When I started reading Matthew Walkers’ “ Why We Sleep”, I was blown away by the amount of education that I received from the book. Also, as a person who was once apart of the “ No Sleep” crew, I know first hand the effects of not getting enough adequate sleep. I got into a total of 3 car accidents while falling asleep driving. It’s nothing cool about it, sleep driving is just as bad, if not worse, than drunk driving. If you’re ever feeling drowsy while driving, please pull over as soon as possible. This one simple action would save your life and others.
This story brings me to the very FIRST reason on why you should get quality sleep: To make sure that you can perform your normal bodily functions such as, staying awake while driving. \
Don’t believe me? Just browse the statistics for yourself.
2. Sleep Helps to Improve Your Memory and Concentration
When we sleep, our brain isn’t just dormant but rather it’s doing things such as solving complex problems and storing important memories for future use. If we don’t sleep, then we effectively will have a hard time remembering the events that we’ve experienced throughout the day. While many of us may be familiar with Alzheimers disease, did you know that a precursor for the condition is due to lack of sleep? That’s right, lack of sleep is one of the main culprits when is comes to developing the disease.
A person who chronically sleeps less than 6 hours a night is putting themselves at greater risk for developing Alzheimers. Thanks to the Amyloid proteins that build up and damage the brain cells, the first sign of the disease is usually early stage memory loss. Hence that’s why it’s important to always get at least 6 hours of sleep a night, though 7–8 hours should be the goal.
3. Can Prevent Type 2 Diabetes
While sleeping, insulin continues to regulate glucose by instructing cells to absorb sugar from the bloodstreams. This in return helps to keep the body functioning normally, helping to regulate blood pressure and to prevent heart attacks. When an idividual is chronically sleep deprived, the cells responsible for absorbing the glucose becomes less responsive to the messages of insulin. For this reason, chronic sleep deprivation can now be linked to the development of type-2 diabetes.
4. Can Contribute to Weight Gain
We have two hormones that regulate our satiety for foods, leptin and ghrelin. Leptin acts to send a signal to our bodies when we are full while ghrelin does the opposite, sending signals that increases our appetite and triggers hunger. Studies have shown that when we receive less than 6 hours of sleep a night, our bodies may become more resistant to leptin. This in return could send our bodies’ into a state where we’re always hungry, thus contributing to weight gain over the long run.
5. Adequate Sleep Helps fight Cancerous Cells by Reducing the Pace of Inflammation.
Research has shown that when we don’t get enough sleep, we are at more of a risk at developing certain types of cancer. It is mostly through quality adequate sleep that we can fight off inflammation within the body. While in contrast, when we don’t get enough sleep, we activate the sympathetic nervous system which in return provokes the inflammation response. Cancer cells feed off inflammation and lack of sleep exacerbates the issue even further. The longer we go without quality sleep, the more cancerous cells will metastasize within the body.
How Long Should I Sleep?
It is recommended that you get 8+ hours of sleep a night, but we all know that as you get older that becomes more difficult. For this reason, I urge people to at least try to get 6 hours of sleep a night. Research has indicated that those who sleep just 6 hours a night or less, are at more of a risk at developing things such as cancer and alzheimers, dealing with weight gain, becoming depressed, etc. Not only should you aim for a good length of sleep, but you should also focus on developing quality sleeping habits as well.
How many hours of sleep are you currently getting a night?
This is a question where the answer could literally determine the length of your life. Sleep well and sleep often my friends!
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Until next time!