What’s the Right Amount of Sleep for a Healthy Heart?

Here are some tips for improving your sleep, courtesy of Harvard Medical School:

• Avoid caffeine and nicotine four to six hours from bedtime.
• Keep your bedroom dark, quiet and cool to promote better sleep.
• Establish a relaxing routine an hour or so before bed.
• Don’t try to force yourself to sleep — if you aren’t asleep within about 20 minutes, get up and do something relaxing for a bit until you feel sleepy.
• Eat dinner several hours before bedtime and avoid foods that can upset your stomach.
• Exercise earlier in the day, at least three hours before bed.

“In the medical community we know it’s important to sleep, but we still don’t treat it like something we should be asking about routinely,” Gulati said. “I wish I could say doctors were good enough at asking about sleep. I think it should be like a vital sign.”

The findings will be presented virtually May 15 at the annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology. Findings presented at medical meetings are considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers more sleep basics.