Sleep plays a vital role in good health and well-being throughout your life. The way you feel while you are awake depends in part on what happens while you are sleeping. During sleep, your body is working to support healthy brain function and maintain your physical health.
In children and teens, sleep also helps support growth and development. Getting inadequate sleep over time can raise your risk for chronic (long-term) health problems. It can also affect how well you think, react, work, learn, and get along with others. Not only that, lack of sleep affects your overall energy levels and can make you feel lethargic.
The goal of this article to bring forward the benefits of sleeping, how much sleep we need and how we can make it deeper.
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The benefits of sleeping
Heart and circulatory system
When you fall asleep and enter non-REM sleep, your blood pressure and heart rate fall. During sleep, your parasympathetic system controls your body, and your heart does not work as hard as it does when you are awake. During REM sleep and when waking, your sympathetic system is activated, increasing your heart rate and blood pressure to the usual levels when you are awake and relaxed. A sharp increase in blood pressure and heart rate upon waking has been linked to angina, or chest pain, and heart attacks.
People who do not sleep enough or wake up often during the night may have a higher risk of:
Coronary heart disease
High blood pressure
Obesity
Stroke
Hormones and sleep
Your body makes different hormone at different times of day. This may be related to your sleep pattern or your circadian clocks. In the morning, your body releases hormones that promote alertness, such as cortisol, which helps you wake up. Other hormones have 24-hour patterns that vary throughout your life; for example, in children, the hormones that tell the glands to release testosterone, estrogen, and progesterone are made in pulses at night, and the pulses get bigger as puberty approaches.
Metabolism and sleep
The way your body handles fat varies according to various circadian clocks, including those in the liver, fat, and muscle. For example, the circadian clocks make sure that your liver is prepared to help digest fats at appropriate times. Your body may handle fat differently if you eat at unusual times.
Studies have shown that not getting enough quality sleep can lead to:
Higher levels of the hormones that control hunger, including leptin and ghrelin, inside your body
Decreased ability to respond to insulin
Increased consumption of food, especially fatty, sweet, and salty foods
Decreased physical activity
Metabolic syndrome
All of these contribute to overweight and obesity.
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How much sleep do we need?
Experts recommend that adults sleep between 7 and 9 hours a night.
Adults who sleep less than 7 hours a night may have more health issues than those who sleep 7 or more hours a night. Sleeping more than 9 hours a night is not necessarily harmful and may be helpful for young adults, people who are recovering from sleep deprivation, and people who are sick.
How much sleep children should get depends on their age. Sleep experts consider naps to be appropriate for children under age 7.
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How to make sleep deeper?
While the amount of hours is important, quality always wins verses quantity. Many people when they sleep,
Can wake up many times to urinate, drink water or anything else. These interruptions can greatly affect our deep
Sleep and can possibly give rise to health issues.
Here at the 3 things you can do to improve your sleep:
1. Stick to a sleep schedule
Set aside no more than eight hours for sleep. The recommended amount of sleep for a healthy adult is at least seven hours. Most people don't need more than eight hours in bed to be well rested.
Go to bed and get up at the same time every day, including weekends. Being consistent reinforces your body's sleep-wake cycle.
If you don't fall asleep within about 20 minutes of going to bed, leave your bedroom and do something relaxing. Read or listen to soothing music. Go back to bed when you're tired. Repeat as needed, but continue to maintain your sleep schedule and wake-up time.
2. Create a restful environment
Keep your room cool, dark and quiet. Exposure to light in the evenings might make it more challenging to fall asleep. Avoid prolonged use of light-emitting screens just before bedtime. Consider using room-darkening shades, earplugs, a fan or other devices to create an environment that suits your needs.
Doing calming activities before bedtime, such as taking a bath or using relaxation techniques, might promote better sleep.
3. Include physical activity in your daily routine
Regular physical activity can promote better sleep. However, avoid being active too close to bedtime.
Spending time outside every day might be helpful, too.
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Conclusion
All in all, sleep is probably the most recuperative action we can for our bodies.
As athletes, sleep helps improve our moods and gives us the energy need to train.
Love and peace
FullBody Athletics