Love it or hate it, you need it.
Sleep is when the body is in full relaxation mode; people tend to sleep more at night to re-energize the body after a full day’s work. Having a quality night's rest is very important to the general health of the body, it is just as important as nutrition and exercise. There are many benefits of observing the mandated seven to eight hours of daily. This is essential to give your muscles enough time to rest and heal after strenuous activities are carried out during the daytime. Studies have shown that it gives you peak health benefits; however, do not overdo it. If your regular sleeping time is more than nine hours daily, it may reduce your quality of life. A medical research found that people who slept longer had more calcium buildup in their heart arteries and less flexible leg arteries.
Staying awake all through the night can affect your overall mood, making you cranky or irritated the next day. Do not make a habit of sleeplessness, as it can do more damage than just ruining your mood. Studies show that getting quality sleep regularly can help improve all sorts of issues, from controlling blood sugar levels to improving workout results.
Now, let’s examine seven important benefits of sleep:
Sleep helps control weight gain
Recent reports have shown that people who sleep for lesser hours are likely to have weight increases or obesity, this is a result of the effect it has on the hormones that control appetite. When you're well-rested, you're less hungry. When you make sleeping for a healthy number of hours a habit, your resistance to the temptation of unhealthy foods goes way down. And when you're tired, you're less likely to want to get up and move your body.
Together, it's a recipe for cutting down pounds, because the period spent in bed goes hand-in-hand with the time spent at the table and at the gym to help one manage body weight. If you want to maintain or lose weight, don't forget that getting adequate sleep regularly is a huge part of the equation.
Sleep improves memory
Sleep plays an important role in a process called memory consolidation. When the body is asleep the brain isn’t, rather it is processing what happened during the day. When you're running low on sleep, you'll probably have trouble holding onto and recalling details. That's because it plays a big part in both learning and memory. Without enough rest, it's tough to focus and take in new information. Your brain also doesn't have enough time to properly store memories so you can pull them up later. Sleep lets your brain catch up on the day's activities so that you're ready to download more data.
Sleep promotes cardiovascular health
Lack of sleep, also known as insomnia has been associated with low blood pressure levels and low cholesterol, which are risk factors for heart diseases and stroke. Heart attacks and strokes are more likely to occur during the early morning hours, this may be due to the way sleep interacts with the blood vessels. Your heart will be healthier if you get between seven to eight hours of rest each night.
While you rest, your blood pressure goes down, giving your heart and arteries adequate resting time. The less sleep you get, the longer your blood pressure stays up during the whole day. High blood pressure can lead to severe health conditions or death. People that are suffering from insomnia and other sleeping disorders tend to develop heart disease and make up a higher percentage of patients suffering from cardiovascular problems.
Sleep repairs the body
Sleep is a time to relax, but it's also when the body is repairing damage caused by stress, ultraviolet rays, and other harmful exposure. Your cells produce more protein while you are asleep. These protein molecules form the building blocks for cells, allowing them to repair the damage.
To help you ward off illnesses, your immune system identifies harmful bacteria and viruses in your body and destroys them. Ongoing lack of sleep changes the way your immune cells work. They may not attack as quickly, and you could get sick more often. Good nightly rest now can help you avoid that tired, worn-out feeling, as well as spending days in bed as your body tries to recover.
Sleep reduces the risk of depression
Depression is a mental health issue that has been linked to a lack of quality sleep. Insomnia limits the production of the serotonin hormone, which puts you at risk of suffering mood disorders like depression. You can help to prevent depression by making sure you are getting the right amount of sleep between seven and eight hours each night. This condition may worsen to having suicidal thoughts. People with insomnia and other sleeping disorders also report a higher rate of depression than those without.
Sleep reduces the risk of inflammation
Increased stress on your hormones caused by lack of sleep increases the risk of swelling or inflammation in your body. A weak system is prone to invaders, which attacks healthy cells and can cause oxidative stress. As a self-protecting measure, your internal organs may start to inflame, which puts you at a greater risk for heart-related conditions and cancer. Inflammation can lead to a myriad of health problems and can cause the body to age faster than normal.
Sleep fights stress
When your body is sleep deficient, it goes into a state of stress. The body's functions are put on high alert, which causes a spike in blood pressure levels and stimulates the production of stress hormones. This reaction puts you at risk of developing heart attack or stroke, and the stress hormones make it harder to fall asleep. To tackle this problem, you can learn relaxation techniques to alter the effects of stress and improve your sleep quality.
Sleep reduces the risk of cancer
Reports have shown that a significant percentage of patients suffering from breast and colon cancer have late-night jobs. Medical experts have explained the link between insufficient sleep. They believe light exposure reduces melatonin levels, a hormone that regulates the sleep-wake cycle is thought to protect against cancer as it appears to suppress the growth of tumors.
Be sure that your bedroom is dark, and avoid using electronics before bed to help your body produce the melatonin it needs.
Sleep increases athleticism
If you are a sportsman and your activities require quick bursts of energy, like wrestling or weightlifting, sleep loss may not affect you as much as with endurance sports like running, swimming, and biking. Lack of sleep affects your motivation apart from robbing you of energy and time for muscle repair, and these are what you need to get you to the finish line. You'll face a harder mental and physical challenge and see slower reaction times. Besides physical fitness, proper rest sets you up for your best performance in carrying out your sports activities.
Sleep boosts alertness
A good night's sleep recharges your energy levels and awakens your senses all through the day. Being engaged and active not only feels great but increases your chances for another good night's rest.
Do not skip on a good night’s sleep as it can alter your rest pattern for the entire week. A well-rested body will be able to function up to par during the day.
Get a good night’s rest!
A healthy lifestyle is so much more than early morning yoga and fruit and kale smoothies. A healthy lifestyle also means a good night’s sleep and giving your body a chance to recover. Get a good night’s sleep even if it means skipping the late-night workout and see how you function the next day.
