Staying up late, irregular sleep, disordered cycles, be careful when staying up late

Staying up late, irregular sleep, disordered cycles, be careful when staying up late

Zhu Xiaochen, attending physician of the Second Department of Encephalopathy, Oriental Hospital, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine

Staying up all night is a traditional Chinese custom, which means waiting for the arrival of the new year on New Year's Eve to pray for peace and happiness in the coming year. Therefore, many people choose to stay up all night or go to bed very late on this special day full of ritual. At the same time, people often visit relatives and friends, have dinner with friends, and travel during the Spring Festival. These reasons can also lead to insufficient sleep or disrupted sleep cycles during the holidays, affecting the body's natural rhythm.

From the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine, the impact of staying up late on the five internal organs: staying up late can damage the liver and kidney essence. When the kidney essence is deficient, hair loss, fatigue of muscles and bones, and decreased brain power may occur. Insufficient liver essence can lead to hyperactivity of liver yang, poor mood, irritability, anxiety, etc. At the same time, staying up late can also damage the heart. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that the heart governs the mind. Staying up late will cause the function of the heart to decline, making people feel depressed and even absent-minded. It will also affect thinking, memory, judgment and other abilities. When the lungs are damaged, since the lungs govern the seasons, that is, the human body keeps up with the rhythm of the four seasons of heaven and earth, if staying up late causes lung damage, it will affect the balance between the human body and heaven and earth, and people will be prone to illness, compared to what we often say about decreased immunity and susceptibility to epidemics, such as influenza. Staying up late can also easily damage the spleen, because the spleen governs transportation and transformation, and spleen deficiency will reduce transportation and transformation functions, so many people experience weight changes, decreased appetite, abdominal distension, constipation or diarrhea after staying up late. In addition, the spleen governs the limbs and muscles. Staying up late and damaging the spleen will cause fatigue, weakness, and weak limbs. Affect the quality of life during the holidays.

So how can we avoid sleep-related problems during New Year’s Eve and holidays?

1. Plan ahead and adjust your work and rest schedule: Before staying up late, you should plan your time in advance and try to get enough sleep in the days before and after. If time permits, you must take a nap at noon, about an hour is best. Even if you need to stay up late, you should arrange your time reasonably and avoid staying up late continuously. If not necessary, try to maintain a regular work and rest schedule during the Spring Festival, and try to get up at the same time every day. This will help adjust the body's natural rhythm, reduce sleep problems, and avoid fatigue and difficulty in adjusting to work after the holiday.

2. Diet adjustment: A reasonable diet is good for your health. During the holidays, you should avoid excessive intake of greasy, spicy and other irritating foods, increase nutrition, such as fish, eggs, dairy products, soy products, lean meat and other foods, and appropriately increase the intake of foods rich in vitamins and fiber. Avoid drinking a lot of alcohol, especially staying up late to drink, which will put a great burden on the liver, spleen and stomach. At the same time, avoid smoking to stay up late and consuming excessive caffeinated drinks. Sudden excessive smoking and drinking may induce changes in blood pressure and blood sugar, leading to sudden cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.

3. Pay attention to replenishing water: When staying up late, the body will produce a lot of metabolites, which will accumulate in the body. Staying up late can easily lead to dehydration. Therefore, it is necessary to replenish water in time to maintain the body's water balance and speed up the excretion of metabolites. It is better to replenish body fluids with warm water and avoid consuming a lot of cold drinks and high-sugar drinks. At the same time, pay attention to replenishing body fluids in moderation and not excessively to avoid edema the next day.

Here are some health teas that are suitable for drinking when staying up late.

1. Black wolfberry tea: 3-5g of black wolfberry, add boiling water, cover with a lid and simmer for 3-5 minutes before drinking. You can also add honey, red dates and other condiments according to your personal taste to adjust the taste. Black wolfberry is rich in anthocyanins, which can protect the eyes and resist fatigue, and is suitable for drinking when staying up late.

2. Chrysanthemum and Osmanthus Tea: 6g chrysanthemum and 3g osmanthus, brew in boiling water. Chrysanthemum tea has the effects of clearing liver and improving eyesight, clearing heat and detoxifying, and can relieve problems such as dry eyes and fatigue after staying up late; osmanthus can also be used for people with bad breath caused by stomach heat, and has the effect of aromatic stomach clearing.

3. Jasmine mint tea: 5g jasmine and 2g mint, brew with boiling water. Jasmine can soothe the liver and regulate qi, and relieve emotions; mint can refresh the mind and relieve fatigue, etc. It is suitable for drinking when staying up late.

4. Lemon tea: 2-3 slices of fresh lemon or dried lemon, some honey, brew with warm water. Lemon is rich in vitamin C, which helps to improve immunity and whiten the skin. Drink it to supplement vitamin C when staying up late.

In addition, when we feel tired after staying up late, we can also do a self-massage to relieve the fatigue.

1. Tap the top of the head: Make half-fists with your hands, and use the tips of your index, middle, ring and little fingers to tap the top of your head for 1-3 minutes. This can stimulate the cerebral cortex, relieve tense brain nerves and improve mental fatigue.

2. Massage the forehead: Use the tips of the thumbs of both hands to start from between the eyebrows and massage along the forehead to both sides with moderate force. Repeat for about 1 minute to relieve symptoms such as headaches and dizziness.

3. Massage the eyes: Close your eyes and use the fingertips of both hands to press the Zanzhu point (located at the outermost end of the two eyebrows), Jingming point (located at the root of the nose and the inner corner of the eye), and Sibai point (located directly below the center of the pupil when looking forward). Use the fingertips of both hands to make circles from the outside to the inside, and the strength should be moderate. You can also rub the temples: Use the index and middle fingers of both hands to rub the temples on both sides, respectively, with moderate strength. Circular scraping of the eye sockets: Use the second knuckles of the index fingers of both hands to circular scrape the eye sockets, scraping the upper and lower eye sockets from the inside to the outside, and pay attention to keeping the strength consistent. Each for about 1 minute, which can relieve eye fatigue when tired.

It is important to keep your hands clean and your nails short and smooth during massage to avoid scratching the skin. The intensity of the massage should be moderate, and you should not use excessive force or violence to avoid aggravating the discomfort. If you have eye diseases, it is recommended to consult a specialist before self-massage.

In short, as a traditional cultural custom, we can abide by it, but we should also pay attention to sleep health and try to avoid sleep problems caused by staying up all night. If there are sleep problems, timely measures should be taken to improve them in order to maintain good health.