Your entire body needs sleep for proper functioning and recovery. Lack of sufficient sleep does pose a danger to your health, body, and mind. Here are ten reasons why catching some ZZZ’s can lead to better health.
1. Sleep Can Reduce Stress & Anxiety
When you deprive yourself of sleep, you begin to experience significant levels of stress and anxiety. This results in your body going on high alert, which causes severe problems to the body. Inadequate sleep has been known to increase blood pressure.
In extreme cases, this can lead to strokes and a high risk of heart disease. Also, practice meditation before bed. It’s a powerful technique that helps soothe the mind and calms nerves helping you sleep peacefully.
2. Makes You More Alert Throughout the Day
When you cut short your sleep routine, you’ll wake up feeling sluggish and tired. This can affect your overall day negatively. Ensure to get plenty of shut-eye every night.
Besides, the quality of your mattress plays a huge role in how well you sleep. This helps you wake up feeling revitalized, healthy, and strong. It also enhances your concentration span and alertness.
3. Boosts Your Mood
When you sleep, your brain processes emotions experienced throughout the day. This time is essential to the brain’s emotional response system. If you cut your sleep short, responding to positive emotions, tend to be overwritten with negative ones instead.
Studies show that patients with chronic sleep disorders such as insomnia have a higher tendency to show negative emotions and mood swings. These patients are also susceptible to develop depression and anxiety panics.
4. Helps Develop a Healthier Heart
When you sleep, your heart and blood vessels have time to rest as your overall blood pressure reduces during this state. The less rest you get, the more you strain your heart. If this goes on for a while, this can lead to heart disease, high blood pressure, and sometimes even stroke.
5. A Balanced Level of Blood Sugar
As you fall asleep, many changes occur in your body. These changes, however subtle, can impact your health. During this time, the amount of sugar (glucose) in your bloodstream drops down.
It’s necessary to ensure you get proper sleep. Disrupting this process will lead to your having a difficult time responding with cells in the body. According to the National Institute of Health, people who get adequate sleep are less likely to develop stage -2 diabetes.
6. Boosts Your Immunity System
A good night’s rest can help develop your body’s first line of defense. Your immune system is set up to ward off germs, bacteria, and viruses that try to infiltrate the body. Unhealthy sleep patterns can affect the body’s immune cells and how they operate. This can affect the rate you contract illnesses and how long they linger.
7. Improves Your Memory
Sleep triggers different changes in your brain and thought patterns. Getting sufficient sleep helps your mind solidify memories. These memories can then be sorted as long or short term memories. When you sleep, your brain cells have time to strengthen connections and pass along information from one region to the other uninterruptedly. Therefore improving your memories and helping retain dreams.
People with irregular sleeping behavior often find themselves feeling lost or clueless. Sleeping also helps us formulate new ideas and concepts. Other health benefits from sleep include a boost in creativity and problem-solving skills.
8. Natural Healing Factor
Athletes and bodybuilders must always aim to achieve the optimal amount of sleep. When you sleep, your body has time to repair itself. This is brought about by brain signals which send commands throughout the body. These commands then cause the release of hormones such as the Human growth hormone (HGH) and cells, which then repair muscle tear and injury. Recovering patients adhere to resting as recommended by their doctors.
Inhibiting yourself from getting sufficient sleep will result in a delay in recovery. For peak performance, ensure to rest well.
9. Good Rest Helps Control Weight
People in a deep sleep rarely experience the feeling of hunger. On the other hand, sleep-deprived individuals are bound to go on late-night binge eating fiascos. This is caused by the hormones that control appetite known as ghrelin and leptin. Lack of sleep forces a loss of balance in hormonal activity in the brain. As a result, you cave into the temptation of overeating. Ultimately the extra calories you consume are converted to fat.
10. Sleeping Can Prevent Cancer
Researchers believe that lack of sleep can increase the risk of cancer. This directly correlates to the Melatonin, a chemical hormone known to suppress the growth of tumors as well as regulate sleep cycles. Exposure to white light during the night affects the amount of melatonin. Therefore, avoid glaring at your phone in bed and get some quality rest.
By ensuring you get at least 6-8 hours of sleep a night, you tremendously improve your body and mind. Kick start your morning full of vibrancy and joy. Practice meditating before bed to increase the chances of falling asleep faster.