HEALTH BENEFITS OF SLEEP AND WHY YOU SHOULD SLEEP MORE
Guss Hansen - Monday, August 26, 2019 Monday, August 26, 2019
• SLEEP HELPS YOU LOSE WEIGHT • LOWERS RISK OF TYPE 2 DIABETES • LOWER RISK OF HEART DISEASE
Depriving yourself from sleep especially at night can only make you cranky the following day. And on a long run, skimping on sleep can really mess up more than just your morning mood. Sleep studies has shown that getting quality sleep on a consistent basis can help improve all sort of problems, from your blood sugar to your workouts.
In addition, getting enough sleep is very essential for helping an individual maintain optimal health and at the same time, wellbeing. When it comes to people’s health, sleep is as important as constant exercise and consuming a balanced diet.
People living in the United States and many other countries do not embrace the necessity for adequate sleep. Yet, it is very important that individuals put an effort to get a satisfactory sleep on a regular basis.
Here, in this article, you will get to know the benefits of getting a good sleep regularly and also the reasons why you should sleep more. These tips listed below can help you sleep better naturally without you buying any kind of sleep medication.
Sleeping for a longer period is very important for weight loss and also maintaining a healthy weight. Sleeping a few times causes the body to release more of the stress hormone cortisol. High levels of cortisol enable your body cells to store more fat.
In addition, sleep deprivation affects the release of the hormones which control our appetite. These hormones, ghrelin and leptin respectively, make us feel hungrier and less satisfied after consuming a meal.
Lastly, being overtired often weakens your resolve to remain on a diet. When you are extremely tired, you are more likely to feel justified in cheating in order to enhance your mood and increase your energy levels with sugary snacks.
• BETTER PRODUCTIVITY AND FOCUS
There were numerous studies that scientists did in the early 2000s that focused on the effects of sleep deprivation. What the scientists concluded is that sleep connects to numerous brain functions including focus, productivity and cognition.
Recently, a research was made in 2015 and it showed that kid’s sleep patterns can have a direct impact on their academic performance and behaviour.
Lack of sleep can also raise the opportunity of having a mood disorder. Many studies have shown that when you have insomnia, you are 5 times likelier to develop depression and your odds of anxiety or fear disorders are even greater.
Refreshing slumber enables you hit the reset button on a very bad day, make you look better and enable you to be prepared to meet challenges.
• IMPROVES MEMORY AND PERFORMANCE
Sleep is very essential for your brain to function at the highest level such as affecting everything from your ability to focus and solve issues as well as recalling vital information.
The process of transferring information from our fleeting short term memory to our long term memory stores which takes place when we are asleep is called Memory Consolidation. Different kinds of memories are consolidated at the time of different stages of our sleep cycle.
It should be noted that Non –REM sleep tackles declarative memory while REM sleep tackles procedural memories. In addition, moderate sleep deprivation can lower performance in a familiar manner to alcohol intoxication, and increases the amount of mistakes we make.
It should be noted that sleeping less can increase the chances of developing Type 2 diabetes. It affects how our body processes sugar. Individuals who made research on this tested their own selves and discovered the result.
They were only allowed to sleep for four hours per night for five nights. The changes discovered in their body showed that there was a 40 percent decrease in their levels of insulin (the hormone which regulates the body’s use of sugar).
Many other studies have proven that sleep deprivation negatively affects glucose metabolism, while lowers insulin sensitivity, leading in high blood sugar.
Some of things we have discussed above contribute to increasing lifespan, but even independent of these factors, getting the right amount of sleep has proven to improve longevity. A meta analysis of sleep studies concentrated at the effect of hours of sleep on lifespan. The study revealed that sleeping less than six hours every night makes you 12 percent more likely to sufferer a premature death while sleeping up to or more than 9 hours per night enables you have a 30 percent increase in premature death.
Sleep loss can also have effects on longevity by increasing the chances that you will suffer a fatal accident. Do not forget, sleep deprivation has a familiar effect of alcohol intoxication on reaction time and focus.
Not getting enough sleep is not serving you and as proven above, it may actually be taking you back from attaining your health goals.
There is a connection between getting enough sleep and lowering inflammation in the body. For instance, a study in the World Journal of Gastroenterology thinks that there is a connection between sleep deprivation and inflammatory bowel diseases that affect individuals’ gastrointestinal tract.
In addition, the study showed that sleep loss can contribute to these diseases and these diseases in turn can contribute to sleep loss.
• STRONGER IMMUNE SYSTEM
One thing we should know is that sleep aids the body repair, recover and regenerate. The immune system is not excluded to this relationship. Various research shows how better sleep quality can help the body prevent infection.
Nevertheless, scientists still need to make further research into the exact mechanisms of sleep relating to the effect on the body’s immune system.
High blood pressure is one risk factor for heart disease. Getting adequate rest every night allows the body’s blood pressure to regulate itself; this is according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Getting enough sleep can reduce or lower the chances of sleep related conditions that include apnea and enhance overall heart health. The less sleep you get, the longer your blood pressure stays up, leading to heart disease or stroke. You should take note that short term down time can have long term payoffs.
• IMPROVES ATHLETIC PERFORMANCE
It is a fact that the amount of sleep you get determines the performance you put up in sports. Stanford researchers tested the effect of sleep on a group of basketball players. It showed that the amount of sleep they got improved the speed, accuracy, reaction time and general feelings of well being of the players.
Furthermore, sleep loss negatively affects our metabolism which will not only prevent you from losing weight through exercise but reduces your ability during workouts.
