Stay away from these things for a healthy sleep

Sleep is an important part of our overall health. It is during sleep that after a workout our bodies repair and build muscle, our brains consolidate the new information that we have learned and store our memories, and our hormones, heart rate, and virtually all our systems slow down and stabilize. When we don't get enough or quality, there are many repercussions above and beyond being exhausted, such as a weakened immune system and changes in metabolism and resistance to insulin. You might think you know all the things you need to do for a good night's sleep before bed, but here are 12 things to avoid doing right before bed.

Watching TV For many of us, the time we can finally catch up on our favorite TV shows is the late evening after cooking dinner, cleaning up and getting children to bed. You are already exhausted by this time of night and you may find yourself falling asleep in front of the television. Then you're suddenly wide awake when you crawl into bed. What's there? Watching TV right in front of bed (or worse, having a TV all night) can make a good night's sleep quite disruptive. For a few reasons, this happens. The first is that your TV's blue light affects the amount of sleep-regulating hormone melatonin produced by our bodies, making you less likely to be sleepy. Your hormones are not only affected, but your mindset is also affected. At the end of the day, your body and your brain need time to wind down. You don't give yourself time to do that, especially your brain, if you watch TV right up to the moment you want to fall asleep. You may still think about what happened to that perp after he was arrested by Olivia Benson since this episode of Law and Order: SVU ended on a cliffhanger or removed on Project Runway next week. Using your phone or computer When you sleep right next to you in the middle of the night, raise your hand and use it until you go to sleep. Now put your hand down and out of your bedroom move your phone. It's disruptive in many ways to use your phone or a computer right before bed. Like watching TV, using your phone or computer gives your brain a lot to think about and digest for any reason right before bed. This is not particularly conducive to peacefully fall asleep. Smartphones and computers emit blue light disrupting melatonin just like televisions. Some of these devices now have a "blue light shade" that can be applied at night, similar to the effect of amber lens researchers have used to show that blocking blue light results in significantly improved sleep. If this blue light shade technology is not enabled on your device and you really have to use it right before bed, you might want to try to reduce the display's brightness.

Things you should never ever do right before going to bed.

Sleep is a crucial part of our overall health. It's during sleep that our bodies repair and build muscle after a workout, our brains consolidate the new information we've learned and store our memories, and our hormones, heart rate, and virtually all of our systems slow down and stabilize. When we don't get enough, or quality, sleep there are many repercussions above and beyond just being exhausted, like a weakened immune system as well as changes in metabolism and insulin resistance. You may think you know all the things you need to do before bed for a good night's sleep, but here are 12 things to avoid doing right before bed.

Watching TV

For many of us, the late evening after cooking dinner, cleaning up, and getting the kids to bed is the time we can finally catch up on our favorite TV shows. By this time of night you're already exhausted and may find yourself falling asleep in front of the TV. Then, when you crawl into bed, you're suddenly wide awake. What gives? Watching TV right before bed (or worse, having a TV on all night) can be quite disruptive to a good night's sleep. This happens for a couple of reasons. The first is that the blue light that is emitted by your TV affects the amount of the sleep regulating hormone melatonin that our bodies produce, making you less likely to be sleepy.

Not only are your hormones affected, but your mindset is as well. Your body and brain need time to wind down at the end of the day. If you're watching TV right up until the moment you want to fall asleep, you don't give yourself time to do that, especially your brain. You may still be thinking about what happened to that perp after Olivia Benson arrested him since this episode of Law and Order: SVU ended on a cliffhanger or who will be eliminated next week on Project Runway.

Using your phone or computer

Raise your hand if you sleep with your phone right beside you in the middle of the night and use it right up until the moment you go to sleep. Now, put your hand down and move your phone out of your bedroom. Using your phone or a computer right before bed is disruptive in many ways. Like watching TV, using your phone or computer for any reason right before bed gives your brain a lot to think about and digest. This isn't particularly conducive to falling asleep peacefully.

Just like televisions, smartphones and computers also emit melatonin disrupting blue light. Some of these devices now have a "blue light shade" that you can apply at night, similar to the effect of amber lenses researchers have used to demonstrate that blocking out blue light leads to significantly improved sleep. If this blue light shade technology isn't enabled on your device and you truly must use it right before bed, you may want to try decreasing the brightness of the display.

Reading a thriller

A great alternative to watching TV or looking at your phone right before bed is to read, but a lot of that depends on what you're reading. While reading a trashy romance novel, self-help book, or memoir may be a good way to wind down at the end of the day, having read a thriller in which the main character runs for her life or finds herself in a parallel world unlike ours, it will be much harder to rest. This is partly due to empathy with the narrative. We start associating and empathizing with the lead characters while reading, feeling what they feel. The emotions and physiological responses that you have to a book that you are reading can persist even after you close the book and prepare for sleep. Rather than helping you relax, your heart rate and brain activity can be increased by thrillers and similar kinds of books, preventing you from having a restful night's sleep.

Checking work email

Some people like checking their work email right in front of bed to find out what they're going to be going to work on the next day. Know what else can it do? Make the day ahead feel stressed. It's harder to fall asleep and stay asleep when you're stressed. Trade checking work email late at night to check it out in the morning before heading out of the door. After all, the night before work you can't do much that you can't do the next day. If you really have to check the night work email, try to do it at least one hour before you go to bed.