Between work in the morning and banquets at breakfast time, prayer and worship at night, and waking up to eat the pre-dawn meal and the dawn prayer, the shape of the day changes in the month of Ramadan, and this change in turn affects the sleep pattern, and ends up snatching intermittent hours of sleep during the busy day with various activities.
This change negatively affects some fasting people physically, emotionally and mentally, as they feel exhausted and sleepy during working hours, with mood disturbances and difficulty in concentrating and remembering, while others suffer from insomnia as they are unable to cope and cannot even sleep intermittently.
In addition to the different day regime in Ramadan, there are other factors that affect sleep, and we must pay attention to them so that we can 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?
Eat fatty meals late
Breakfast contains delicious food, and although it replaces lunch on a normal day, its relatively late time makes eating heavy foods that contain a high percentage of fat or sugar disturbing the stomach and negatively affecting sleep.
daily pressures
The crowding of the day in the month of Ramadan between work, gatherings of family and friends, prayer and worship may lead to your feeling of stress and fatigue, which are among the biggest factors causing insomnia and affecting the quality of your sleep in the few remaining hours of your day.
Excessive drinking of stimulants
After a long day of fasting, we look forward to drinking a cup of coffee, tea or energy drink after iftar, feeling refreshed and more alert.
But excessive drinking of stimulants during the short period of Iftar negatively affects the quality of your sleep, and this comes in addition to the disturbance of your day already in Ramadan and the remaining little time for sleep, so you find that you sleep for a short time and with a lower quality.
Exercising after breakfast
Due to lack of time and lack of energy during the fasting hours, many are forced to exercise late at night, close to 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 fitfully, it affects all aspects of your health. Physical, mental and emotional, these are some of the changes you may notice when your sleep regimen is affected.
Feeling tired and sleepy
Irregular sleep can lead to You feel tired Severe and excessive daytime sleepiness, similar to the effect of jet lag.
Poor focus
After a night of interrupted sleep, your mental abilities are affected and you may have difficulty concentrating, paying attention and being creative, and your reactions are slower than usual.
This explains why sleep problems are associated with an increase in traffic accident rates, as the individual’s ability to react quickly is affected if he does not receive an adequate amount of rest.
Difficulty remembering
Our brain cycles through the stages of sleep several times during the night. From light sleep, to deep sleep, to rapid eye movement (REM), and back again.
During the “rapid eye movement” phase, the brain processes newly received information and fixes it in memory. Therefore, when you sleep irregularly and intermittently, the quality of sleep is affected at that stage, and your cognitive abilities are affected and you have difficulty remembering, especially the things you learned the day before.
bad mood
Sudden changes in your sleep time lead to noticeable disturbances in your mood, as our brains also process emotions during the “rapid eye movement” phase, so interrupted sleep has a significant impact on emotional stability.
And because of the irregular sleep in Ramadan, you may find that your mood is bad and that you are irritable, and your feelings of anxiety and stress increase.
Weakened immune system
Disruption of the sleep system can lead to your feeling of aches and pains in parts of your body during the day, and you are more vulnerable 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 enjoy sufficient rest during sleep.
How do you improve your sleep quality?
To mitigate the impact of these changes, and improve the quality of your sleep as much as possible, here are some tips that can help:
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Avoid eating right before bed
Try to eat the suhoor meal at least two hours before bed, so that you can fall asleep quickly, and digestion does not negatively affect the quality of your sleep.
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Set the exercise time
It is preferable to avoid exercising immediately before bedtime 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.
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Write down your thoughts before bed
To avoid having your mind busy thinking about the tasks for the next day, you can write down what you need to do before bed and arrange your day so that you do not feel stressed and stressed during sleep.
Pay attention to what you eat as bedtime approaches. If you feel hungry after breakfast, try to eat a healthy snack that contains less fat, salt, and calories so that it is easier to digest.
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Watch your caffeine intake
Consuming caffeine up to 6 hours before your bedtime can keep you awake or affect the quality of your sleep and prevent you from entering a deep sleep phase.
Therefore, pay attention to the amount of stimuli you eat during the short breakfast period close to bedtime, and beware of unexpected sources of caffeine as well, such as chocolate, pain relievers, and soda.
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Take a nap
Results shown study Frontiers magazine published on the effect of a nap in the month of Ramadan on improving motor ability, stating that sleeping 45 minutes during the afternoon period had a positive effect on physical performance and the effort exerted during fasting.
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Create a sleep environment
To make the most of the few hours of sleep, try to turn off the light sources, make the room as dark and cool as possible, turn off all electronic devices that can cause noise, avoid looking at your phone right before bed, and also try to arrange the room and remove clutter, as this promotes a sense of calm and relaxation.