, pollution triggers and lack of sleep are more prevalent. With more than 50% of the world’s population already crowding in dense cities, we’re expecting to see this number rise to 70% by 2050. Urban diseases — or urban-related issues — are very much critical, and if you’re a fellow city dweller, this series is for you.
To tackle the first part of the series, we’re diving into sleep hygiene. No, it’s not about the cleanliness of your unwashed sheets. The idea of sleep hygiene is all about being consistent with healthy sleep habits. Whether this is your screen downtime or how often you go for that midnight snack, what you do to ‘unwind’ and prepare your body for sleep plays a huge role in the quality and duration of your bedtime. We don’t need to tell you about the importance of a good night’s sleep, although we can show you how to implement effective, sleep-inducing strategies into your existing routine.
Sleep myth #1
YOUR BODY GETS USED TO LESS SLEEP.
“My body only needs a few hours of sleep” — is simply not true research has found that over time, lack of sleep affects our decision-making processes, memory, and crucial aspects of health such as hormone production and mental headspace. Comprehensive studies have shown that 7-8 hours of sleep is the optimal duration associated with best health outcomes for adult in all age groups.
Sleep myth #2
THE MORE YOU SLEEP, THE MORE RESTED YOU’LL FEEL.
Although the duration of sleep is how we usually measure our restfulness, it’s always quality over quantity. Some insomniacs experience an issue with sleep consistency, sleeping at irregular times throughout the day preventing a truly restorative, good night’s sleep — consistency on timing of sleep is the key.
Sleep myth #3
AS LONG AS YOU GET 8 HOURS OF SLEEP, WHEN YOU GET IT SHOULDN’T MATTER.
Sadly untrue. Our body’s internal clock, dubbed the circadian rhythm, understands when it’s time to wake and sleep. This is why if you’re a night-shifter, your circadian rhythm is automatically set to another time zone. Like jet lag, you experience the challenge of shifting your circadian rhythm through environmental cues in light and temperature, as well as our hormonal production of melatonin.
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You may have heard, or seen melatonin stocked up on the shelves at Watsons. Usually a hormone in the form of a supplement, it helps to adjust our internal circadian rhythms to literally instruct our body that it’s time to snooze. When you ingest melatonin, it signals your brain that perhaps it’s nighttime, and time for bed. There is significant research behind the benefits of melatonin in adjusting our internal clock for better sleep habits, particularly for night-shift workers or those suffering from Delayed Sleep-Wake Phase Disorcer (DSWPD). However, melatonin hasn’t demonstrated to work for everyone due to a variety of sleep-related issues that need addressing: some have trouble falling asleep, some staying asleep, and others suffer from ‘poor quality’ sleep. These issues go on. Although melatonin is a way of receiving instructions to fall asleep, the process of getting there is still very much on your own. If you are someone experiencing severe insomnia, or sleep-related problems with much deeper-rooted causes — melatonin may not be the only solution for you.
This is why our C-Hemp CBD Oil Tincture in UNWIND has been formulated with melatonin integrated with CBD. If melatonin alone doesn’t work for you, try these two powerhouse ingredients that work hand-in-hand instead. CBD is a gentle approach that helps with sleep and is not harmful, high-inducing nor addictive. If sleep hygiene is something you’re looking to optimise, we get that switching off screens an hour before bed isn’t always the most viable night routine option. Instead, consider a non-invasive integration into your routine like CBD that won’t interfere with your current lifestyle.
Insomnia or sleep-related issues are typically caused by hormone imbalances such as our body’s cortisol levels. Known as the stress hormone, insomniacs that have trouble falling asleep may record higher cortisol levels during bedtime, hindering their ability to sedate themselves on their own. High cortisol levels throughout the night can also lead to sporadic nighttime awakenings, further deteriorating one’s quality and duration of sleep. In a CBD study, researchers found that at reasonable dosages — cortisol levels were significantly decreased — proving to be an efficient sleep aid that promoted sustained rest.
Alongside research into CBD and its sedating impacts on our cortisol levels, it’s important to understand that CBD and cannabinoids work by interacting with the proteins and cells of our brain. We all have our own bodily endocannabinoid system, and these molecules play a significant role in our sleep, mood, appetite and anxiety levels. Although CBD has been proven to work as an immediate solution for sleep, the case for CBD as a long-term solution was also demonstrated in a study involving a child with PTSD that led to poor sleep. With a small dose of CBD supplement administered daily, her sleep quality and quantity was found to improve after only a few months.
C-Hemp CBD Oil Tinctures, taken with an oil dropper or consumed as gummy bears, are also much more routine and beginner-friendly. Our edibles are not only easy to use (plus who doesn’t like candy?) and definitely less intimidating. With two options for CBD Oil Tinctures available, our higher-potency RELAX formula or the less potent, melatonin-integrated UNWIND, there’s something for everyone — just be as flexible as you can with the precise dropper and try not to consume the whole bag of gummy bears at once! Gradually, you’ll find the dosage to get you drowsy enough to fall asleep, but also get you the rest you need for feeling refreshed in the morning.
With the first of our Urban Diseases 101 concluded, we’ll be tackling the next couple of diseases and how CBD can help. To our fellow urban dwellers — let us know which disease you’d like us to move onto next!
