Believe it or not, sleep is important for more things than just to feel rested! Just like eating, sleep is not a luxury. It’s the body’s time to repair itself and do the maintenance work – miss that and your body misses out. Having a late night here and there is OK, but if you experience sleep problems, or sleep less than the recommended 7 to 9 hours each night, it can affect your health.
How does lack of sleep affect you?
If you don’t get enough shut-eye, you can lose concentration, get depressed or fall asleep in the middle of work – or even while driving! Sleeping is also closely linked to your body’s defense system, the health of your heart and the health of your brain.
Want to reduce your risk of heart disease? Then sleeping will help you as much as quitting smoking!
When you sleep, your body takes the time to re-set itself. To do this, it needs a delicate balance of hormones. Without enough sleep, your body gets stuck in a state of “fight or flight”, in other words, stress. Stress hormones raise your blood pressure, and affect your blood sugar control. This increases your risk for weight gain and diabetes, and puts your heart and brain under extra pressure.
Four ways to improve the quality of your sleep
- Make sleep a priority. Don’t push it to the back of the line: it’s important enough to make it a priority!
- Make sure your bedroom is setup to give you the best rest. Keep your room cool, dark and quiet. Bright lights from your phone, or the TV, interrupt the production of the hormone melatonin, which is what makes you sleepy (try to leave that WhatsApp chat for tomorrow!)
- Stick with a bed time routine as much as possible. A warm bath or shower slows your body down and gets it ready for sleep. Avoid any stimulants (e.g. coffee) too close to bedtime and stay away from alcohol. Even though a few alcoholic drinks may help you fall asleep quicker, they actually cause you to wake up more often during the night as your body tried to clear out all the alcohol.
- Relax! Stress is the sleep enemy! Put the day to bed before you put yourself to bed. This also helps your body associated your bed with sleep, rather than with worry!
All that’s left now is to have sweet dreams!