Almost everyone has been a victim of this. The alarm goes off in the morning, you hit snooze, then try to get an extra minute of sleep, only to wake up late. This mostly happens when you have had a bad night’s sleep, where you couldn’t get enough sleep. This leaves you unable to concentrate, easily irritated, and fatigued. Many often turn to caffeine or even sugar to help kickstart the day.
Getting enough sleep is refreshing, enabling you to wake up energized and ready to take on the day. Although some people don’t struggle to fall and stay asleep, a significant percentage of adults today find themselves turning and tossing on their bed for hours. To them, sleep is overrated. If you fall into this category take a look at how to get more sleep via this infographic from Slumbersearch – they also offer a range of mattress reviews.
Unknown to many, good sleep is as essential as a healthy diet plan and regular exercise. As long as you can get 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep, your body, mind, and soul will remain healthy among other benefits. This is one of the reasons why it would be advisable to get at least 8 hours of sleep every day. Outlined below are nine reasons why you should get enough sleep.
1. Improved Concentration and Attention
It’s no secret, a good night’s sleep helps you wake up feeling refreshed and re-energized. In addition to this, getting plenty of rest at night enables the brain to create connections and store memories. This helps to ensure you remain focused the next day.
Lack of sleep can put you in disarray. Concentration, strategic thinking, attention span, reaction times, and risk assessment will be greatly impacted. You will also find it handle regular tasks easily such as driving or even operating heavy machinery. For this reason, you need to get at least 8 hours of sleep every day for your mind to stay sharp and focused all day long.
2. Learn and Make Memories
Sleep is needed to help the body rest, rebuild and repair damaged tissues. The same happens to the brain while you sleep. Although most organs and processes will slow down when you fall asleep, this is the time the mind starts processing and organizing information gathered through the day. It is by doing this that memories are stored efficiently for easier retrieval. Many of the short-term memories are converted to long-term ones, thus enabling you to learn every day. It is after getting a good night’s sleep that you can understand concepts and issues you previously couldn’t with a tired mind
3. Body Weight Management
Sleeplessness and the inability to get enough sleep almost always trigger binge eating. This is caused by hormonal imbalance and especially hunger hormones that cause you to eat even when you don’t have to. The extra food you eat is converted to fats causing you to gain weight uncontrollably. Some people also find themselves craving for junk foods and foods with high sugar content. Getting enough sleep however facilitates hormonal balance, meaning you won’t find yourself binge eating in front of the refrigerator. The body is also capable of regulating how it uses up energy it gets from the foods you have eaten. This helps you maintain good body shape and weight.
4. Improved Heart Health
Insomnia and other sleep-related conditions increase the risk of coronary heart disease, hypertension, and diabetes. When your sleep is interrupted for whatever reason, the nervous system gets in a fight-or-flight mode. This stimulates increased blood pressure as the heart prepares the body to wake up. If such responses occur repeatedly, then your risk of suffering from high blood pressure is elevated. This is because it takes more time for blood pressure to go back to normal, hence remaining higher than it should be for longer. High blood pressure leads to other more severe conditions including coronary heart disease and stroke.
In addition to this, doctors have linked poor quality sleep to insulin resistance and inability to regulate insulin production. Sleeplessness makes it almost impossible for the body to control blood sugar levels. This happens when you have to wake up from a deep sleep, which causes a spike in sugar levels. This increases the risk of diabetes. That said, good quality sleep is recommended for a healthier cardiovascular system and combating diabetes.
5. It Keeps the Immune System in Check
It is while we sleep that the body engages in repairing any tissues and cells that might have been injured during the day. Rest also facilitates faster recovery for these sells. This is why doctors recommend getting plenty of bed rest when ill or recovering from an accident. That said, the immune system benefits significantly from sleep. It is at this moment that the body can break down proteins more efficiently to facilitate tissue repair. It also enables the immune system to fight off bugs and microbes known to cause disease and infections. Individuals that get enough sleep every day are therefore less vulnerable to illnesses and infections as compared to those that don’t.
6. Improved Emotional Well-being
Stress and anxiety can rob you of your happiness. Most of the people that struggle with stress or even emotions hardly fall asleep. Their minds are always meandering around the issues and troubles they have. This not only affects your wellbeing but also affects your mood creating negative thoughts. If you have been staying awake for long periods of time thinking about something you don’t have control over, it would be wise to stop and try getting to sleep. Practice techniques that will help you relax and drift off to sleep. Deep breathing, yoga, or even listening to relaxing music can help. Getting enough sleep will make it possible to contain some emotions and thoughts, thus improving your wellbeing.
7. Improved Mental Health
Lack of sleep and poor-quality sleep have a direct impact on your mental health. For starters, concentration and holding on to memories will be a tough task for the brain. That said, lack of sleep will also lead to a deterioration of your mental health. Try to get at least 7 hours of sleep to give the brain a chance to rejuvenate.
8. Lower Stress Levels
Stress is inevitable in this day and age. Relationships, work, health concerns, and financial problems are some of the factors that cause stress. While some of these may be unavoidable, learning how to manage these can give you some peace of mind. Stress hormones produced when you are stressed, such as cortisol, induce wakefulness making it hard for you to fall asleep. Learning to manage stress, and getting plenty of rest in the form of sleep however, helps keep stress on the low. It also improves your response to some of the stress factors.
9. Good and Healthy Relationship
Nothing makes most people grumpy than a bad night’s sleep. There are times when you will wake up feeling fatigued, moody, and irritable. Chances of picking a fight with a loved one when in this state are high, a reason you should strive to get as much rest as you can. Getting good quality and uninterrupted sleep eliminates chances of waking up moody, hence will be able to relate well with those around you. That said, good quality sleep is essential for maintaining good interpersonal relationships. It also improves your communication skills and reasoning.
