Between working in the morning and banquets at Iftar, praying and worshiping at night, waking up for Suhoor and Fajr prayers, the shape of the day changes in the month of Ramadan, and this change in turn affects the sleep pattern, ending up hijacking intermittent hours of sleep during the busy day with various activities.
This change negatively affects some fasting people physically, emotionally and mentally, feeling exhausted and sleepy during working hours, with mood disorders and difficulty concentrating and remembering, while others suffer from insomnia as they cannot cope and cannot even sleep intermittently.
Besides the different day regimen in Ramadan, there are other factors that affect sleep, and we must pay attention to them in order to be able to limit the impact of these consequences on us and improve the quality of our few hours of sleep as much as possible.
What affects your sleep in Ramadan?
Eating hearty meals late
Breakfast contains delicious food, and although it replaces lunch on a regular day, its relatively late time makes eating heavy foods that are high in fat or sugar annoying the stomach and negatively affecting sleep.
Daily stresses
The crowding of the day in the month of Ramadan between work, gatherings of family and friends, prayers and worship may lead to feelings of stress and stress, which are two of the biggest factors causing insomnia and affecting the quality of your sleep in the remaining few hours of your day.
Drinking a lot of stimulants
After a long day of fasting, we eagerly await a cup of coffee, tea or energy drinks after Iftar, feel refreshed after it and become more alert.
But drinking a lot of stimulants during the short breakfast period negatively affects the quality of your sleep, and this comes in addition to the disruption of your day already in the Ramadan and the rest of the little time to sleep, so you find that you sleep a short time and with less quality.
Drinking too much stimulants during the short Iftar period negatively affects the quality of your sleep (Shutterstock)
Exercise after breakfast
Due to lack of time and lack of energy during fasting hours, many people have to exercise late at night around bedtime.
When you exercise, your body temperature rises to give you energy, and this increase in energy affects your body's ability to relax and makes it difficult to settle into sleep.
How do disturbed sleep hours affect you?
When you sleep intermittently, it affects all aspects of your health—physical, mental, and emotional, and these are some of the changes you may notice when your sleep system is affected.
Feeling tired and sleepy
Irregular sleep can lead to extreme fatigue and excessive daytime sleepiness, similar to the Jet Lag effect.
Poor concentration
After a night of interrupted sleep, your mental abilities are affected, you may have difficulty concentrating, paying attention and creativity, and your reactions are slower than usual.
This explains why sleep problems are associated with increased rates of traffic accidents, as an individual's ability to react quickly if he does not receive enough rest is affected, and if the driver encounters sudden obstacles in the road, he cannot act quickly and responsively correctly if he feels sleepy.
Difficulty remembering
Our brain navigates through sleep stages several times during the night, from light sleep to deep sleep to "rapid eye movement" (REM) and back again.
During REM phase, the brain processes newly received information and anchors it to memory. So when you sleep irregularly and intermittently, sleep quality is affected at that stage, your cognitive abilities are affected and you have trouble remembering, especially the things you learned the day before.
Sudden changes in your sleep time lead to noticeable disturbances in your mood (pixels)
sour mood
Sudden changes in your sleep time lead to noticeable disturbances in your mood, as our brains also process emotions during the REM phase, so interrupted sleep has a significant impact on emotional stability.
Because of irregular sleep in Ramadan, you may find your mood irritable, and you may feel more anxious and stressed.
Weakened immune system
Disturbance of the sleep system can lead to aches and pains in parts of your body during the day, and you are also more susceptible to infections, as interrupted sleep affects our immune system, and it is difficult for your body to protect you from diseases if it does not rest enough during sleep.
How to improve the quality of your sleep?
To mitigate the impact of these changes, and improve your sleep quality as much as possible, there are some tips that can help:
Avoid eating right before bedtime
Try to eat Suhoor at least two hours before bedtime, so you can go to sleep quickly, and digestion does not negatively affect the quality of your sleep.
Set the sports time
It is preferable to avoid exercising just before bed because exercise increases the flow of adrenaline and stimulates brain activity, both of which prevent sleep, so try to exercise at least 3 hours before bedtime.
Write down your thoughts before bedtime
To avoid your mind being distracted by thinking about the tasks of the day ahead, you can write down what to do before bed and arrange your day so that you do not feel stressed and stressed while sleeping.
Pay attention to your food
Pay attention to what you eat as bedtime approaches, if you feel hungry after eating breakfast, try to eat a healthy snack that contains less fat, salt and calories so that it is easier to digest.
After breakfast if you feel hungry try a healthy snack that contains less fat, salt and calories (Pixaby)
Watch out for caffeine intake
Consuming caffeine 6 hours before your bedtime can keep you awake or affect your sleep quality and prevent you from entering the deep sleep phase.
Therefore, pay attention to the amount of stimulants you take during the short breakfast period and close to bedtime, and beware of unexpected sources of caffeine as well, such as chocolate, pain relievers, and soda.
Take a nap
The results of a study published in the journal "Frontiers" on the effect of napping in the month of Ramadan on improving motor ability showed that sleeping 45 minutes during the afternoon had an effective positive effect on physical performance and exertion during fasting.
Create a sleeping environment
To make the most of the few hours of sleep, try to turn off light sources and make the room as dark and cold as possible, turn off all electronic devices that can cause noise, avoid looking at your phone right before bedtime, and also try to tidy up the room and remove clutter, as this promotes a sense of calm and relaxation.