When 2pm hits do you immediately feel the urge to run into the break room for your afternoon coffee? Are you struggling to make it through the day without needing a nap at 5pm? Think about how many times you catch your head bobbing as you doze off at your desk or worse, behind the wheel. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), around 15% of women and 10% of men regularly feel exhausted in the United States. The CDC also reports that one third of American adults get less than the recommended amount of sleep.
Did you know that not getting enough sleep is linked with a multitude of chronic diseases and conditions like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and depression? Clearly, these conditions are taking a massive toll on our country, but who knew sleep had a role to play in this?
Here are a few possible reasons why you’re always exhausted and what you can do to have a better night’s rest:
Not Getting Enough Sleep
As previously mentioned, 1 in 3 Americans are not getting an appropriate amount of sleep.To put into perspective how dangerous lack of sleep can be, the below numbers are the results caused by drowsy driving each year.
- 72,000 crashes
- 44,000 injuries
- 6,000 fatal crashes
If seven hours of sleep each night is hard for you to acquire, try to maintain a consistent sleep routine, avoid napping throughout the day, keep your bedroom dark, limit the amount of caffeine you consume, and avoid smoking or drinking before bed.
Limited Physical Activity
According to research done by the University of Georgia in Athens, one single 20-minute moderate exercise session helps to boost energy. This is as simple as mowing your lawn, going for a walk with your dog, or riding your bike for twenty minutes. You can totally make one of these things happen every day.
Poor Nutrition
Remember what they taught you in grade-school – You are what you eat! When you eat a healthy, balanced diet, your body will thank you. A few small changes you can make to your current diet includes eating the proper amount of calories for your needs, filling half of your plate with fruits or vegetables, cutting down on how much sugar you consume, always eating a nutritious breakfast, and eating at regular intervals.
Take a minute to think about which one of the aforementioned factors could be most affecting your quality of sleep and make a commitment to reach a well-rested state by the end of this week!
If you need help finding a great doctor that can help you with your nutrition and sleep management please visit our site www.PATopDocs.com
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Sources: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/320800.php | https://www.cdc.gov/sleep/index.html
