Dr. Zorba Paster: There are multiple steps toward a better night's sleep

Want to get a good night's sleep? You betcha! Everyone does. But how do we do it?

You would think something that consumes a quarter to a third of our lives would be an easy thing to do. Certainly, it is for kids — or is it?

Think about that 3-year-old who goes, goes, goes all day long, doesn't want to go to sleep and then finally heads to dreamland for hours on end without moving. But lots of youngsters have trouble getting to sleep or staying asleep.

What this means to me is that sleep has always, and will always, be a problem for some of us. If you’re fortunate to have no problem shutting your eyes, going to sleep and staying asleep for the night, then good for you. But if you’re like me, you have on days and off days.

How to maintain that pattern of good shut-eye is the message of the day. Here are some tips gleaned from several resources.

Too much caffeine later in the day makes the shut-eye go away. For some folks, it might be best to stay away from caffeine in the afternoon; for others, it's not an issue.

If you don't know where you fit, take away all but that morning wakeup cup of caffeine and see what happens. Give it a week and evaluate your sleep to see if there's been a positive effect.

A caveat here: If you suffer from headaches, taking away caffeine might mean headache time, so taper down gradually.

You might think alcohol helps you sleep, but it doesn't. It knocks you out early, but wakes you up sooner. Why? Go ask Bacchus, that ancient god of wine, and he’ll tell you — it's just the nature of the drug.

Aunt Mary's toddy before bed may have worked for her, or maybe she just thought it did. Anyway, if you stop your wine, beer, shot of Jack or whatever else earlier in the night, that might hit the spot for sleep.

Our bodies have a clock, otherwise known as the circadian rhythm. Just look at the sun outside late at night in the summer. You can't get to sleep early when it's still bright outside, can you? Meanwhile, in the dark days of winter, you just can't wait to get to sleep, right?

Follow a schedule every day, especially during the week, and your body will love it.

By the way — just an aside here — I’ve been a late adapter to the Apple watch because I don't like watches. I now have one that vibrates in the morning when I need an alarm and I must tell you, it's a game-changer for me. I thought I hated alarms but, in fact, I only hate sound alarms. Vibration makes the alarm somehow nice.

OK, now back to my task at hand.

For your best bet with sleeping, keep the room at the right temperature. For that, we remember the three bears, of Goldilocks fairy tale fame. The best choice was not too hot, not too cold — just right. Follow that lead.

TVs, computers, phones, any kind of screen, they all emit cosmic rays. Well, not really, but I like to think of them as voodoo rays that somehow disrupt the brain's pineal gland, which produces melatonin — and melatonin helps us sleep. Screen light shuts off the production of melatonin, making that pineal gland think it's daytime even though you want shut-eye.

Study after study shows that reading before you to go to sleep, even if you’re just looking at photos from National Geographic, soothes the brain. But spending time scrolling through Facebook or watching Johnny Carson/Jimmy Fallon (I’m old, you can see, but keep up with today's times) may cause rumbling when you’re in need of soothing.

Shutting off the screen might be your key to a better night's sleep.

Sticking with this theme, next week I’ll talk about blankets. And in a third installment, I’ll discuss medications, exercise and nutrition's role. There's lots to say on the important subject of sleep. Stay well.

Dr. Zorba Paster

This column provides general health information. Always consult your personal health care provider about concerns. No ongoing relationship of any sort is implied or offered by Dr. Paster to people submitting questions. Any opinions expressed by Dr. Paster in his columns are personal and are not meant to represent or reflect the views of SSM Health.

Dr. Zorba Paster is the co-host of "Zorba Paster On Your Health," which airs at 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. Saturdays on the Ideas Network of Wisconsin Public Radio, in Madison on WHA 970 AM. Paster, who practices family medicine in Oregon, also appears regularly on WISC-TV Ch. 3.

Send questions to [email protected] or write Wisconsin State Journal, Attn: Health Column, P.O. Box 8058, Madison, WI 53708.

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