Health Benefits Of Sleep

These days with pressure from daily living it’s difficult to get the recommended eight hours sleep daily. Unfortunately, a good night’s sleep is incredibly important for ones health. The truth is that sleep is as important as eating healthily and exercising. On the other hand there’s a lot that can interfere with natural sleep patterns.
People are now sleeping less than they did in the past, and sleep quality has decreased as well. Poor sleep is strongly linked to weight gain:People with short sleep duration tend to weigh significantly more than those who get adequate sleep. In fact, short sleep duration is one of the strongest risk factors for obesity.
In one extensive review study, children and adults with short sleep duration were 89% and 55% more likely to develop obesity, respectively. The effect of sleep on weight gain is believed to be mediated by numerous factors, including hormones and motivation to exercise.
If you’re trying to lose weight, getting quality sleep is absolutely crucial. Studies show that sleep-deprived individuals have a bigger appetite and tend to eat more calories.
Sleep deprivation disrupts the daily fluctuations in appetite hormones and is believed to cause poor appetite regulation. This includes higher levels of ghrelin, the hormone that stimulates appetite, and reduced levels of leptin, the hormone that suppresses appetite.
Sleep is important for various aspects of brain function.
This includes cognition, concentration, productivity, and performance. All of these are negatively affected by sleep deprivation.
A study on medical interns provides a good example.
Most night duty workers on a traditional schedule with extended work hours of more than 24 hours made 36% more serious work blunders than those on a schedule that allowed more sleep.
Another study found that short sleep can negatively impact some aspects of brain function to a similar degree as alcohol intoxication. On the other hand, good sleep has been shown to improve problem-solving skills and enhance memory performance of both children and adults.
Sleep has been shown to enhance athletic performance: A study on basketball players, longer sleep was shown to significantly improve speed, accuracy, reaction times, and mental well-being. Less sleep duration has also been associated with poor exercise performance and functional limitation in older women.
A study in over 2,800 women found that poor sleep was linked to slower walking, lower grip strength, and greater difficulty performing independent activities .
These are the factors believed to drive chronic diseases, including heart disease. A review of 15 studies found that people who don’t get enough sleep are at far greater risk of heart disease or stroke than those who sleep 7–8 hours per night .
Experimental sleep restriction affects blood sugar and reduces insulin sensitivity . In a study in healthy young men, restricting sleep to 4 hours per night for 6 nights in a row caused symptoms of prediabetes. These symptoms resolved after one week of increased sleep duration. Poor sleep habits are also strongly linked to adverse effects on blood sugar in the general population.
Those sleeping less than 6 hours per night have repeatedly been shown to be at an increased risk of type II diabetes. Mental health issues, such as depression, are strongly linked to poor sleep quality and sleeping disorders.
It’s been estimated that 90% of people with depression complain about sleep quality. Poor sleep is even associated with an increased risk of death by suicide: Those with sleeping disorders like insomnia or obstructive sleep apnea also report significantly higher rates of depression than those without.
Even a small loss of sleep has been shown to impair immune function:One large 2-week study monitored the development of the common cold after giving people nasal drops with the cold virus . They found that those who slept less than 7 hours were almost 3 times more likely to develop a cold than those who slept 8 hours or more.