Healthy Sleep: A Guarantor for a Longer Life

During sleep all forces are fully activated in order to regenerate your body and mind, to clear out and clean up properly. These forces create the precondition that we are back to 100 percent the next day - physically, mentally and emotionally. This actually happens, if everything goes well. However, sleep disturbances may hinder the metabolism functions and complicate the job of these 'regeneration forces.'

Tips for a healthy sleep

You should open the window! Fresh air promotes a healthy sleep. Thus, before you go to bed, aerate your bedroom well, or even better: sleep with open window! The ideal room temperature is usually between 58 to 66 degrees.

You should definitely remove plants from your bedroom, especially strong fragrant flowers, as they release carbon dioxide at night. Also leftovers of hair gel and hair spray could affect the well-being. So brush your hair thoroughly before you go to bed. It's even more beneficial and relaxing: Applying a gentle head massage.

Close your eyes! Sometimes, when you wake up in the morning, the eyes can be a bit swollen. This happens when lymph liquid is accumulated in the tissue overnight. It is helpful to sleep a bit raised and to massage the eye area gently before sleeping - 15 times with a light pressure from inside outwards.

What happens in the body

The sleep process actually changes during the night. While sometimes you wake up with every little noise, an hour later you would not even hear a knocking on the door: During sleep, each person goes through different phases. As soon as you doze off, the so called 'REM' sleep (REM: rapid eye movement) and the deep sleep (NREM: non rapid eye movement) alternate with each other. In the first phase your dreams are very intensive and vivid, the mind is ordered. In the deep sleep phase the body produces the growth hormone Melatonin, which mobilizes the 'regeneration troop'. These helpers boost the important biochemical processes, the liver works even harder and detoxifies the body, harmful substances are diminished, cells are renewed, energy is recharged.

How the beauty sleep works

At night the cell division gets into top gear. The skin is now able to breathe better. Oxygen molecules move from the blood to the connective tissue. -Besides, this is why we also call a healthy sleep a 'beauty sleep'.

There is a visible sign of the internal cleaning process: You can actually see a stronger coloring of the first-morning urine. If your complexion looks fresh and rosy in the morning, you probably had a great sleep. But if the skin looks pale, you likely had slept awfully or insufficiently.

Beautiful within seven hours

A sleep of seven to eight hours is optimal according to a golden rule which is confirmed by the science. Sufficient sleep promotes the health and is considered to be a guarantor for a longer life. Of course, many people are simply not able to sleep enough because they just don't find a peace of mind. Studies have proven that women are twice times more affected by sleep disturbances than men. What can be the cause? The hormones! Menstruation, pregnancy and menopause, but also stress may unsettle women and often induce sleep disturbances.

What may finally help

If you are unable to relax after a busy day you should try it with an evening stroll. It makes you tired and refreshens your skin. Also wonderfully relaxing is a warm footbath with essential oils, such as sage, rosmary, thyme, jasmine, rose blossoms, lavender and others.

The following tip has a double effect: Three to four hours before going to bed you should not eat. This promotes a peaceful and quiet sleep and helps to keep your slight figure. If you have a sweet tooth: Chocolate in the evening keeps you absolutely alert. You should better follow the advice from your granny: Drink hot milk with honey -before brushing your teeth- or simply enjoy a cup of aromatic fruit tea or soothing herbal tea!