Quality or quantity?

Going to bed early doesn’t guarantee a good night’s sleep. If you’re regularly waking up exhausted, even after clocking up eight hours, you’re not alone – 27% of us experience poor-quality sleep on a regular basis**. ‘If you fragment your sleep, you decrease your total rest time,’ explains Dr Ebrahim. What’s more, constantly waking up means you’re never completing a 90-minute restorative sleep cycle. The problem may be environmental, such as air quality, room temperature or having too much light or sound. However, one of the most common causes of poor-quality slumber is sleep apnoea – where you can wake up gasping for air several times a night. This condition affects 1.5 million people in the UK and commonly increases when women are going through the menopause. In addition to having a negative impact on your daily energy, mood and overall health, it can also cause insomnia. ‘Your brain starts to realise that it doesn’t want to sleep any more, because every time it sleeps, it needs to choose between sleeping and breathing,’ says Dr Ebrahim.