Obtaining a restful night’s sleep is essential to one’s health. No matter how busy your schedule may be, you should never forego getting enough sleep. It is as important as drinking water every day or eating nutritious foods since all these, including sleeping, are vital to our physical and mental health. Getting enough sleep will allow you to rest your body from all the activities you are doing during the day, giving you more energy for tomorrow. Besides, good sleep also improves your brain performance, mood, and health.
On the other hand, lack of sleep can have a long-lasting effect on you. People who are sleep deprived are usually cranky and tired during the day, messing up their morning mood and affecting their day throughout. The recommended amount of sleep for most individuals is seven or more hours. However, the amount of time needed to rest effectively varies from person to person. Teens require 8 to 10 hours of sleep each night; kids, on the other hand, need 9 to 12 hours, while babies need to sleep between 14 and 17 hours each day.
If you are, like most people, having trouble sleeping at night, there are plenty of ways you can solve that. Sleeping problems, also known as insomnia, can be treated and prevented. One way to treat it is by taking supplements, such as sleeping pills or CBD gummies. You may also want to change your lifestyle and change your sleeping routine. If you’re someone who loves to take a nap during the afternoon, then you should probably change that; sleeping during the day may prevent you from getting sleepy at night. You should also avoid drinking coffee or nicotine, as this may prevent you from falling or staying asleep.
Indeed, sleep deprivation can put your health and safety at risk, which is why it is crucial that you prioritize and protect your sleep every day. Here are five important reasons why you give your body the sleep that it needs.
1. Enough sleep helps with brain function.
We experience improved mental clarity and responsiveness after a good night’s sleep. In turn, things like learning, problem-solving, and decision-making become easier. However, it is not the same when we lack sleep. When we lack sleep, our brain’s performance suffers, and we become clumsy and difficult to understand. It also weakens our judgment, which may lead to severe accidents or dangerous mishaps.
2. Enough sleep boost your immune system.
When you get enough sleep, your body’s immune cells and proteins get the rest that they need to fend off whatever threatens them, such as a cold or the flu, allowing your body to stay healthy.
3. Enough sleep is a mood booster.
The processing of your feelings is another function that your brain performs while you are asleep. Your consciousness needs this amount of time to correctly recognize and respond to the situation. So, when you reduce that to a shorter amount of time, you are likely to have more negative emotional reactions than positive ones.
A lack of sleep for an extended period of time might also increase the likelihood of a person having a mood illness. If you have insomnia, you have a five times increased risk of developing depression, and the risk of developing anxiety or panic disorders is significantly higher.
4. Enough sleep keeps weight under control.
When you’ve had enough sleep, you won’t feel as hungry as you otherwise might. If you don’t get enough sleep, on the other hand, the hormones in your brain that regulate your appetite will be disrupted, making you hungry. It affects our body’s ability to regulate these appetite hormones. As a result, those who have trouble sleeping tend to have bigger appetites and consume more food than those who don’t struggle with sleep deprivation. In fact, according to studies, persons who are chronically sleep deprived have a risk of developing obesity that is 55% higher than those who get enough sleep.
5. Enough sleep strengthens your heart.
Sleep deprivation can put your heart at risk for a variety of health issues, including high blood pressure and even heart attacks. This is due to the fact that a lack of sleep can lead your body to release cortisol, a stress hormone that causes your heart to work harder than it normally would. The same with our immune system; our heart also needs adequate rest to perform effectively and adequately.