The Best Sleep Products to Help You Get a Good Night’s Rest

When it comes to optimizing your sleep space, mattresses, pillows and bedding are typically at the top of everyone’s wish list. But there’s a whole lot more you can do to help you relax before bed, curtail disruptive noise and light, and wake up feeling rested each morning. From sleep trackers to smart alarms to calming eye masks and lavender room spray, there are a ton of products on the market that aim to boost your restful sleep. Whether you’re looking to upgrade your mattress or just need a few new gadgets to make your night-time routine run more smoothly, we’ve rounded up the best sleep products to help you achieve a better night’s rest.

It’s no secret that getting good quality sleep is vital to your health and well-being. While you sleep, your muscles repair themselves, the brain sweeps out waste and memories, and hormones play a role in everything from hunger to stress levels. Moreover, research shows that people who don’t get enough sleep have a greater risk of obesity, depression and heart disease.

Getting the recommended seven to nine hours of sleep per night is key to maintaining physical, emotional and mental health. Despite this, many people struggle to get enough sleep each night. The reasons for this can vary from stress, to poor habits, to an inability to fall asleep or stay asleep. In some cases, sleep may be affected by mental health issues such as anxiety or depression.

Sleep is also important for emotional regulation, judgment and decision making, and energy conservation. In fact, research shows that well-rested people tend to be less hungry and have a lower body weight. Furthermore, getting enough sleep can support a healthy immune system and prevent infections.

Why We Need to Sleep

Scientists are only beginning to understand why humans need to sleep, but they’ve come up with several theories. One theory is that sleep evolved as a way for humans to conserve energy during the day and at night, when they would have been most active and at highest risk of being attacked by predators. Another theory is that sleep allows our bodies to reset and prepare for the next day.

How We Sleep

During a normal sleep cycle, the brain goes through four different stages of sleep: onset, non-REM (NREM) and REM. NREM sleep is the deepest stage of sleep and is when dreams occur. During this stage, the eyes move quickly behind closed lids, and brain waves are similar to those during wakefulness.

Once the NREM phase is complete, the body moves into a more relaxed stage of REM sleep. During this stage, the brain waves become more similar to those during wakefulness, and the body is paralyzed as you dream. REM sleep usually occurs three to five times throughout the night and can last from 90 minutes to two hours. If you’re a chronic sleeper, it may take longer for your body to reach this stage.