Why should you always programme a good night sleep in your Must-Do List?
“One in three British workers suffers from poor sleep, research shows, with stress, computers and taking work home blamed for the lack of quality slumber.” The Guardians states.
Wow. That is a pretty high percentage, don’t you think?
We all fall in the same cycle. London is a frenetic and expensive city and to keep up with job careers and high life quality the amount of things to do increase more and more…but the hours in a day are always only 24. Unfortunately.
So what we do as a solution is cutting down the time for ourselves, including the time to spend with the bed.
Sleep plays a vital role in health and wellbeing.
Getting enough quality sleep at the right times can help protect your mental health, improve your physical health and athletic performance, quality of life, safety and support weight loss.
In more details…Sleep helps to support healthy brain functions.
While you’re sleeping, your brain is preparing for the next day resetting itself to help you remember new information.
Studies show that a good night sleep improves learning, enhances your problem solving skills, helps you pay attention, make decisions, and be creative.
Studies also show that sleep deficiency alters activity in some parts of the brain. Sleep deficiency also has been linked to depression, suicide and risk-taking behavior.
Even in children lack of sleep can have the same consequences interfering as well with healthy growth.
Sleep plays an important role in your physical health.
Sleeping is involved in healing and repair of your heart and blood vessels. Ongoing sleep deficiency is linked to an increased risk of heart disease, kidney disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and stroke.
Sleep supports weight loss or weight maintenance.
Sleep helps maintain a healthy balance of the hormones that make you feel hungry (Ghrelin) or full (Leptin). When you don’t get enough sleep, your level of Ghrelin goes up and your level of Leptin goes down. This makes you feel hungrier than when you’re well-rested.
Sleep also affects how your body reacts to insulin, the hormone that controls your blood glucose (sugar) level. Sleep deficiency results in a higher than normal blood sugar level, which may increase the risk for obesity and diabetes.
Sleep supports healthy growth and body development.
Deep sleep triggers the body to release the hormone that promotes normal growth in children and teens. The HGH also boosts muscle mass and helps repair cells in adults.
That is why if you are trying to grow more muscle size or get leaner your sleep time plays a primary role.
Your immune system relies on sleep to stay healthy.
This system defends your body against foreign or harmful substances. Ongoing sleep deficiency can change the way in which your immune system responds. For example, if you’re sleep deficient, you may have trouble fighting common infections.
In addiction of all the above…Getting enough quality sleep at the right time helps you function well throughout the day.
People who are sleep deficient are less productive at work and school. They take longer to finish tasks, have a slower reaction time, and make more mistakes. Also restless can influence your driving skills: yet, studies show that sleep deficiency harms your driving ability as much as, or more than, being drunk.
After several nights of losing even just few hours sleep your ability to function suffers as if you haven’t slept at all for a day or two and to recover a sleepless night it takes at least two nights of well sleep.
How many hours we should sleep per night to be healthy?
The National Sleep Foundation says “there is no a magic number”!
“Not only do different age groups need different amounts of sleep, but sleep needs are also individual. Just like any other characteristics you are born with, the amount of sleep you need to function best may be different for you than for someone who is of the same age and gender. While you may be at your absolute best sleeping seven hours a night, someone else may clearly need nine hours to have a happy, productive life.”
So let’s say the ideal amount of hours to sleep per night for an adult can vary between 7 and 9 hours.
To get a good night sleep wake up early, eat healthy throughout the day, train an hour per day, try to avoid to go to bed with your laptop, tablet or phone. Get a good book and read or listen to your favourite relaxing music instead.
