How to Stay Healthy Before Bed
One hour before bedtime may not seem like a lot, but it is actually a crucial time for our health and disease prevention. For those who frequently suffer from insomnia, it is important to implement some health care measures before sleep to effectively promote better sleep. Even for those who do not experience insomnia, engaging in some health care practices before bed can help improve the quality of sleep and contribute to overall well-being.
How to Stay Healthy Before Bed
1. Drink a Glass of Water: Reduce Blood Viscosity
During sleep, we sweat slightly, causing a gradual decrease in water content in the blood, resulting in higher blood viscosity. This poses a significant risk for cardiovascular disease patients.
The greatest benefit of drinking water before bed is that it can reduce blood viscosity. Therefore, it is recommended to drink some water before bed, even if you are not thirsty, as it can dilute the blood viscosity, reduce the chances of sudden events such as myocardial infarction, angina, and stroke.
For cardiovascular disease patients, it is advisable to keep a glass of water by the bedside, which can be sipped when waking up at night. For diabetes patients, maintaining a certain level of hydration is also beneficial for blood sugar control.
Note: If you have liver or kidney metabolism issues or frequently wake up at night to urinate, please do not drink too much water.
2. Brush Your Teeth: Prevent Heart Disease
Brushing your teeth before bed is even more important than in the morning. It not only removes oral residues but also helps protect your teeth and promotes better sleep.
Note: It is best to use an up and down brushing motion when brushing your teeth. If there are food residues between your teeth, you can use dental floss.
3. Comb Your Hair: Calm the Mind, Promote Longevity
There are many important acupoints on our scalp, such as the Baihui acupoint, but it may be difficult to locate them accurately. A simple method is to massage the head with your fingers, stimulating the acupoints on the head.
Combing your hair can have a massaging and stimulating effect, helping to soothe the liver, calm the wind, open the orifices, relieve pain, improve vision, and more.
Combing your hair before bed until the scalp becomes red and warm can promote blood circulation in the head, enhance brain function and memory, promote hair root nutrition, reduce hair loss, eliminate brain fatigue, and help you fall asleep quickly.
Note: Massaging the head can also improve symptoms such as migraines, and each massage should last around 5 minutes.
4. Massage Your Legs: Improve Vascular Circulation
While lying in bed, you can also do some health care activities before falling asleep, such as massaging your calves.
There are veins in the calves, and massaging them can improve venous circulation. This has a certain auxiliary therapeutic effect for patients with high blood lipids, hypertension, and can also help prevent heart disease.
Note: When massaging or kneading your legs, do not use too much force. It should be slightly sore but not too painful.
5. Soak Your Feet: Promote Blood Circulation, Improve Metabolism
Feet are the farthest part from the heart and do not easily receive nutrients and blood. Soaking your feet in warm water before bed can promote body blood circulation and accelerate metabolism.
If you can develop a habit of washing your feet with warm water (40℃-50℃) and massaging the soles and toes every night before sleep, it can promote the circulation of qi and blood, and relax tendons and activate collaterals.
According to doctors, there is a golden time for foot soaking. It is most suitable to soak your feet in warm water between 9 pm and 11 pm. This can divert our attention to the lower limbs, and our attention has a guiding effect on qi and blood. When our attention is focused on the lower limbs, qi and blood will flow downwards.
