How much sleep do you need?

Ever wonder what the magic number is for being able to wake up and feel completely refreshed, ready to start your day? Typically, we'll quote that we need eight hours of sleep every night to get this refreshed, revitalized feeling. However, the amount of sleep you need depends on one thing: you.

Every person is going to feel differently after they get six, eight, ten or another amount of hours of sleep. This is what makes it hard to figure out how much sleep you need. Age, lifestyle and health are just some of the factors that contribute to the amount of sleep you need every night. By understanding sleep and your body you will be able to find that perfect amount so you don't wake up tired or like you overslept.

The average adult sleeps less than seven hours per night, according to the National Institutes of Health. Most healthy adults need between seven and a half to nine hours of sleep every night to function at their best. However, this does depend on your health, age and lifestyle. That's why there is such a large gap between seven and half hours and nine hours of sleep. Some of us might feel that nine hours is perfect, while others might think seven and a half is the perfect amount for them.

So how do you figure out the right amount for you? Take a look at your typical day, where you get up and go to bed around the same time. If you got enough sleep the night before, you should feel alert and ready to go for the entire day. If you're feeling slow and dragging on your day, you didn't get enough sleep.

Take it as a step by step process. Every day consider how much you slept and how tired you feel throughout the day. That night, add more or less time to your sleep, depending on how your day went. Eventually you will find a good number of hours that is optimal for you.

Every person is going to vary with their sleep schedule and amount of sleep they need. Just because someone says that you need eight hours doesn't mean you need eight hours. Take the time to understand your sleep needs and you will find yourself being able to function throughout your entire day.

Memorial Day Fun Facts

Memorial Day is upon us. It's a day where we get together with friends and family, grill out, spend time outside and have a great time. Here are some Memorial Day fun facts for you to impress your family and friends with.

1. It is always celebrated on the last Monday in May.
2. Waterloo, New York is the birthplace of Memorial Day.
3. We celebrate Memorial Day to remember those who died in any war while serving with the United States.
4. Congress passed a law in 2000  for Americans to pause at 3 p.m. local time on Memorial Day to remember and honor the fallen.
5. Over 35 million Americans will travel over Memorial Day.
6. Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day.
7. The American flag is raised to the top of the staff and then lowered to half-staff until noon, where it is the raised full-staff for the rest of the day.

Now when you are bar-b-queuing on Memorial Day, you can think of these Memorial Day fun facts and spend some time remembering those who have fallen and thank the ones that are around you. Happy Memorial Day, have a safe and fun holiday!

Eating Before Bed

You've had those nights where you stay up later than usual and find yourself hungry. So you go to the fridge, grab whatever you have and chow down, then head to bed. You don't think anything of it, but by eating right before bed you are harming your sleep and your health at the same time.

Why does eating before bed hurt your sleep? When you eat before bed you can develop insomnia. Insomnia is the most common sleep complaint among Americans, and often times it is caused because you ate too much before you went to bed.

Eating before bed also causes heartburn. Lying down after you eat causes the acidic contents of what you ate to go back up into your esophagus, creating a burning sensation in your chest.

You might notice weight gain if you continuously eat before bed. Oftentimes what you eat before bed is not healthy and is snack foods such as chips and cookies. It's easy to overeat these snack foods, causing you to gain more weight.

You can avoid these problems not by going to bed hungry. Having a light evening snack that has carbohydrates and protein will help to promote calmness instead of harming your sleep. Avoid highly spicy and garlic-flavored foods later in the day and do not eat highly acidic or fatty foods to avoid heartburn.

Eating before bed does not mean you have to go to bed hungry. By watching what you eat and avoiding certain types of food before bed you will have less of a risk of disrupting your sleep and harming your overall health.

How Does Alcohol Affect Your Sleep?

After a night of drinking it might be easy to crawl into bed and immediately fall asleep. You feel like you fall asleep and don't wake up for eight or so hours, yet when you do wake up you feel like you slept for half an hour. Why is this? How does alcohol affect your sleep?

Alcohol is sometimes known as a "night cap," but too many drinks and that alcohol is going to interfere with your normal sleep process. You skip the first stage of sleep and go right into a deep sleep. Deep sleep is meant to help the body restore itself, however since you are skipping the light sleep, once the alcohol starts to wear off you are going to get into the light sleep, waking up easier.
So even though you get that deep sleep right away you are going to find yourself waking up more consistantly.

You are also going to find that if you drink a lot, you have to get up more frequently to use the toilet. Since alcohol is a diuretic, the body is trying to lose the extra fluid so you are going to sweat more and become dehydrated.

Ever felt so relaxed after a night of drinking? Alcohol relaxes the muscles in your body, including your throat, mouth and nose. This makes air flowing smoothly a difficult process, causing you to snore more loudly, often waking you up.

Avoiding alcohol too close to bedtime can help give your body time to process all of the alcohol before you go to sleep. It typically takes an hour to process one unit of alcohol.

By avoiding alcohol before bed, you are going to have a more restful sleep and you will find that you will wake up more refreshed than if you were to continue drinking right until you went to bed. Alcohol affects your sleep and can harm you overall health.