You probably already know how important healthy eating and keeping active are for your health and wellbeing but two out of three doesn’t get you there!  Research has also shown how important a good night’s sleep is for good health. To maximise your chances of good health and performing at your peak both personally and professionally you need to sleep well.

The benefits of good sleeping habits are more than just old wives tales – they’re well documented. Deep, optimal sleep has been proven to provide countless benefits to daily life – including a strengthened immune system, increased memory, a trimmer waist line and improved reaction time.

 

Good sleep helps you look and feel better:

 

People who have less than five hours sleep a night tend to have more physical ailments, such as headaches and stomachs upsets and also undergo changes in metabolism similar to those occurring with normal ageing. Small wonder many of us look worse for wear after a poor night’s sleep! You can spend a fortune on anti-aging skin creams, but you need to sleep well to have healthy, glowing skin. When you’re fast asleep, the body goes into repair mode and regenerates skin, blood and brain cells, as well as muscles.

 

It boosts your immune system

 

There is a clear connection between good sleep and disease. For example, when deep sleep is interrupted it affects the body’s metabolism and reduces its ability to convert sugar into energy, heightening the risk of diabetes according to a recent study reported in the Journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The study found that just three nights of disrupted sleep can have the same effect on the body’s ability to control blood sugar levels as putting on more than a stone in weight.

 

Other research shows that those who sleep five hours or less a night are twice as likely to suffer from hypertension (high blood pressure) and heart disease as those who sleep for seven hours or more. Sleeping better may also help you fight off infection. People who don’t sleep well often have raised levels of stress hormones and a decrease in immune function.

 

In short, people who sleep well live longer.

 

Good sleep helps you lose weight

 

People who are sleep deprived have an increased appetite. Inadequate sleep also lowers levels of leptin, a hormone that suppresses appetite, and grehlin, a hormone that increases food intake and is thought to play a role in long-term regulation of body weight. Sleep deprivation lowers the levels of leptin and raises levels of grehlin. All this suggests that sleep deprivation can make weight loss extremely difficult because it causes your body to work against you!

 

Quality sleep isn’t a cure all and of course you have to combine it with healthy eating and regular exercise but quality sleep may have more to do with successful weight loss and weight management than any of us ever thought possible. So before you blame that diet programme for failing, look into your sleep habits and aim for a good night’s sleep.

 

Good sleep makes you smarter

 

Lack of sleep can have effects similar to those brought on by too much alcohol. Those with sleep deprivation suffer from reduced concentration, memory loss and are more likely to make mistakes and have a slower reaction time. The performance of someone who has been awake for 17 hours straight is about the same as if she had a blood alcohol level of 50mg/100ml of blood (two drinks in an hour)

 

And night owls beware! A recent study by Harvard Medical School found that people who slept after learning and practising a new task remembered more about it the following day than people who stayed up all night learning the same thing. Better sleep means better concentration and better decision-making.

 

It’ll make you a nicer person

 

The most potent effects of sleep deprivation are on behaviour. Lack of sleep will make you cranky, aggressive, forgetful and unsociable. Taken to extremes, severe sleep deprivation causes depression, disorientation and paranoia.

 

Simply put, there is just no substitute for the benefits of sleep. It makes you look and feel healthier, happier, sexier – even thinner! But there’s no need to overdo it. Doctors discovered that just like having that second slice of cake, oversleeping – and long lie ins at the weekends – may do more harm than good as they upset your biological clock giving you symptoms of jet lag without the holiday. So stick to the recommended 7 – 8 hours; get up at roughly the same time each day – even at weekends – and if you feel that you need to catch up on sleep go to bed earlier rather than sleeping in.

 

How to sleep well:

 

• Quantity and quality are very important: Most adults need between 7.5 to 8.5 hours of uninterrupted sleep.
• Keep regular hours. Try to go to bed at the same time and get up at the same time every day. Getting up at the same time is most important.
• Day light: Bright light in the morning at a regular time should help you feel sleepy at the same time every night.
• Stay away from stimulants like caffeine: Avoid all stimulants in the evening, including chocolate, caffeinated soft drinks and caffeinated teas and coffee.
• Avoid bright light around the house before bed: Using dimmer switches in living rooms and bathrooms before bed can be helpful.
• Exercise: Thirty minutes exercise during the day can help you sleep better but avoid exercise near bedtime.
• Bedtime routines are helpful for good sleep. Keep routines on your normal schedule. A cup of herbal tea, like camomile, an hour before bed can begin the routine.
• Keep your bedroom at a comfortable temperature: Not too warm and not too cold. Cooler is better than warmer.
• Keep the room restful: A quiet, dark, cool environment sends signals to your brain that it is time to wind down.
• Know that the night cap has a price: Alcohol may help you to get to sleep but it will cause you to wake up throughout the night.
• Invest in a good bed: If your bed or mattress is uncomfortable or more than ten years old it may need replacing.
• Snoring partners: If your partner snores encourage them to sleep in another position or experiment with nasal strips and other snoring remedies. If this doesn’t work consider wearing ear plugs or sleeping in a separate room.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 1st, 2008 at 3:00 am and is filed under General Health, Sleep. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.