Long hours of quality REM sleep shouldn’t be a challenge, it should be a nightly routine!
So where’s that sleeping “sweet spot”?
Just like regular exercise and a healthy diet, getting the right hours of sleep is an important part of taking care of yourself.
Here are just a few of the things that happen when you get a proper good night's rest!
A Boost in Your Immune System
When your body gets the sleep it needs, your immune system gets the energy it needs to repel whatever comes their way — like colds or the flu. And consistent with the well-rested sleep specialists over at the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, proper sleep also can make vaccines more effective, which is clearly a plus.
Gaining Zzz’s Can Help Prevent Weight Gain
Racking up eight full hours of sleep isn’t going to end in losing the pounds by itself, but it can help prevent your body from packing on the pounds. If you don’t get enough sleep, your body produces ghrelin, a hormone that reinforces appetite. Your body also decreases the assembly of leptin, a hormone that tells you you’re full. Put ’em both together and that’s one dangerous combo for late-night snacking, my friend.
Sleep Can Strengthen Your Heart
Not getting the correct amount of sleep can cause heart health problems like high blood pressure or a proclivity to heart attacks. The lack of sleep can cause your body to release cortisol, a stress hormone that triggers your heart to work harder. A bit like your immune system, your heart needs rest to function powerfully and properly. Just one more reason to love sleep.
Better Sleep = Better Mood
There is some truth to the old saying, “getting up on the wrong side of the bed.” It's not the literal side of the bed you roll out of, but the quality of your sleep can cause good moods, or bad. If you sleep well, you awaken feeling well-rested and energized. When your energy is up, life’s little challenges won’t annoy you as much as they would. So, get to bed early and everybody around you will have many thanks for it.
Sleeping Can Increase Productivity
You may think you’re wowing your boss by burning the midnight oil, but neglecting to get an honest night’s rest might be having an adverse effect at work or school. In fact, sleep has been linked to improved concentration and better cognitive function, both of which are necessary to succeed in your efforts.
A Lack of Sleep is Often Dangerous
According to a study from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, you’re twice as likely to get in a car accident when you’re cruising on six to seven hours of sleep compared to if you get a full eight hours. Sleep less than five hours and your chances of a crash quadruple! Your response time slows down when your brain isn’t fully rested, so 8 hours of sleep could truly save your life.
Sleep Can Increase Exercise Performance
A group of scientists studied the consequences of sleep deprivation on basketball players and guess what they found? Once they didn’t sleep well, they weren’t excellent basketball players (#Duh). But what does that have to do with the rest of us? Well, sleep affects all kinds of exercise performance, like hand-eye coordination, response time, and muscle recovery.
Sleep Improves Memory
Even though sleep gives your body the rest it needs, your mind remains hard at work. It’s actually processing and consolidating your memories from the day. If you don’t get enough sleep, who knows where those memories go! Or worse, your mind might actually create false memories.