Sleep is such an important part of our lives, but it is often overlooked. While studies have shown that we can survive for up to twenty-one days without food, they have also shown that we can survive for less than two weeks without sleep. If sleep is more important than food for survival, why do we plan our lives around our meals but not our sleep? Let’s take a closer look at why sleep is so important. Sleep is essential for good health and well-being throughout your life. What happens while you sleep influences how you feel while you are awake? Your body works during sleep to support healthy brain function and physical health. Sleep also promotes growth and development in children and adolescents. Inadequate sleep can increase your risk of chronic (long-term) health problems over time. It can also have an impact on how well you think, react, work, learn, and interact with others. Learn about the effects of sleep on your heart and circulatory system, metabolism, respiratory system, and immune system, as well as how much sleep you need.
1. A good night’s sleep keeps you alert and attentive.
A bad night’s sleep can slow your mind down and make it difficult to concentrate or solve problems. When you make a habit of not getting enough sleep, you are negatively affecting your intelligence and mental development, especially when you are younger. You are also more likely to be injured if you do not get enough sleep. Because of your inattention, you end up endangering yourself and others. Fatigue was estimated to be a major factor in over 100,000 wrecks and over 1,500 vehicular deaths in the United States each year by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
2. Getting enough sleep lowers your risk of heart disease and diabetes.
When you don’t get enough sleep, you increase your risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, and heart attack. Those who have difficulty sleeping are three times more likely to develop heart failure, according to the European Heart Journal. Even if you are young and healthy, sleep deprivation affects your blood sugar and reduces your insulin sensitivity.
3. Getting enough sleep can help you maintain a healthy weight.
Sleeping for less than six hours per night increases your appetite, particularly for high carbohydrate foods, resulting in extra body fat storage. If you sleep between seven and nine hours per night, you are 30% more likely to become obese.
4. Sufficient sleep allows you to age gracefully.
Sleep deprivation has long-term consequences for your aging. When you don’t get enough sleep, you become dependent on the stress hormone cortisol. Cortisol levels that are too high cause skin discoloration and wrinkles. Deep sleep repairs your skin and stimulates the release of hormones that help firm your skin and tone your muscles.
5. Adequate sleep improves memory.
According to sleep experts, your mind organizes your experiences and things you’ve learned throughout the day during sleep to make them easier to access in the future. If you have a big test or a stressful presentation the next day, make it a priority to get to bed on time. Staying up late to study or work may be more harmful than beneficial.
6. Sleep is a protection against mental illness.
You’ve probably heard of the various stages of sleep and how we transition between them during the night. REM sleep is your final stage and the most well-known due to its significance. The majority of your dreams occur during REM. Dreaming is beneficial to mental health because it allows you to process the events of the day. When you don’t get enough REM sleep, you’re more likely to suffer from depression, anxiety disorders, and other mental illnesses. Because REM sleep occurs at the end of the sleep cycle, you miss it when you don’t get a full night’s rest. Sleep deprivation can increase your risk of depression by up to fivefold.
7. Adequate sleep protects against physical illness.
Even a minor sleep deprivation impairs your immune system. Sleeping less than seven hours makes you three times more likely to catch a cold than sleeping eight hours. You can also fight inflammation more effectively if you get enough sleep.
8. Sleep and hormones
At different times of the day, your body produces different hormones. This could be related to your sleeping habits or circadian clocks. Your body releases hormones that promote alertness, such as cortisol, in the morning, which helps you wake up. Other hormones have 24-hour patterns that change over time; for example, in children, the hormones that tell the glands to release testosterone, estrogen, and progesterone are produced in pulses at night, and the pulses become larger as puberty approaches.
9. Sleep and metabolism
Circadian clocks, including those in the liver, fat, and muscle, influence how your body handles fat. Circadian clocks, for example, ensure that your liver is ready to aid in fat digestion at the appropriate times. If you eat at unusual times, your body may react differently to fat.
Sleep aids in the formation of long-term memories and learning. Inadequate or insufficient high-quality sleep can lead to difficulties focusing on tasks and thinking clearly. For more information on how a lack of sleep affects daily activities such as driving and schoolwork, visit our Sleep Deprivation and Deficiency page. Sleep also has an impact on various parts of your immune system, which become more active at different times of day. When you don’t sleep, for example, a specific type of immune cell works harder. As a result, people who do not get enough sleep may be more susceptible to colds and other infections. Sleep is essential for keeping your body and mind healthy and ready for the day ahead. Sleep deprivation has a negative impact on many aspects of your life and can be dangerous to you and those around you. Try Bamboo bedding to help you get the restful sleep you deserve, so you can live the life you’ve always wanted.
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