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Why is sleep so important?
Sleep is important because it provides rest for the body and mind. The body regenerates and repairs itself during sleep.
What are the consequences of poor sleep?
If you think that poor sleep only results in feeling fatigued, then think again. Poor sleep takes its toll on your work, your relationships and everything else in your life. Why? Because being short of sleep doesn’t give the body enough time to repair and regenerate –which may affect your health in numerous ways, including:
Increased risk of: stress, anxiety, depression, memory issues, obesity, diabetes and heart attack
It can also lead to decreased judgement. Studies have shown that only getting five hours of sleep is the same as driving when you are drunk.
After reading/listening to all of these health problems your probably thinking you should go to sleep, and you’re right. But very few of us actually do…
Very few of us actually sleeping enough:
Did you know that most of us are getting, on average, 1.5 hours less sleep per night than we did in the past? This means that many of us fit the official medical definition of chronic insomnia – which is where you have trouble falling asleep, staying awake and/or waking up too early. The problem has become so common that sleep experts have hailed it the global fatigue crisis or GFC.
And whilst an hour or so less sleep may not sound like a lot, by the end of the week it can easily equate to more than a full night’s less sleep.
How much sleep do we need?
The best way to determine how much sleep you need is to simply listen to your body. On average, adults need seven to nine hours of quality sleep per night, however this is dependent upon what stage of life you are at. While getting enough sleep is important, what is even more important is that you get quality sleep. It’s no good sleeping eight hours if you keep waking up every hour.
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6 comments
Really important topic, and well written! it’s a popular research topic at the moment. A few prospective studies have found a significant increased risk of weight gain, incident diabetes, and incident hypertension associated with inadequate sleep. Just earlier this month there was a UK-based study published in the journal of Paediatrics, showing that shorter sleep can affect early markers of diabetes – the effects can be detected even in kids. There is also a number of studies showing the effect of sleep on the pituitary-adrenal axis, the organs responsible for much of hormone production in our bodies; so sleep can have an effect on multiple aspects of our physiology, and well-being in general. Very interesting read Rob, thank you!
Hi Jo, thanks for your detailed comments. Yep, sleep is so important in many ways, for both mind and body. Happy sleeping!
I notice, that my body starts telling me to get ready for sleep, at about 9pm each night. If I listen to that signal, and get to bed by 10:00-10:30 pm each night, I feel refreshed and ready to rise upon waking at 6am each morning, feeling I’ve had a quality sleep of 7.5 hours.
If I ignore this signal, and go to bed later, at say 11:00 or 12:00pm, even if I sleep until 7:30am, (getting the same total hours of sleep), I have a harder time waking up, and feel I could continue sleeping, even though I have had adequate hours of sleep.
I believe the few hours of sleep BEFORE midnight are a very important key to a great nights sleep.
Hi Nanette, thanks for your comment and this is a great point as I hear this often. What I will say is that going to sleep at the right time is not just all about the clock (although it is good to have a routine time when you do go to sleep as much as possible), but rather about catching that first initial sleep wave – much like surfers wait for the perfect wave to ride. As soon as you start to feel like you need to get some sleep, then that’s when you should go to bed. But often we don’t do this because we are socialising, on facebook, watching our favourite tv shows or whatever else. However, if we miss this wave of initial sleep, then chances are that the next sleep wave won’t come until at least another hour or more. And so, even if we happen to catch the next wave, we probably won’t get the same quality of sleep we initially would have if we went to bed when our bodies told us to. This is because while you sleep, you go through different types of sleep. The first state in a sleep cycle is light sleep, followed by deep sleep and a dream state referred to as REM-sleep. A full sleep cycle lasts about 90 minutes and is normally repeated several times each night. Most of us need 4 or 5 cycles in a 24 hour period. So going to bed after missing your first sleep wave may in-fact mean that you are missing a full cycle of restorative sleep which explains why we can feel so tired the next day.
Fantastic posts Rob, forward to sister every week .
Well Done hope to see you soon Heather
Hi Heather, I hope your well! Thanks for your comment…I’m really glad you are getting something out of the posts. There are many more interesting and important topics coming up so I’m keen to hear your comments 🙂