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Most people know that getting a good night’s sleep is important, but many of us don’t realize the amazing benefits of having a good night’s sleep and how important it is. Sleep helps our bodies to heal and repair any injuries or recover from a cold faster, and helps keep our mind focused and better able to concentrate during the day.
When a person chronically lacks sleep this can lead to many health problems, including obesity, and heart disease, autoimmune issues to name a few. Having a proper sleep schedule is just as important to your health as eating right and exercising but is often overlooked when someone is trying to improve their health. When wanting to improve your overall health sleep is one of the main 7 Pillars of Health
If you really want to improve your sleep quality I highly recommend Shawn Stevens’s book Sleep Smarter. His book dives deep into how to create a sleep sanctuary and all the amazing benefits of having a sleep routine.
1. Sleep can improve your emotional well-being and cortisol levels
Sleep has been shown to improve your emotional well-being by helping you to deal with stress and anxiety. When you don’t get enough sleep, your body produces more of the stress hormone cortisol. Cortisol is essential to the human body since it’s our main stress hormone. This hormone can provide many benefits such as
- Regulating blood pressure
- Balancing blood sugar
- Reducing inflammation
- Regulating energy levels
But when we are not getting adequate sleep or have a random sleep schedule this can disrupt hormone production and have a negative impact on our physical and mental health. When there is an overproduction of cortisol over a long period of time a person may start to experience damaging health issues
- Increase in anxiety or depression
- Problems with their digestive health
- Insomnia
- An increase in high blood pressure
- Increases the chance of developing diabetes.
Just like a normal day, cortisol also runs on a 24hr time clock. Most of our cortisol is produced before you wake up ( usually during the last leg of your sleep cycle) by mid-morning you have reached your peak cortisol production and it starts to decline during the day.
Usually, by the evening cortisol production has run its course and made way for other hormones such as melatonin to kick into action and signal to the brain that it is bedtime. When your sleep schedule is all over the place, this can confuse the hormone production in the body and when one hormone doesn’t produce as it should it can negatively affect other hormones as well.
A good night’s sleep can help to improve your mood and reduce stress levels and keep your hormone operating at their peak levels.
2. Sleep can improve your cognitive function
Getting enough sleep is essential for optimal cognitive function. When you’re tired, it’s harder to concentrate, remember things, and make decisions.
“Sleep for the brain is like gas for a car. When the tank is full we get where we need to be. But as time goes on, the gauge falls lower and lower until the gas is gone and the car stops. Without the fuel it needs, the car is useless”
sleep analogy from www.pcpcc.org on why proper sleep is important for the human body
Sleep helps your brain to consolidate memories and process information. Getting a good night’s sleep can help you to think more clearly and make better decisions. When you do not get enough sleep your brain does not get the reset it needs and neurons become overworked which can affect how well your brain performs.
Lack of sleep can be very dangerous to a person’s mental performance, when a person lacks sleep just for a few days they may start to notice some problems with their thinking and mental state. Such as
- Unable to concentrate and stay alert
- Impaired memory
- unable to focus and learn new tasks
- increased level of irritability and anger towards people
3. Sleep can boost your immunity
Sleep plays an important role in immune function. When you don’t get enough sleep, your body produces more of the stress hormone cortisol. As mentioned above this can be very damaging to your overall health.
While you are sleeping the body naturally produces more proteins called Cytokines. This protein signals to the immune system to do its job. The more Cytokines in the body the better response your immune system will have. when you lack sleep, the body has a hard time producing these proteins, and this can lead to a decrease in your body’s immune response and make you more susceptible to illnesses such as the common cold and flu.
4. Sleep can help you to lose weight
If you’re trying to lose weight, getting enough sleep is essential.
Not getting a proper night’s sleep can affect your hormones. One of the hormones known as Ghrelin is the hormone that lets your body know it’s time to eat. When you have not had enough sleep your body will start to produce more Ghrelin and will signal to your brain that you need to eat more. If this was not bad enough another Hormone called Leptin helps you know when you have eaten enough and to stop. So when you are sleep deprived your body will produce less leptin
This is why getting a good night’s sleep can help you to control your appetite and make healthier food choices.
Another factor affecting weight gain/loss is your physical activity. There are numerous studies that have shown how the quality of sleep can affect your physical endurance. When you have not had adequate sleep your body will feel more fatigued during the day and this will affect your muscle strength and overall endurance.
If you are wanting to maintain or lose weight just remember not having enough sleep can
- Effect your insulin and can actually affect your body’s ability to produce insulin
- Not having enough sleep can cause your stress hormone cortisol to spike
- When you are sleep deprived your brain’s reward center is more active and can increase food cravings/binges
- lack of sleep can affect your metabolism and can make it hard to digest carbohydrates
5. Sleep can improve your skin health
Getting enough sleep is important for healthy skin. How many times have you seen someone who “looks tired” and can tell right away that they have not had a good night’s sleep. The person does not look themself, according to an oxford article a person with a lack of sleep will show the following signs
- Hanging eyelids
- red eyes
- swollen eyes
- dark circles
- paler skin
- noticeable wrinkles or fine lines
While you are sleeping your body repairs and regenerate skin cells, produces new collagen, and increase the blood flow to your face ( which gives your skin a healthy glow). If you want to look your best for years to come getting a good night’s sleep can help you achieve and maintain clear, healthy skin, and glowing skin. Hence the term ” Beauty Sleep”
“Sleep is the best meditation.” – Dalai Lama
6. Sleep can increase your lifespan
A lack of sleep has been linked to a number of health problems that can lead to an early death. These include heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.
People who slept less than six hours per night are at greater risk of dying prematurely than people who slept seven to eight hours per night. According to this study, these are the life expectancy of people with good sleep habits and those without inproper sleep habits
7-8.5hrs sleep with some sleep issues or random sleep schedule will result in
- 19.1 years in good health and
- 13.5 years without chronic diseases between ages 50 and 75.
- Healthy and disease-free years are1–3 years shorter than those who slept less than 7 hours or slept 9 hours or more
Persons who do not have sleep issues or problems
- 20.4 years in good health
- 14.3 years without chronic diseases between ages 50 and 75.
- Healthy and disease-free years are 6–3 years shorter for those who reported severe sleep disturbances.
Getting a good night’s sleep can help you to live a longer, healthier life.
Conclusion
Most people know that getting a good night’s sleep is essential for optimal health, but many don’t realize the full extent of the benefits. Sleep plays an important role in immune function, weight loss, skin health, emotional wellbeing, and cognitive function. A lack of sleep can lead to a number of health problems and decreased lifespan. It is important to establish a regular sleep schedule and avoid caffeine and alcohol before bedtime.
The National Sleep Foundation recommends the following sleep ranges:
- Newborns (0-3 months): 14-17 hours
- Infants (4-11 months): 12-15 hours
- Toddlers (1-2 years): 11-14 hours
- Preschoolers (3-5 years): 10-13 hours
- School-age children (6-13 years): 9-11 hours
- Teenagers (14-17 years): 8-10 hours
- Younger adults (18-25 years): 7-9 hours
- Adults (26-64 years): 7-9 hours
- Older adults (65years and above): 7-8 hours
