Sleep is a vitally important habit characteristic of every animal on earth. Unfortunately for so many of us, we’ve cocooned ourselves in a digital pupa of lights, noise, and 24 hour instantaneous communication. Getting your full 8-9 hours can be difficult in such a world, but there are some favors you can do for yourself if you want to improve your sleep quality. Here are 9 ways to help you fall asleep and stay asleep.

1. Eat More Foods Rich In Tryptophan And B vitamins For Breakfast

A team of Japanese researchers discovered a breakfast with more of these nutrients increased melatonin levels at night. Tryptophan is an essential amino acid present in protein-rich food sources such as red meat, poultry, eggs, and fish. B vitamins and magnesium are also good.

2. Don’t Drink Any Caffeine After Noon

If you have a 16oz cup of medium-roast coffee at noon, there will still be caffeine circulating in your blood and organs 12 hours later in the middle of the night. So leave any caffeinated drinks for breakfast if you don’t want it disrupting your sleep later.

3. Drink Chamomile Tea With Dinner

Delicious herbal chamomile tea was found in a study to induce sleep fifteen minutes faster than another group of non-tea drinking participants.

4. Put Your Bed In A Room That’s Not Facing A Street

While such a claim is still being explored, we know from sleep center data that sounds played at a volume too quiet to induce waking can still disrupt deep-slow wave sleep in the early evening when your brain craves it. It’s hypothesized that street noise can play the same role as these laboratory sounds.

5. Don’t Take In Heavy-Hitting Carbohydrates Before Bed Or After Dark

In order to fall asleep, our brain needs to make melatonin, a hormone that tells thousands of genes it’s time for bed. One of those genes is the kind that produces insulin which we need to properly absorb glucose circulating in the blood. Free-circulating blood-glucose leads to inflammatory responses that disrupt sleep patterns along with causing a variety of health complications.

6. Get Plenty Of Sun Exposure During The Day

The same team of researchers mentioned earlier found that the higher the levels of bright light exposure during the day, the faster and more robust the melatonin secretion was at night. 

7. Don’t Consume Carbonated Sodas During The Evening

Sodas are very high in acidity which is some people can cause dysfunction in the gut which disrupts sleep. Ideally you should never consume a carbonated soda, however if you’re set in your ways, try to avoid them at least 2 hours before sleep. The glucose borne of the sugary corn syrup is prime food for bacteria which can cause small-intestinal bacterial overgrowth and other gut microbiota problems.

8. Don’t Fall Asleep In A Room That’s Too Hot

Almost as strong as light for triggering sleep is temperature. Colder rooms will always be easier to sleep in, and if you wear pajamas, try not to for a few nights.

9. Don’t Fight Your Genetic Chronotype

There’s a genetic brand in your body that signifies whether you are a morning person, an evening person, or somewhere in between (and no you can’t train it or change it). Today, the whole human genome can be sequenced for a hundred dollars or so, so it’s pretty easy to find out which one you are, especially when you consider how much money mattresses, sleep aids, and sleeping pills (which will kill you) cost.