QUALITY OF NIGHT'S REST: HOW TO MONITOR IT? - IN SHAPE

Quality of night's rest: how much is it affected by stress and how to monitor it?

How many times has it happened to us to go to bed, close our eyes and, even if very tired, not be able to fall asleep? This probably happens because thoughts do not leave us alone: we find the stress of the day in the sheets at night. The quality of daytime life, in fact, affects the quality of our sleep.Taken by frenetic rhythms, we forget to listen to our body which, more than anything else, transmits strong and clear messages to us.

In recent years the attention to health has grown a lot, and we have certainly become more accustomed to monitoring it to always stay at our best. To be able to do it consistently by optimizing our time, Fitbit and Professor Lombardi (Head of the Sleep Medicine Center of 'Italian Auxological Institute IRCCS - San Luca Hospital) to explain how to improve our habits to increase the quality of sleep.

Daily stress and night's rest: how are they related?

What is the correlation between daily stress and night rest? How can the latter be affected by the effects of stress? It almost seems like a not very virtuous circle so: we are stressed, we do not rest and sleep badly stresses us even more. But to guide us in this path of understanding stress factors and how to sleep well, we have the advice of Professor Lombardi. "Sleep is part of the strategies necessary to preserve our health and in this view it must be known, respected and cared for when there are problems”Explains and specifies how badly sleeping, having a sleep that is always disturbed, can affect not only our level of psychological tranquility, but also cause damage on a physical level.

Our lifestyle can be the main enemy of sleep: frenetic rhythms, wrong nutrition, social and work pressure, poor exposure to sunlight can negatively affect our happy sleep. We asked her some questions to investigate the stress-sleep correlation and understand what risks are encountered and how we can remedy it.

Questions and answers from Professor Lombardi

What are the risks of sleep deprivation?
To deepen the correlation between stress and poor sleep quality, Professor Lombardi on our forum explains that: "Sleep is essential to preserve our health, therefore, sleep deprivation / disturbed sleep can lead to various consequences at the level of our body as a whole. In particular, it can be associated with an increase in cardiovascular risk, a decrease in our ability to concentrate and memorize, a reduction in our immune responses, an increase in inflammation, weight gain and mood alterations among the most important. The importance of sleeping in a regular and peaceful way is evident here: we are not just talking about simple daily tiredness, of eyes closing after lunch. Because resting well means taking care of your body at 360 °.

What are the different types of dorms?
We don't all sleep alike, just as we don't all have the same reactions to life events. Professor Lombardi explains to us: "The need for sleep is individual and can be partly genetically determined. There are short and long constitutional dormitories that therefore by nature sleep respectively less or more than the famous 7/8 hours and this does not necessarily have to worry especially if there is a day feels good and we carry out all our daily activities without difficulty.
In general, sleeping less than 4/5 hours per night or more than 9 hours / night may be a sign of some sleep problem. However, this also depends on the "age and in general on the" individual we are talking about ". If we feel that something is wrong, and we always wake up tired in the morning, it is best to consult a specialist.

Bad and good habits before going to bed

Thanks to Professor Lombardi, we have identified what to avoid and what to do before going to bed to promote sleep and avoid compromising its quality.

Bad habits:

use electronic devices such as cell phones, tablets, TVs and PCs before going to sleep
expose yourself to intense artificial light in the hours of darkness
take coffee and nicotine in the evening, or stimulants
doing strenuous physical activity after dinner

Good habits:

exercise during the day
eat lightly at dinner in the evening
have regular meal times and bedtime
work on your psychophysical balance during the day
expose yourself to natural light

It may seem complicated, but it's actually all about turning bad habits into distant memories and welcoming the good ones.

What are the characteristics of disturbed sleep?

As we have seen, disturbed sleep can also lead to various cardiovascular problems. But how to understand if the quality of our sleep is not adequate? Surely our sleep can be of reduced quality if we suffer from insomnia, in various forms, or from breathing disorders such as snoring or sleep apnea. And of course, emotional stress can also negatively affect both night sleep and daytime activities and make us irritable, nervous and unwilling to face the simplest daily challenges. It's not easy to stay focused, even at work, if we slept badly the previous night.

Monitor sleep and keep stress under control

What is a simple and practical way to remind us when to take a break for ourselves and also measure the quality of our sleep? To our aid comes Fitbit Sense, the first smartwatch in the world that introduced an integrated sensor capable of measuring electrodermal activity (or EDA), which helps us understand the body's response to stressors through a 2-minute scan. directly on the wrist. The measurements, visible both on the smartwatch and on the connected app, allow us to create a real "stress diary", able to give us information on the progress of our emotional state and on the progress we make. consult daily the stress management score, which ranges from 1 to 100: the higher the score, the greater our ability to keep this enemy of relaxation and well-being under control.
Another strong point of Fitbit Sense is the monitoring of sleep time in each phase (light, deep, REM) and wake time. Thanks to the data obtained from this function, we may be able to improve our rest. Also in this case there is an associated score, and our goal is to reach between 90 and 100 points, which is an optimal rest situation.

All Fitbit users also have other stress management tools at their disposal such as mindfulness sessions, yoga, meditation and deep breathing. In addition, those who buy Fitbit Sense will have 6 months free of Fitbit Premium, which allows them to have access to a more in-depth analysis of their data with more detailed information on the score related to stress and sleep, as well as tips and programs. customized to achieve their goals. In short, this Fitbit "health watch" is a real ally of our health and well-being!