Everyone knows that balanced nutrition and regular physical activity are important pillars of health. However, optimal health surpasses those two areas. Today, we are going to talk about another factor that affects our health. What is this factor? SLEEP! I think we've all heard that 7-8 hours of sleep is important for healthy functioning. Ask yourself right now ("How many hours of sleep do I get on a daily basis?"). Interestingly enough, I have heard people say that they are perpetually tired no matter how long they sleep. I myself have also experienced this. Even though we might be getting the recommended number of hours of sleep, is it quality sleep? Before I go into the nitty gritty of what quality sleep is. I want to shed light on two things. The first thing is: what happens during sleep and how it affects our health. The second thing is: how sleep deprivation affects our health. During sleep, our bodies regroup, repair and reorganize. Toxins built up from burning energy throughout the day get removed from the brain, our skin cells turn over allowing for rejuvenation and we combine new knowledge with prior knowledge (essentially, memories are created). Getting enough sleep will help us to concentrate, reduce our risk of injury, keep us metabolically fit, and enhance our immune response. On the other hand, sleep deprivation brings on a number of issues that are detrimental to our health.
Our mental and physical health depend on our sleep status. According to Dr. Charles Czeisler of the division of sleep and circadian disorders at the Brigham Women's Hospital in Boston, sleep deprivation can cause a decrease in the effectiveness of insulin. Insulin is a hormone that is responsible for taking up glucose from the blood into the cells. If our insulin is not effective at taking glucose from the bloodstream into the cells, then that means glucose concentration in the blood will be high, resulting in diabetes and other issues. Furthermore, not getting enough sleep affects our immune system, causing its response to infections and biological threats to be less effective than if we were getting enough sleep.
For everyone, like myself, who is concerned about the condition of our skin, inadequate sleep may be a cause of those unwanted breakouts. As previously mentioned, during sleep, our skin gets rejuvenated by the cells turning over. Have you ever woken up in the middle of the night and taken a look in the mirror? (if you haven't, do it the next time you wake up, you may notice that your skin will look smooth and radiant). That is because it is being rejuvenated. Hence the term "beauty sleep". Along the same lines, when we are not sleeping enough the body will think it is stressed and therefore increases the release of the hormone cortisol, which can lead to other issues.
In addition to these physical implications, sleep deprivation also affects our mental health and has been linked to mood swings, depression and other mental health issues.
Let's move on to sleep quality. According to many sleep scientists, sleep is comprised of three stages. Light sleep (stage1), Rapid eye movement or REM (dreaming- stage 2) and deep sleep (stage 3). It is during stage three or deep sleep that our body is able to regenerate itself. However, most of us are not getting to that stage in our sleep. This is why a lot of us who, even though we sleep for eight hours we still wake up tired. Good quality sleep goes hand in hand with getting adequate amount of sleep to produce all the health benefits we require (the ones mentioned above).
Here are some tips to help us get good quality sleep:
1. Decide that sleep is a priority. The truth of the matter is, I can give you tips, but they won't take root unless you take your sleep time seriously. Decide on the best wake up time and bedtime that will allow you at least 7 hours and try to stick to it.
2. Don't procrastinate. This goes for most students, including me! Have a planner and write down everything that you need to get done each day, as well as deadlines. Stick to your plan and get all your tasks done on time. This will put an end to those miserable all-nighters during exams. Let's stop stressing our bodies out.
3. Discipline. This goes hand in hand with one and two. In order to be disciplined about sleep we have to first see it as a priority. When we make sleep a priority, we will be disciplined about completing tasks on time so that we can get adequate sleep.
4. Make your sleep area dark and comfortable. It is usually recommended to sleep in a cool and dark environment. This is because artificial light disturbs our circadian clock (our biological clock that determines when we feel awake and when we feel tired). So instead of making us feel tired at dusk for example, our body is tricked into thinking dusk is at 12am or whatever time light exposure is put to an end. This can lead to chronic insomnia for some individuals, according to Dr. Czeisler. So, turn off your tv and all your devices at least an hour before you go to sleep. Don't wait until the very second before you close your eyes because you will find it harder to fall asleep.
5. Silence your phone and keep all devices off your bed. This will prevent your body from being disturbed by vibrations from notifications that disturb your deep sleep.
6. Remove all unnecessary items from your bed. This will help you to fully relax instead of being restricted by your books or unfolded laundry.
7. Drink some tea before bed. Tea is very soothing and will also help you relax as well. Make sure it is not caffeinated!
And yes, life is unpredictable and sometimes we are not able to follow our plans. Be gentle with yourself! Easy does it!
Until next time, sleep easy!
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