Why is getting the right amount of sleep so important?
Getting the right amount of sleep might have a hugely beneficial impact on your life as researchers have identified that having too little sleep can have a detrimental affect on your general health, mood, weight and sex life (if you have one! ;-) )
If, like me, you don’t get the recommended amount of sleep – see blog post Why do we need sleep? – here are 9 reasons that you might persuade you to improve your sleep hygiene….
1. Better health
Although adequate good sleep won’t protect you from disease there is a significant link between lack of sleep and serious health conditions like heart disease, heart attack, diabetes and obesity.
Just to gee you up a bit, a study that simulated the effects of the disturbed sleep patterns of shift workers on 10 young healthy adults produced changes in their blood sugars levels that qualified then as pre-diabetic after JUST FOUR DAYS.
So you don’t have to have poor sleep for years before it takes its toll; it could be having a detrimental effect on your health RIGHT NOW!
2. Better sex life
A survey carreied out by the National Sleep Foundation identified that 26% of people say that their sex life suffers because they're too tired. There's evidence that in men, lack of sleep is associated with lower testosterone levels, although the exact reason for this isn't clear.
Not getting enough sleep can affect your love life in less direct ways too. If you're on a date with someone and are yawning throughout or fall asleep in the cinema it's not goingt o make a good impression.......
3. Less pain
If you have chronic pain, or acute pain from a recent injury or illness, getting enough sleep may actually refduce your level of pain.
There is much research to linking lack of sleep to a lower pain threshold. Unfortunately, being in pain can make it hard to sleep, but researchers have found that getting enough good quality sleep can supplement pain relieving medication.
If pain is keeping you awake at night, there are also medications available that combine a pain reliever with a sleep aid.
4. Lower risk of injury
Sleep deprivation has been linked with many notorious disasters, such as the destruction of the space shuttle Challenger and the grounding of the Exxon Valdez.
The Department for Transport report that 20% of road traffic collisions in the UK are caused by drowsiness when driving.
But it's not just driving accidents that are caused by lack of sleep. If you're overtired you're more likely to trip, fall, bump into things, fall off a ladder, get hit by a moving vehicle, sustain a back injury when lifting, and all the other ways you might hurt yourself......
5. Better mood
When you haven't had a good night sleep you tend to be a bit moody and short-tempered.
Getting adequate good quality sleep also affects your ability to control your mood, i.e. you're less likely to burst into tears if someone snaos at you.
6. Better weight control
It is well documented that lack of sleep is linked to weight gain.
There are two main reasons for this, the first being. If you haven't had enough sleep you're less likely to hit the gym for a work-out or cooka healthy dinner when you get in from work. ]
The second reason is physiological. The hormone leptin is vital for making you feel full. When you don't get enough sleep, you don;t produce enough leptin. This results in just being more hungry when you're tired, and the evidence shows that when you're overtired you're more likely to choose high-fat, high-calorie foods
7. Clearer thinking
Lack of sleep impairs your cognition, your attention, and your decision-making.
Research has identified that people who have had poor sleep are worse at solving logic and maths problems than when they've had adequate good quality sleep, and they're more likely to make silly mistakes.
8. Better memory
When we sleep, our brain processes and consolidates memories we've acquired during the day. If you don't get enough sleep, this process is interrupted and are memories can be lost.
Further research suggests that if we sleep well there is less chance of us creating false memories. That is, during experiments people were asked to remember a series of words and recall them later. People who hadn;t slep well were more likely to insert a word into the list that hadn't been shown to them.
9. Stronger immunity
More research I'm afraid, but the final bit for this blog......
The question asked - Could getting enough sleep prevent the common cold?
Researchers enrolled over 150 people into the study and monitored their sleep habits for two weeks. Then they exposed them to a cold virus.
The participants who had seven hours or less sleep per night were nearly three-times as likely to to become unwell as the participants who got at least eight hours of sleep a night.
This study does require further research to eliminate other influencing factors, but it's a pretty safe bet to try to get at least eight hours sleep per night if you can........
Message me here if you'd like any further information or advice.
References
Department of Transport (2017) Fatigue - don't drive tired. (online) at think.direct.gov.uk [Accessed 05/07/2017].
Griffin RM (2011) 9 Surprising Reasons to Get More Sleep. (online at www.webmd.com) [Accessed 25/04/2017].
NHS (2015) Why lack of sleep is bad for your health. (online) available at www.nhs.uk [Accessed 05/07/2017].