The following recommendations regarding sleep can be considered as rules for healthy sleeping:

• Do not drink anything with caffeine past lunchtime or the early afternoon (coffee, black tea, Coke and other beverages). Also smoking can make sleep more difficult.
• Avoid alcohol as far as possible and do under no circumstances use it as a substitute for sleeping pills. (More info.)
• Keep away from appetizers.
• No large meals in the evening, but keep the blood sugar level up with a light carbohydrate meal, preferably with a low glycemic index, which will keep the blood sugar level up for a longer time. (More info about glycemic index.)
• Regular physical activity is very important, but there may have to be a delay to calm down after the exercise before you go to sleep. If needed, you may nave to exercise up to two hours a day to enable good sleep.
• Gradual decreasing of mental and physical activity before going to bed.
• Follow a personal ritual when going to bed, at the same time each evening.
• Provide a pleasant atmosphere in the bedroom, not to hot, silent, dark.
• Do not look at the alarm clock or watch during the night.
• If you cannot fall asleep, go up and do something else and try again some time later.
• Some people finds that listening to calming sounds help them get a sleep, can be special records or boring recorded lectures.
• During the night, the body's ability to fall asleep varies in a rhytm with a period of about 90 minutes. Thus, some people feel that it helps to read a not-too-exciting book until they arrive at the point in time when their body's rhytm says that it is time to sleep.