Tips and Tricks

Alcohol may help you get to sleep faster and sleep better at first, but it disrupts your sleep later in the night, according to British researchers who reviewed all known scientific studies on alcohol’s impact on sleep.

The authors said they hope their findings will help people understand that drinking alcohol only gives the impression of improving sleep, and that it should not be used as a sleep aid.

The review found that alcohol consumption shortens the time it takes to get ...

Exercise and sexual activity are just two ways to help you catch some more z’s.

Instead of bragging about how little sleep we need, what if we rewarded star sleepers for their healthy habits?

First, we’d have to identify those key qualities that make someone good at sleep. A recent survey from Consumer Reports may offer some clues.

The publication asked more than 26,000 subscribers about their sleep habits. Nearly 60 percent reported feeling tired or having trouble falling or staying asleep at ...

Taking melatonin resulted in small increases in total sleep time, sleep onset latency, and sleep efficiency in adults with insomnia over age 55.

Over-the-counter melatonin appears to provide a measure of sleep for older individuals who have insomnia, a meta-analysis showed.

Among individuals 55 and older, treatment with melatonin significantly improved sleep onset (by 6.36 minutes) and total sleep time (by 18.29 minutes), according to Jennifer Brault, MD, a resident in psychiatry at the University of Ottawa.

Sleep efficiency was improved by 3.54 ...

Losing an hour of sleep this weekend may be more difficult for some than others. Find out why — and what you can do to make the transition to daylight saving time a little easier.

If you’re like some of us here at Everyday Health, you don’t sleep nearly as much as you should. We get it — with work, school, family, friends, and other obligations, who has time for eight hours of shut-eye every night? That’s what weekends are for, ...

Thinking about bringing naptime back? Read up on the where, when, and how to getting the most out of your midday snooze without feeling groggy.

Ah, naps. Some swear by them, others think they’re overrated. Whichever way you stand, the health benefits of napping are real. Just like toddlers get cranky without a nap, sleep-deprived grown-ups can get irritable, too.

Despite the upsides touted by famous nap-takers (Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, John F. Kennedy, just to name a few) and other devoted ...

When the clocks go back an hour this weekend, some people may have trouble adjusting to the time change.

Many welcome the switch from daylight savings time to standard time because it means an extra hour of sleep on Sunday, but some will find it difficult to adapt, according to Girardin Jean-Louis, a sleep specialist and professor of medicine at the State University of New York Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn.

Exposure to light at an earlier time in the morning may ...

What you need to know to get a good night’s sleep:

We know that 30% of the American population is sleeping less than six and one-half hours a night. We also know that 15% of Americans suffer from chronic insomnia. So what can we do to improve our sleep?

First, we need to come to the realization that we need at least seven to eight hours of sleep a night. If we don’t accept that then we are very ...

Why is it that so many people complain of sluggishness after lunch? What is it about this particular time of day that makes some of us so vulnerable to fatigue and sleepiness? Why is it so common to have trouble concentrating and paying attention during this period? It really has to do with a balancing act between our intrinsic biorhythms and our environment.

As soon as we awaken, the pressure to fall asleep gradually develops in the form ...

Whether you are traveling a hundred miles by car or across many time zones by plane, your sleep is very important. Here are some tips that might help.

If you are traveling by car, make sure you get a good night’s sleep before the journey.

Stop every two hours to stretch and relax.

Avoid alcohol consumption the night before. This can cause problems with remaining sleep and may leave you dangerously sleepy the next day.

If traveling by plane, consider noise-canceling headphones ...

Your “sleep hygiene” describes your sleep habits. By improving your sleep habits, you can increase your chance of falling asleep fast, staying asleep and sleeping between seven to nine hours each night. A good night’s sleep has many health benefits. Most importantly, you will feel great.

1. Only Sleep and Have Sex in the Bedroom

The bedroom should be used only for sleep and sex. That means no reading in bed and no TV in bed. Doing these things (or anything else) ...