by Dr. Kat Lederle, Somnia founder and Sleep Science and Therapy expert, shares her top-tips to getting your sleep sorted this Christmas

The Christmas party season is fast approaching, and after last year’s lockdown and social isolation, people want to re-connect and celebrate togetherness. Dr Kat, sleep therapist and expert and founder of Somnia,deep dives into what happens when our sleep gets disrupted and shares her top-tips on how to navigate this during the festive season.

None of us wants to watch the time, while we indulge in the lovely food and drinks together with our friends or family. This is important to our emotional wellbeing, but unfortunately the late nights and heavy diet can take their toll on our sleep. Both irregular sleep duration and irregular sleep times are associated with an increased risk of *cardiovascular diseases, a finding that seems particularly strong in women compared to men.

Dr. Kat Lederle said: “Sleep benefits from regular sleep times week in, week out. Every person has slightly different sleep needs when it comes to duration and timing. Frequent late nights not only shorten the time you have available to sleep – even when the next day is a Saturday or Sunday because your dog still needs to go outside at 8am regardless of when you went to bed – they also bring about erratic sleep patterns.

There’s also a bidirectional relationship between sleep and eating. After a night out, we tend to make unhealthy food choices and opt for sugary, palatable food instead of fruit and veg options the next day. Continuing to eat late at night can lead to a higher calorie intake, which can cause weight gain and obesity, but it can also cause diabetes because insulin levels are naturally low at night and the body is also less sensitive to insulin’s message.

Alcohol has two effects on sleep – Initially, it can help you to get to sleep quicker, but later on in the second half of the night, alcohol is metabolised and levels are diminishing. That triggers sleep to be disrupted and it reduces the amount of REM-sleep (rapid eye movement sleep) which plays a crucial role in the processing of your emotional experiences. The lack of REM-sleep might be one reason why we feel grumpy the next day.”

Dr Kat’s Top-Tips to prepare for restful sleep in December:

Swap a high-sugar, high-fat diet for a plant-rich diet:

In the run up to the festive season, plan to swap a high-sugar, high-fat diet for a plant-rich diet to promote healthy sleep and reduce the risk of cardiometabolic diseases. Also, plant-foods are often high in tryptophan (a component in the building of melatonin, the body clock’s signalling molecule telling the body it’s night-time) which can help to improve sleep quality and duration. If you want to eat traditional Christmas-foods, then try eating early (3 to 4 hours before your usually bedtime).

Swap alcoholic drinks with alcohol-free:

Try to alternate alcoholic drinks with alcohol-free non-sugar drinks and reduce the amount of fluids in the evening. This helps to minimise sleep disruption due to alcohol and fluids overall.

Stay hydrated during the day:

Because it is cold outside, we turn up the heating and the air is dryer (outside and inside). Our lungs have to work harder at keeping the air moist and warm, and that costs fluid. The cold also means the body loses more heat and with that moisture (which is why your skin is dryer in winter). Dehydration can impact sleep indirectly by causing headaches or waking you up because you are thirsty at night.

Regular sleep times:

A healthy sleep benefits from regular sleep times which can be a bit tricky during the festive season because habitually most parties are taking place in the evening and late at night. However, there are a few things you can do to not slip into irregular sleep patterns: Plan your social schedule and make sure that rest nights outweigh the party nights. Ask yourself ‘Do I have to attend every party?’ It’s not about saying no to all parties or never staying out late, rather it is about choosing when to go and when not to. Having some time alone -and sleep- helps to recharge so that we can fully engage at the next party.

It’s not, however, just your physical health that is affected, as a lack of healthy sleep impairs your ability to concentrate and think clearly, weigh up options and make sound, moral decisions, and to be creative. All of this comes at a cost to you and the people around you. A simple question from a colleague can become an irritation and you lash out because your inadequate sleep affects your emotional state too. (Research has shown that sleep deprived people evaluate both positive and neutral images as more negative.)

Dr. Kat Lederle concludes: “Inadequate sleep also lowers our motivation to socialise and spend time with others, and that really matters given the rise in social isolation. Human beings need social connections in order to be healthy. By regularly making time for sleep, by regularly taking quality time out, you actually get more out of being with other people. Sleep really is the social glue that binds society together.”