21/03 #20: Conquer Your Headaches

NOTE: I know a ton of these Tidbits have been about health recently, but you have to understand that health is one of the only fields where there is a wealth of universally useful knowledge that almost no one knows about! I'll switch subjects a little in the near future, but as for now, enjoy this heavily-requested Tidbit!

I have long suffered from headache pain, sometimes to a debilitating extent. For the longest time, I simply assumed that it was all attributable to my sinus problems (of which I also had plenty). I wrote off the pain and continued with my daily activities, often taking a common analgesic like acetaminophen (Tylenol) or ibuprofen (Advil) to expedite the recovery process.

But it eventually got worse. Once I started working, my headache pain increased to more intense headaches more often. I was having headaches as often as twice to three times a week, and I was taking the associated pain medications to cure them. I was never anywhere close to being physically addicted to pain medication, but it still didn't feel right having headaches as often as I did. So, I did what I always do when I have a problem: I set out to look for some answers. After some weeks of infrequent research and months of casual reading, I finally developed a solution that worked for me. As a result, I now hardly ever deal with headache pain, and when I do, I don't feel bad about taking the occasional analgesic to fix the problem, since I know it won't be coming back anytime soon.

A headache, put quite simply, is a culmination of pain involving the muscles of the face and neck and/or the meninges (brain membrane). Lots of people have to battle with frequent headaches, and I know firsthand that it's not any fun at all. They occur for any number of reasons, and are rarely associated with underlying medical conditions. The small percentage of headaches that are related to another disease or condition are called secondary headaches.

Chances are, however, that your headaches are primary headaches -- that is, headaches that are standalone in cause and condition and that can be treated symptomatically and preventatively. There are three main types of primary headaches. The first two:

• Migraine Headaches are accompanied by nausea, vomiting, sensitivity to light and sound, and throbbing pain, are caused by enlargement of the temporal artery. This artery enlargement is referred to as vasodilation, a phenomenon which is apparently initiated by the nervous system (presumably via a process related to the release of serotonin). In turn, the swelling of this artery puts pressure on the surrounding bundle of nerves, which causes throbbing and unbearable pain on one or both sides of the head. Migraines, however, only occur in approximately 6% of males and 18% of females (and these estimates are likely high).

• Cluster Headaches are typically concentrated around the eye, and they generally recur often for months. These headaches are very rare.

But the third type of headache is particularly interesting, especially if you haven't done a lot of reading on this subject:

• Tension-type Headaches are by far the most common type, with as much as 70% of the population suffering from them on a regular basis according to some studies. These headaches are characterized by constant pain of any intensity on either side of the head, and the pain often continues to the base of the neck and shoulders as well.

If you suffer from headaches on a regular basis, chances are you can attribute the phenomenon to tension-type pain. Tension-type headaches are "myogenic" (muscular) headaches, and they are incited by the tensing and spasming of facial, neck, and jaw muscles. Nearly everyone will have one during their lifetime, and most people will have hundreds. While these headaches are not associated with migraine-like symptoms (nausea, vomiting, light sensitivity, etc), they cause plenty of problems, mainly thanks to the fact that they are constant and recurring sources of pain that most people never find the answer to.

But if you're looking for temporary, symptomatic relief, here's a good place to start.

1. Sit down upright in a chair with your legs uncrossed in front of you.


2. Focus on the origins of your pain: your neck, shoulders, and the back of your head are likely culprits.


3. Rest your neck and shoulder muscles by dropping your arms to your sides.


4. Try applying moderate pressure with three fingers to a spot on your neck, shoulders, and upper back for eight seconds.


5. Release the pressure and perform a circular massage routine on that spot for another five to ten seconds.


6. Repeat this process for every sore spot -- or often just the entire surface area -- on your upper back, shoulders, and neck.


7. Be sure to also treat the hard protrusions in the center of each shoulder blade and the base of the neck.

Once you're finished with this exercise, you'll likely feel blood flowing all throughout your shoulders, upper back, and neck, and as a result, you will feel warm. But you will also notice a significant decrease in the severity of your pain if you are suffering from a tension headache. That's because these muscles you treated are some of the primary muscles involved in tension-type headache pain.

This technique will effectively relieve most tension headache symptoms, but if your headache has become particularly nasty, try a common analgesic. Acetaminophen and ibuprofen work for many people (ibuprofen has been proven stronger), but the most effective medicinal treatments involve combinations of acetaminophen or aspirin with caffeine or diphenhydramine (Benadryl). One particularly effective medicine is Excedrin (just make sure you get the type with acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine). And no matter what you do, don't take more than one dose of these medicines per 24 hours unless you absolutely must. Likewise, don't take headache medicine more than a couple of times a week, lest you may end up with a much more excruciating and persistent type of headache known as a rebound headache.

That's all well and good, but what if you want to prevent your headaches before they start? Well, there's no way to keep them away for good if you're a regular sufferer without completely changing your lifestyle. But there are ways to significantly reduce your encounters with common tension-type headaches. You might be surprised to find what could be leading to your headaches. Here's a list of the most common triggers, many of which applied to me!

• Reduce emotional stress. Stress is, believe it or not, one of the single most important ingredient in tension-type headaches. Whether you realize that you are stressed or not, this phenomenon leads to the tightening of facial muscles and clenching/grinding of teeth that can result in severe tension headaches. Whatever you do, try your hardest to cut back on stress in your life. It also helps to read up on some stress reduction tactics that can help you to psychologically cope with stress more effectively. Finally, try putting some plants in your office; plants have been shown to significantly reduce the stress level at work.


• Improve your posture. If you sit in a chair, often in front of a computer, for much of the day, your tension headaches are almost certainly developing partially as a result of your unhealthy posture. Make sure your back is resting against the chair or positioned in a firmly vertical fashion as you sit. Do not slump. Try to place your feet on the floor. Don't hold the telephone between your shoulder and ear. You have no idea how much muscular tension is created in your neck, upper back, and shoulders simply thanks to bad posture.


• Avoid clenching your teeth. Habitually clenching your teeth is called bruxism. Jaw pain, often a result of bruxism, leads to temporomandibular joint disorder, or TMJ. It's also a huge component of most people's tension headaches. Even if you don't have TMJ, your temporalis muscle will become sore after you clench your teeth enough, and you will develop a tension headache. This is one of the precise problems that lead to my constant headaches. If you grind your teeth at night (like many people do), eliminating stress from your life can cure you. If you can't seem to kick the habit, something like a Doctor's Nightguard will alleviate the problem and often cure tons of other issues you have been having (other than tension headaches, there's also ear pain, hearing problems, chipped teeth, misaligned teeth, and other stuff).


• Try to stay away from chewing gum as much as possible. Chewing gum trains the jaw muscles to clench, often leading to bruxism during sleep. It also deprives the jaw muscles of the rest that often occurs while you swallow when eating (the normal function that chewing contributes to), so it helps to exacerbate muscle tension in your face and jaw.


• Likewise, avoid biting your nails. Again, this can lead to problems with jaw pain.


• Stay hydrated. Make sure you drink tons of water, even if it means more frequent trips to the bathroom. Most people have no idea how many problems you can prevent simply by not depriving your body of water. You should shoot for 8 glasses of water per day (yes, that's a lot)! Here's why: depriving your muscles of water leads to increased spasmodic activity. Dehydration also prevents the effective absorption of oxygen into your blood. By the time you first start to feel thirsty, you are significantly less hydrated than you should be.


• Consciously focus on relaxing your facial muscles. During the day, try not to tense your forehead, jaw, or neck, and avoid squinting your eyes as much as possible. Deliberately relaxing your facial and neck muscles during the day can be a huge help to eliminating tension headache occurences.


• Try cleaning your air. At work, I've got a few co-workers who like to smoke on a fairly regular basis. This pollutes the air and can cause all sorts of problems. A lack of oxygen intake can lead to increased incidence of tension headaches. Eventually, after some discussion, we purchased an air filter and ionizer for my office; this quiet device not only helps to remove the tobacco smoke from the air, but it also improves breathing and oxygen intake and cleans the air through HEPA, carbon, UV, and ionizing techniques.

Finally, here are a few more tips from Natural Health Magazine:

Take a Break. Ward off or even relieve tension headaches in less than three minutes with the simple stretches below. Enjoy a brief break from your activities every couple of hours as you do them.

1. Coat Hanger: While sitting or standing, inhale and squeeze your shoulders up toward your ears. Then exhale and drop your shoulders as low as possible.


2. Rag Doll: Sit tall and let your head and neck hang forward without forcing your chin toward your chest. Take three deep breaths, allowing your head and neck to hang a bit lower with each breath.


3. Eye Can See: To relieve computer eye fatigue, look at an object in the distance, noticing as much detail as possible. Then close your eyes and visualize the object in full detail. Repeat at least once.

Thanks to AAFP, MedicineNet.com, and Natural Health for this Tidbit.

~os

20/03 #19: Think Twice Before Taking Your Vitamins

Well, maybe the title is a bit harsh. But regardless, this Tidbit was long overdue. I've heard rumblings about this here and there, but until I read a fascinating report in The Wall Street Journal today, I wasn't considering posting about it here. However, you might be shocked to hear the truth about these same vitamins that everyone else seems to swallow each morning in the form of a pill without a second thought. Today's Tidbit is just one more reason why you should also consider a reading regimen of the most informative newspaper on the planet.

Vitamins -- we all know that we need them. After all, how many reputable breakfast cereals are tagged with the claim "A healthy source of vitamins and minerals?" Well, regardless of what you might have deduced from the title of this thread, vitamins are not bad for you. They're just not something you should be going out of your way to load up your system with.

"Vitamin" means "vital anime" (not to be confused with "amino acid"). According to Howstuffworks.com, here's an explanation of just what that means: "Vitamins are organic (carbon containing) molecules that mainly function as catalysts for reactions within the body. A catalyst is a substance that allows a chemical reaction to occur using less energy and less time than it would take under normal conditions. If these catalysts are missing, as in a vitamin deficiency, normal body functions can break down and make a person susceptible to disease." The unique thing about vitamins is that they are not able to be manufactured by the body (unlike other necessary chemicals), so it's crucial that you maintain a usable level of these organic compounds, lest you deprive your body of some necessary tools for its health and survival.

This concept has been the cornerstone of a huge marketing campaign based around the necessity of good vitamin levels in the body. Adults take Centrum, some load up on Vitamin C to prevent themselves from getting sick (or so they think), and kids take Flinstones vitamins. However, what is not communicated is that most of us obtain a perfectly reasonable level of vitamins simply thanks to our daily diets. Of course, if all you're eating is potato chips all day long, you aren't getting everything you need. But the answer is not in pills -- studies have shown that taking vitamin pills is nowhere near as effective, or healthy, as getting them naturally along with flavanols, polyphenols, and other important minerals that work in a balance to keep your body healthy. In fact, according to today's Wall Street Journal, the murky research that is out there surrounding supplemental vitamin intake actually looks pretty bleak.

Let's take antioxidants for instance. Most of us have heard all about these, but in case you haven't, here's a rundown. If you've read my Tidbit about Cancer, you know that cell DNA damage that goes unrepaired is what leads to serious medical conditions such as autoimmune disorders, Alzheimer's, and cancer. This DNA damage is a result of what are referred to as "free radicals;" in other words, wreckless, rapidly-moving molecules that are produced both naturally by your body and by insultants like UV rays from the sun and cigarette smoke. We know that antioxidants nullify free radicals (they prevent oxidation, which is the process that damages your DNA). So, then, it follows that you should be taking antioxidants to help prevent these dangerous molecules from damaging your genes, right? Not necessarily -- not only has research pretty much concluded that antioxidants are entirely worthless (The Wall Street Journal says "The Food and Nutrition Board of the National Academy of Sciences -- the top U.S. authority for nutritional recommendations -- has concluded that taking antioxidant supplements serves no purpose"), but in fact, it is theorized that they actually make these conditions worse.

The logic is that your body naturally responds to free radicals by fighting them, but at the same time, these free radicals serve as important indicators to your immune system that repair of DNA damage is needed. Intuitively, if you provide other means for free radical disposal, such as by loading up your body with antioxidants, your immune system may not receive the necessary signals to initiate a repair or cleanup process. Thus, the damage goes unrepaired, and you've basically just done just the opposite of what you wanted to do by taking the antioxidants in the first place.

Other problems surrounding the use of vitamin supplements has surfaced as well. The WSJ article describes them in detail, but the gist of most of them is that taking pretty much anything as a supplement when you've already got a preexisting condition is potentially dangerous. Vitamin C, for instance, has been shown to strengthen cancer cells and promote tumor growth, primarily because cancer cells ingest it more rapidly than surrounding non-malignant tissue. It follows that there is also a higher chance that the tumor cells will then become resistant to chemotherapy (intravenous chemical treatment for cancer). Vitamin C can apparently be pretty dangerous, especially in high doses -- regardless of what you have been told! No vitamins have ever been shown to be hugely beneficial in any way when taken in supplemental forms. In fact, most scientists believe that it is merely the balance of vitamins and other crucial elements in your body that lead to good health.

But the biggest thing to remember is that none of these studies are conclusive in the big picture. In other words, while we know that antioxidants probably aren't worth taking, we don't know for certain whether or not they do more harm than good. Same with Vitamin C, since while it hasn't shown to prevent colds among normal humans, those who are under intense training or extremely stressful situations actually do benefit from it (at least in terms of immune response). Perhaps the best advice that anyone could take from all of this convoluted information is this:

• Natural sources of vitamins and minerals are always healthier than synthetic ones, the latter of which can actually be harmful to you. Apples and oranges >>> bottled vitamins.
• Taking anything in excess is bad for you (or so it seems, based on all the biology and health I have read over the years), so the best advice for pretty much any situation is to indulge in moderation. There aren't very many beneficial phenomena that are still extremely beneficial in high indulgence. Don't forget that!

That, my friends, is the only conclusive evidence that we have about pretty much anything related to personal health. Remember that these companies shoving vitamins and synthetically enhanced foods down your throat are simply there to make money; just like any other company on the planet, they have an Income Statement and stockholders to please first and foremost.

Thanks to The Wall Street Journal's March 20, 2006 Journal Report for this Tidbit.

~os

13/03 #18: Popping Your Knuckles

Here's another loverly little scientific mystery, perhaps partially fueled by your mother's constant warnings when you were a child about how popping your knuckles would some day lead to arthritis.

In fact, this isn't something that has had a lot of scientific research devoted to it. Most specialists who have looked into the situation, however, agree on one of a few theories as to what makes this phenomenon work to begin with. The most commonly accepted explanation is the same general idea behind chiropractic manipulation; that is, gas trapped inside the joints is released when you create an opening through which it can escape.

Luckily for you, knuckle-poppers, the most prominent study surrounding the risks of the activity (performed by Castellanos J. and Axelrod D.), which simply involved asking 300 nursing home patients about their habits and then associating those responses with incidents of arthritis, found that knuckle-popping does not lead to greater risk of arthritis. Unluckily for you, though, the study also found that it does increase the presence of joint swelling and impaired hand function.

In other words, while knuckle-popping won't lead to arthritis, there's no way it's actually good for you. That said, I do it still (and have been for my entire life), so I'm going to try and stop!

Thanks to Castellanos and Axelrod's Study and Wikipedia.

~os

06/03 #17: Why Your Computer is Slow

All right. Here's a subject that surely many of you already know plenty about, but since many of you also probably do not, I'm going to write about it anyway. If your computer is excruciatingly slow, yet you bought it recently (meaning, the past three to four years), chances are you can fix the problem completely and easily... often for free, and other times, for around $35 - $75.

Lots of people have problems with a slow computer. Here, we aren't discussing issues with gaming or anything like that; we're talking simple Windows operations (slow system startup, sluggish Windows performance, laggy applications). Of course, these days (whether you realize it or not), nearly everyone's got a fast enough processor to handle just about anything Windows will throw at it. The problem generally lies elsewhere.

Find and Remove Your Spyware

First of all, the easiest way to speed up most PCs is to simply remove spyware infections, which nearly everyone with inadequate protection has. This is a fairly easy process (in most cases). Here's my personal method:

1. Download Ad-Aware. Save it to your Desktop.


2. Restart your computer in Safe Mode. To do this, simply click Start > Shut Down... > Restart. As your computer boots up, press F8 repeatedly (not too rapidly, though, or you'll exceed your keyboard buffer and it won't work). If you see the Windows logo screen, it didn't work. Press Reset and try it again until you get a menu. Once you see this menu, select "Safe Mode" or, even better, "Safe Mode with Networking." Windows will boot normally, but this time, it won't load anything but the most basic, necessary drivers for operation.


3. Once in Windows Safe Mode, scan your computer with Ad-Aware. Just run the program you downloaded to your desktop, install it, let it update definitions if you're able to do so, and then begin a FULL System Scan.


4. Remove everything it finds.


5. To really get yourself clean, head to housecall.antivirus.com next and let Trend Micro scan your computer for viruses, trojans, and spyware.


6. Finally, when you're finished, make sure you have adequate protection to prevent re-infection. Personally, I use Spywareblaster and Trend Micro PC-cillin Internet Security 2006.

Generally, this will cure most infections. If it doesn't, post in this thread and I can help you remove whatever else you've got hiding on your PC. Rootkits and some viruses are particularly nasty and make removal more difficult. If spyware removal doesn't result in satisfactory performance (and often it does not), there are other problems you might want to look for.

Determine and Disable Unnecessary Startup Programs

The second thing you should try is the removal of unnecessary startup programs. This is pretty easy as well:

1. Click Start > Run > type "msconfig" (without the quotes), and press Enter.


2. Click the Services tab and check the "Hide all Microsoft Services" box.


3. Type in the name of each listed service in a Google search and determine whether or not it is safe or necessary. Alternatively, try this database of startup programs. Most services will be safe. If the service is not safe, uncheck its box.


4. Click the Startup tab.


5. Type in the name of each startup item in a Google search and determine whether or not it is safe or necessary. A good website to trust in this determination process is www.liutilities.com (the company sells a product that assesses your startup programs and services, and it hosts the list of processes on their website). Watch for it to pop up in the search results and check it for an easy answer. If any startup item is unnecessary or unsafe, uncheck its box.


6. Click "OK" and restart your computer. Once the computer restarts, choose to accept the changes, but not to run the System Configuration utility each time Windows starts (so it doesn't get on your nerves every time you restart).

This usually boosts the speed of the system quite a bit as well. But if you still don't notice much of a difference, read on.

Upgrade your System RAM

In case you don't know, here's a little background on how your computer processes and executes Windows applications. First, the application you execute is read from the device it's stored on (hard drive, CD-ROM, etc). Your computer then stores what it reads in a temporary location to make execution faster and more efficient. Ideally, this temporary location is your System RAM (Random Access Memory -- also called just "memory"), easily the fastest read/write storage option for your computer. Even if your RAM is old and slow, it's still much, much faster than your hard drive.

If, however, you have insufficient RAM, the computer must make up the difference elsewhere. The next default location for temporary storage of application data is the primary hard drive. The computer writes this temporary data to a place called the swap file (also called a "page file"). Your hard drive, with its moving parts, has an extremely slow read/write speed compared to your system RAM. In other words, if you don't have enough RAM, immediately you will experience an enormous drop in system performance. It's the number one most effective approach to optimizing the speed of any PC that doesn't have enough memory. Here's how to tell how much RAM you need, and how to upgrade the amount of RAM in your system should you deem your current amount to be inadequate.

Check your RAM:

1. Right-Click "My Computer" and choose "Properties."


2. Look for your RAM amount listed under "Computer" on this page.

If your RAM is below 512 MB, you could definitely use some more. 256 MB or less is definitely not enough to smoothly handle most Windows applications.

So, then, you need to add more! Here's how to do that.

1. Open up the side panel on your computer. Don't freak out here; this is perfectly safe. Just be careful not to touch anything you don't need to; if you mess with your motherboard and you happen to transmit some static electricity to it, you will kill it!


2. Look for your system RAM. RAM is in the form of "sticks" that plug into horizontal sockets on your motherboard. You can't miss it; nothing else looks anything like it.


3. Read the type and speed of the RAM and write it down. These details are generally displayed on a sticker on your RAM. Look for something like "SDRAM," "DDR400," or similar. You may need a flashlight here.


4. Replace the side cover and start your computer back up.

Now, all you have to do is find RAM that matches yours. Of course, you also need to know first how much RAM your motherboard supports. Click Here and scroll down to "The Crucial Memory Advisor," then follow its instructions to bring up suggested RAM for your system. A good rule of approximation is to check the LARGEST size you see listed in the results -- your computer can support at least that much RAM.

Now, get on Newegg.com and enter your RAM information. Choose a reliable brand (check the customer ratings, or go for Corsair ValueSelect/Crucial) and buy something like 512 - 1024 MB of RAM. If you don't ever plan to upgrade past 1024 MB, get two 512 MB sticks; it's cheaper, and more motherboards support that arrangement. Most < 1024 MB solutions cost under $80.

Once your RAM arrives, just open your computer, GROUND YOURSELF (keep one hand on the metal computer case), remove the old RAM (there are locking levers that you simply press down on to pop the old stuff out), and pop in the new stick(s). Make sure you have the RAM rotated the right direction (it will only fit properly one way) and that it is fully fastened (both levers are down), lest it may overheat and cause problems. It's really not hard at all!

Once you're finished, you will notice a HUGE performance boost.

Final Notes and Other Tips

Some other things to consider if you want to boost your speed:

• Rid yourself of slow virus scanners and background modules and replace them with something more efficient. Again, I recommend Trend Micro PC-cillin Internet Security 2006.


• Disable Windows Indexing Service. This REALLY helps some PCs!


• Turn off Visual Effects in Windows. These are unnecessary and they tend to make things take longer on a slower machine.


• Defragment your disk drive regularly. Operating with a high level of disk fragmentation is akin to trying to find a specific sock in a room filled with piles of dirty clothes.

Thanks to me for this Tidbit. ;)

~os

02/03 #16: The Runner's Side Stitch

This Tidbit has been circulating amongst professional runners and cross-trainers for years now. You know how you sometimes get that cramp in your side while running? Well, now there's an explanation, as well as a way to prevent it from happening.

The reason this happens to begin with is pretty simple, but for years, doctors couldn't figure it out. When you run, you begin to breathe heavily as your body rushes to provide more ATP and energy to your muscles through aerobic respiration. People typically either exhale routinely when their right foot or left foot hits the ground (in other words, some people always breathe out when their right foot hits, and others, their left foot). This lifts the diaphragm as it forces air outward, pulling upward on the ligaments that hold the liver in place. Simultaneously, the liver drops as your foot moves toward the ground. This traumatic routine yanks on your ligaments and results in irritating pain in your side.

The easiest way to prevent this from happening is to simply concentrate on exhaling when your LEFT foot hits the ground. Make sure you breathe deeply, as well, since short breathing does not expand your diaphragm downward enough for the ligaments to rest. Stretch sufficiently prior to running. Additionally, try to avoid eating just before exercise, as food in the stomach can make cramping worse (your stomach "shuts off" during intense cardiovascular exercise as your brain reroutes blood to your working muscles to increase ATP fuel levels). Finally, drink plenty of liquids so as not to become dehydrated -- dehydration always carries an increased risk of muscle cramps.

If you already have a side stitch, try this. Press your open hand into your side just under the pain and push upward slightly to raise the liver and ease the ligaments. While you're doing so, inhale deeply, tighten your lips in a "whistling" fashion and breathe out forcefully. This will expand the diaphragm downward significantly and further decrease the tension on these strained ligaments.

Thanks to my weightlifting coach and some various other health sources for this useful Tidbit.

~os

01/03 #15: Sleep Well

So the other day on the IGN Boards, I read a topic from a guy who was having trouble sleeping without supplemental drugs like hydrocodone and diphenhydramine. Then, shortly after, I noticed a sidebar in The Wall Street Journal about how to enjoy better sleep. So, I took that culmination of events as a sign that I should write my next Tidbit about how to get to sleep and make it count.

First, let’s talk about the reasoning behind the activity. Everyone knows we need sleep, but no one really understands the details behind what precisely it does for us. Specifically, sleeping allows our bodies to replenish critical chemicals that are consumed throughout the day. It also provides a chance for our bodies to repair damaged muscles and tissue. Finally, and perhaps most interestingly, REM (rapid eye movement) has something to do with organizing the psychological data we collect throughout the day into the proper schemas and thus committing it to long-term memory.

During the time we are awake, we constantly accumulate adenosine in our blood. Adenosine is a critical component of the production of ATP (adenosine triphosphate), the fuel burned to power our muscles and cells. Scientists believe that the accumulation of this chemical serves as a signal to your brain that it’s time to go to sleep. In fact, when you sleep, adenosine concentrations in your body drop steadily. Conversely, melatonin levels (a hormone that seems to promote sleep) rise steadily.

But enough background (I’ll put together a separate Dreams Tidbit in the future). Let’s talk about how you can get to sleep when you need it and make it count. Here are some ways of taking advantage of your biological designs to maximize your sleep efficiency:

• Don't expose yourself to caffeine within six hours of bedtime. Caffeine negates the sedative effects of adenosine. Stay away from alcohol and nicotine as well.
• Exercise regularly (that supports healthier sleep), but don't exercise close to bedtime. Try to stop your exercising routines about four hours before you head to sleep.
• Refrain from eating protein-rich foods prior to bedtime. If you need a pre-bedtime snack, try something like crackers or pasta. Carbohydrates are much less stimulating to your body, though they still work to satisfy the hunger need.
• Avoid mentally stimulating activities just before bedtime. This will help to slow your metabolic processes and make sleep easier.
• Make sure the ambient air temperature is relatively cool. Sleeping in cooler temperatures is scientifically proven to be more beneficial and comfortable.
• Take a hot bath or shower 90 minutes before you hit the sack. Interestingly, the drop in body temperature that takes place after the warmth of a shower or bath is believed to signal to your body that it's time to go to sleep.
• Don't force yourself to sleep while laying in bed. You can only sleep when you're sleepy. To make yourself sleepier, try getting out of bed, heading to an area with dim light, and performing a tedious and uninteresting task. For instance, try reading a boring newspaper article or doing your taxes.
• Make sure you don't do much else in bed apart from sleep. This includes watching television and reading in bed. If your brain associates other activities with your time in bed, you will have a much harder time getting to sleep. Of course, this doesn't include sexual activity... don't ask me why.
• Make sure you aren't exposed to any bright light. Bright light communicates to the hypothalamus to cease the production of melatonin, one of the chemicals responsible for promoting sleep.
• Practice regular sleep routines. In other words, go to sleep and wake up at the same time every day -- even on weekends. You'll sleep much better this way.
• If you have trouble getting to sleep, try introducing a source of white noise in the background. A bathroom exhaust fan or a radio tuned to static and turned down very low may help. This "blocks out" irregular, unexpected environmental noises that can prevent some people from sleeping.

Thanks to my psychology professors and various internet sources for this Tidbit!

~os