Tips for managing the day after a poor night's sleep
A night of poor sleep can leave one exhausted and disrupt eating habits, but expert Mariel Silva advises against self-blame and prioritizing rest. Hormonal imbalances boost cravings for unhealthy foods. Focusing on habits to improve nighttime sleep is essential.
Maintaining healthy habits like sleeping at least seven hours, going to bed and waking up at the same time, and aligning the rhythm with sunlight is ideal, but unforeseen issues like recurrent thoughts, children, or anxiety can disrupt rest. This leads to deficits in energy, attention, and irritability, and impacts diet by boosting ghrelin—which stimulates appetite—and reducing leptin—the satiety signal. As a result, emotional hunger drives consumption of simple carbs, ultraprocessed foods, sweets, and bad fats, worsening glucose spikes.
"The first thing is not to feel guilty. If we sleep poorly, we sleep poorly, period. Surely, that day, we won't do things as well as we're used to, because we'll feel exhausted, but that's okay. On top of that, don't punish ourselves for it," says Dr. Mariel Silva, medical director of SHA Spain. In such cases, the body craves sugars and rest, not intense exercise, similar to when ill. Life is 80% healthy habits and 20% indulgences, without aiming for total control to avoid more stress.
For the following day, avoid coffee after 2 p.m., have a light dinner with quality proteins and good fats two or three hours before bed, and skip alcohol, which impairs rest. Choose gentle yoga, meditation, or conscious breathing over intense physical activities. If needed, consider supplements like valerian or melatonin to calm a restless mind and prepare for better sleep.