Expert reveals secrets to flawless sleep

Perth Now

5 days ago

A new report has revealed the extent of Australia's silent sleep epidemic, with one expert offering simple fixes for the nation's most common sleeping difficulties.
The Great Aussie Wake-Up, commissioned by Holiday Inn Express, found that 91 per cent of Australians struggle to fall or stay asleep in a typical week, and 93 per cent regularly wake up too early.
Sleep expert Olivia Arezzolo said the research showed the issue had progressed from a problem to a crisis.
But she said three core controllable elements could be implemented to form the foundation for good sleep.
'When you look at the biomechanics of the circadian rhythm, there are key factors which control it,' she said. An increase in stress hormone cortisol is a common side effect of sleep problems. Supplied Credit: Supplied
'Light is one, eating is another, and temperature is another. Before adding the nice-to-haves, you need to get the essentials right first.'
In terms of food, Ms Arezzolo stressed the importance of having breakfast and warned against all too common late night snacking.
'I think a really big factor which is often overlooked, is there's this massive growth in intermittent fasting,' she said.
'It's one of the biggest trends of 2025 and this is meaning that a lot of Gen Z, but also just overall Aussies, are skipping breakfast.
'The stat from the Holiday Inn research was that 76 per cent of Aussies are losing part of their morning routine and one in four are not eating breakfast.
'Breakfast is absolutely critical for circadian rhythm alignment. I'm sure you've heard that term with reference to light and temperature, but eating is also a regulator of the circadian rhythm.
'It essentially anchors the body clock. So in order to fall asleep with ease in the evening, we need to be having breakfast within the first hour of being awake.' Ms Arezzolo says missing the first meal of the day can set you up for sleep failure. Supplied Credit: Supplied
Ms Arezzolo said you ideally want three hours in between your last meal of the day and bedtime. For coffee it was a minimum of eight hours.
'I have a 2pm absolute latest cut-off time (for coffee), but ideally, you want nothing after 12 o'clock, especially if you're struggling to sleep.'
For light Ms Arezzolo recommended getting 20 minutes of light within 30 minutes of waking and staying away from blue light producing screens close to bedtime.
'Like eating, light is a factor controlling the circadian rhythm.
'Essentially, if you're exposed to blue light in the evening, then you have the suppression of melatonin, which is your key sleep hormone to fall and stay asleep.
'This is akin to having a coffee before bed. As soon as you have that blue light enter your eyes, you have the biological signals to remain alert and awake.'
Another key finding of the report was an overreliance on the snooze button with more than half (52 per cent) of Australians hitting snooze every morning.
Gen Z were among the worst offenders, with a massive 70 per cent regularly hitting the button – and one in ten tapping snooze at least 120 times a month. Sleep expert Olivia Arezzolo said light, food, temperature and exercise form the cornerstones of good sleep. Supplied Credit: Supplied
'When you're hitting the snooze button regularly, every time the alarm goes off, you get a spike in your stress hormone cortisol,' Ms Arezzolo said.
'Too much cortisol leads to chronic states of anxiety, burnout, having that 'wired but tired feeling', being unable to sleep, and particularly 3am wakings.
'You're essentially setting your nervous system up to be on overdrive from the moment you wake up simply by pressing the snooze button, not just once, but multiple times. So that one is definitely alarming. Pardon the pun.'
Ms Arezzolo said in the course of her regular life, people are constantly asking her to fix their sleep however they tend to focus on alternative aids rather than focusing on the essentials.
'I'm like, 'okay, but tell me about your mornings and tell me about your evenings. What are you doing just before you're waking up and just before you're going to sleep? What are you doing just when you're waking up? Do you have the foundations right'? And nine times out of 10, they don't.
'You can't overlook these and then just pick and choose which sleep strategies you want to employ because you prefer that. It doesn't work like that. It's biology.
'Circadian rhythm is controlled by light, temperature and eating. So you have to get these things right.'
Following the research, Holiday Inn are offering guests free hot breakfast across each of their locations.