In order to realize how important sleep actually is, you’ll have to think about your body as a factory that performs a large number of vital functions. And even most of us are aware of some benefits of sleep, we still don’t try hard enough to get enough good night’s sleep. So make sure you keep reading and find out why sleep is so important and why you should always aim at getting at least between 6.5 and 7.5 of sleep each night.
Sleep Deprivation Can Induce Weight Gain
Recently poor sleep has been heavily linked with weight gain. A large number of studies have shown that people who don’t have regular sleeping patterns tend to weigh more than people who do. In fact, poor sleep is one of the strongest risk factors when it comes to obesity. This means that the effect poor sleep has on your weight is huge. Not only that it can disturb your hormones but it can also decrease your motivation to exercise and work on your fitness level.
Sleep Improves Your Immune Function
Even though it’s an old wives tale that sleep loss will get you sick, the experimental data shows this is true. It has been proven that even the smallest tiniest loss of sleep can seriously affect your immune system. A recent study which involved a large number of people has shown that people who sleep 7 hours each night are three times more likely to catch a cold than people who sleep 8 hours a night. So if you’ve caught quite a few colds recently, you’d might want to think about getting more sleep. Eating a lot of garlic can help as well.
Sleep Loss Increases Risk of Heart Disease and Stroke
It’s a fact that sleep quality and duration can affect a large number of risk factors. These are the factors which are linked with some chronic heart disease and stroke. The results of a recent study that involved 15 people, showed that people who sleep between 7 and 8 hours are quite less likely to develop a heart disease or suffer from a stroke than the short sleepers. It has also been proven that sleep deprivation affects your blood pressure. And high blood pressure is of course linked with many chronic heart diseases as well as stroke.
Quality Sleep Improves Your Concentration and Productivity
Sleep is important in many aspects of brain function. This includes your concentration, productivity, and performance as well. It has been shown that interns on a “traditional schedule” tend to make 36% more medical mistakes than interns who sleep more. But the amount of sleep you get isn’t the only thing that affects your brain’s ability to function. Sleep quality is also something that improves various aspects of your brain function. You should never be too cold or too hot during sleep. Getting a humidifier and balancing the humidity in your bedroom is also a good idea.
Good Sleep Maximizes Athletic Performance
It has also been proven that sleep can enhance athletic performance. This theory has been tested on a number of basketball players and those who slept longer have shown significant increases in speed, accuracy and reaction times. Not only this, but quality sleep has also been linked with mental well-being which is something that makes you perform better. On the other hand, poor sleep is known to have a negative effect on your speed, reaction time and grip strength. So no matter which sport you play, getting enough sleep is an absolute must.
Adequate Sleep Reduces the Risk of Inflammation
Poor sleeping patterns are also known to activate some undesirable markers of cell damage and inflammation. Unless you get an adequate amount of sleep, you’re putting your body at risk of serious inflammatory bowel diseases. A recent study that included people who are suffering from Crown’s disease has shown that sleep deprived patients are two times more likely to relapse than the patients who got enough sleep time every night during the study. In addition to this, if you used to suffer from any inflammatory bowel disease, poor sleeping patterns can increase the risk of disease recurrence.
Sleep Can Affect Emotions and Social Interactions
Not getting enough sleep is also likely to reduce your ability to interact socially. Researchers have used emotional facial recognition tests to prove this theory. The results of their study showed that people who don’t get enough sleep have a reduced ability to recognize expressions of happiness and anger. It’s also believed that poor sleep affects your ability to process emotional information. Not only this, but over the years it has been confirmed that your sense of humor and ability to make right decisions also depends on the amount of sleep you get.
Having all of this in mind, it’s quite obvious sleep plays a significant role in your good health and well-being. Precisely because of that, it’s really important to get the ideal amount of sleep each night.