Many people are unaware of how essential it is to get a good night’s sleep on a regular basis. When work or school deadlines arise, many consider staying up late or “pulling an all-nighter” an efficient way to get everything done.
However, studies show that this is the worst thing you can do—skimping on sleep can cause concentration problems, drowsiness, and irritable moods that affect the way your work is delivered the next day.
How Much Sleep Do You Need?
These guidelines serve as a rule-of-thumb for how much sleep children and adults need while acknowledging that the ideal amount of sleep can vary from person to person.
For that reason, the guidelines list a range of hours for each age group. The recommendations also acknowledge that, for some people with unique circumstances, there’s some wiggle room on either side of the range for “acceptable,” though still not optimal, amount of sleep.
Deciding how much sleep you need means considering your overall health, daily activities. Some questions that you help assess your individual sleep needs include:
Are you productive, healthy, and happy with seven hours of sleep? Or have you noticed that you require more hours of sleep to get into high gear?
Do you have coexisting health issues? Are you at higher risk for any disease?
Do you have a high level of daily energy expenditure? Do you frequently play sports or work in a labor-intensive job?
And do your daily activities require alertness to do them safely? Do you drive every day and/or operate heavy machinery? Do you ever feel sleepy when doing these activities?
Are you experiencing or do you have a history of sleeping problems?
Do you depend on caffeine to get you through the day?
When you have an open schedule, do you sleep more than you do on a typical workday?
Start with the above-mentioned recommendations and then use your answers to these questions to hone in on your optimal amount of sleep.
10 Reasons Why Good Sleep is important
1. Better productivity and concentration
It is important for various aspects of brain function. This includes cognition, concentration, productivity, and performance. All of these are negatively affected by sleep deprivation. What the researchers concluded is that it has links to several brain functions, including:
- concentration
- productivity
- cognition
2. It can maximize athletic performance
It has been shown to enhance athletic performance. In a study on basketball players, longer sleep was shown to significantly improve speed, accuracy, reaction times, and mental well-being. Less sleep duration has also been associated with poor exercise performance and functional limitation in older women.
A study in over 2,800 women found that poor sleep was linked to slower walking, lower grip strength, and greater difficulty performing independent activities.
3. Higher body weight
Poor sleep is strongly linked to weight gain. People with short sleep duration tend to weigh significantly more than those who get adequate sleep. In fact, short sleep duration is one of the strongest risk factors for obesity.
In one extensive review study, children and adults with short sleep duration were 89% and 55% more likely to develop obesity, respectively. The effect of sleep on weight gain is believed to be mediated by numerous factors, including hormones and motivation to exercise.
4. Strengthen Your Heart
Not getting enough sleep can lead to heart health problems like high blood pressure or heart attacks. That’s becauseit can cause your body to release cortisol, a stress hormone that triggers your heart to work harder. Just like your immune system, your heart needs rest in order to function powerfully and properly.
5. Better Sleep = Better Mood
There is some truth in the old saying, “Getting up on the right side of the bed.” It has nothing to do with which side of the bed you roll out of, but sleeping can lead to good moods. And really, it makes sense. If you sleep well, you wake up feeling rested. Being rested helps your energy levels soar. When your energy is up, life’s little challenges won’t annoy you as much. When you’re not annoyed, you’re not as angry. If you’re not angry, you’re happy. So, go to bed early and everyone around you will thank you for it.
6. Reduces Stress
When your body is sleep deficient, it goes into a state of stress. The body’s functions are put on high alert, which causes high blood pressure and the production of stress hormones. High blood pressure increases your risk for heart attack and stroke, and the stress hormones make it harder to fall asleep.
7. Improves your immune function
Even a small loss of sleep has been shown to impair immune function. One large 2-week study monitored the development of the common cold after giving people nasal drops with the cold virus. They found that those who slept less than 7 hours were almost 3 times more likely to develop a cold than those who slept 8 hours or more.
If you often get colds, ensuring that you get at least 8 hours of sleep per night could be very helpful. Eating more garlic can help as well.
8. Lower risk of Heart Disease
No risk factor for heart disease is high blood pressure. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). getting adequate rest each night allows the body’s blood pressure to regulate itself. Doing so can reduce the chances of sleep-related conditions such as apnea and promote better overall heart health.
9. Preventing depression
The association between sleep and mental health has been the subject of research for a long time. One conclusion is that there is a link between lack of sleep and depression.
A study appearing in JAMA Psychiatryexamines patterns of death by suicide over 10 years. It concludes that lack of sleep is a contributing factor to many of these deaths.
Also read: Science-Backed Health Benefits of Meditation, According to Experts
10.It Improves Your Memory
Researchers do not fully understand why we sleep and dream, but they have found that it plays an important role in a process called memory consolidation. During sleep, your body may be resting, but your brain is busy processing your day, making connections between events, sensory input, feelings, and memories. It is a very important time for your brain to make memories and links, and getting more quality sleep will help you remember and process things better.
Also read: How to Use Vitamin E Capsules On Your Face
Oversleeping: Bad for Your Health?
Most people know that skimping on sleep can be bad for you. Regularly getting too little is linked to a number of chronic diseases, not to mention irritability and sluggishness during the day.
Does that mean sleeping too much will make you sick? Not necessarily, says Vsevolod Polotsky, M.D., Ph.D. , a professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins Medicine. “We don’t exactly know the cause and effect,” he says.
Does sleeping too much actually contribute to illness, or is it a sign of an existing condition? Either way, if you find yourself always nodding off or looking for the next nap, it might be time to see your doctor.
What happens to your body when you don’t get enough sleep?
1. A weakened immune system
Think of your immune system as an army, always ready to protect you against the evil forces of infection and disease.
Just like an army, your immune system needs time to build its defenses. When you’re sleeping, your immune system kicks into gear and prepares itself by building up substances (like antibodies and cytokines) that help fight infection.
2. Heart problems
When it comes to matters of the heart, either too little or too much sleep can have a negative effect on your cardiovascular health. Getting less than 5 hours or more than 9 hours of sleep each night has been linked to an increased risk of heart disease, stroke, and heart attacks.
3. Increased diabetes risk
It also prevents your body from releasing enough insulin, a hormone that lowers blood sugar levels. This can cause your blood sugar levels to spike, which can increase your risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
In a 2015 review of studies, researchers concluded that 7 to 8 hours of sleep is ideal for keeping your insulin at a healthy level.
4. Forgetfulness
Difficulty remembering things goes hand in hand with trouble thinking. As it turns out, sleep has a huge impact on your memory and ability to learn.
It helps your brain “lock-in” information, allowing you to store it and retrieve it when you need it. And it also keeps you sharp and ready for that next (likely virtual) trivia night!
5. Skin issues
They don’t call it “beauty sleep” for nothing. Not getting enough sleep will wreak havoc on your skin.
A small 2015 study funded by the Estee Lauder Companies found that women who didn’t get enough good-quality sleep had more significant signs of skin aging and decreased skin barrier function.
5 Dangerous Side Effects of Lack of Sleep
1. Can Cause Death
British research studies have shown that people who have irregular sleep patterns or schedules that do not allow for adequate rest on a regular basis have a higher mortality rate than those who get enough sleep on a regular basis. Most notably, patients who suffer from it can appear to have a significantly higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease.
2. It also Causes Depression
It significantly increases symptoms of depression. In a 2005 poll, people who suffered from anxiety or depression were asked to calculate their sleeping habits. It was revealed that that most of these patients sleep less than six hours on an average night. Insomnia is frequently linked to depression, with one frequently leading to the other. Symptoms of depression can also impact a patient’s ability to fall asleep.
3. Skin is Damaged
If a person continues to develop a constant schedule that promotes sleep loss, this damage can become permanent. Dark circles under the eyes, sallow skin, and fine lines across the face can become permanent.
The elasticity of the skin can also become damaged over time when a person does not get enough sleep. Chronic fatigue leads to excessive stress which causes the body to produce more of the hormone cortisol, which breaks down the protein in the skin that keeps it elastic and smooth.
4. Fatigue Leads to Accidents
Studies have claimed that driving while suffering from sleep loss is just as dangerous as driving drunk because your reaction times are equally impacted by both activities. People under 25 years old are especially affected by this phenomenon.
In addition to accidents on the road, a lack of it can also lead to a higher risk of injuries or accidents on the job or in the home. Not sleeping enough has been linked to a significant increase in repeated work accidents as well as an increased number of sick days.
5. Losing Sleep Can Make You Gain Weight
When it comes to body weight, it may be that if you snooze, you lose. Lack of sleep seems to be related to an increase in hunger and appetite, and possibly to obesity. According to a 2004 study, people who sleep less than six hours a day were almost 30 percent more likely to become obese than those who slept seven to nine hours.