Home Advice Doctor Tells: Why Do You Need Sleep to Be Healthy?

Doctor Tells: Why Do You Need Sleep to Be Healthy?

Sleep is indispensable for the body. It “reboots” the brain and helps think clearly while playing www.playamo.com/games/blackjack, initiates recovery processes, and stimulates the immune system. It is during sleep that brain cells replenish their stores of glycogen, a structure that stores energy. But for all these functions to work correctly, you need to sleep properly. 

The Three Main Tasks of Sleep

Have you ever wondered that the average person spends a third of their life sleeping? Sleep is the key to health. At this time, many important hormones are produced, tissue regeneration and energy replenishment occur.

Sleep has three main functions:

1. The most important thing is recovery. The brain is cleared of toxins, accumulated metabolic waste (excess of them leads to neurological diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease).

2. Formation of a healthy metabolism. Numerous medical studies have shown that if you sleep less than eight hours a night, energy begins to be burned from carbohydrates and protein and not from fat. This leads to negative consequences – weight gain and muscle loss. Also, lack of sleep threatens an increase in insulin in the blood, which is fraught with diabetes and heart disease development. If you’re having constant fatigue due to sleepless nights and it affects your performance at work, in an article, specialists recommend taking supplements to relieve the tired feeling and maintain a healthy metabolism healthcanal.com/supplements/259980-gundry-md-energy-renew.html.

3. Strengthening long-term memory. Brief (or intermittent) sleep interferes with the ability to form memories, both physical and emotional.

How Much Sleep Do You Need per Day?

Sleep is a particular state of consciousness and a physiological process characterized by a slow response to the world around us and specific brain activity. It includes two phases – slow and fast.

Slow sleep occurs immediately after falling asleep and lasts about 90 minutes. The body relaxes, the eyes are still, you are resting.

REM sleep follows slow sleep and lasts 10-20 minutes—body temperature and blood pressure rise. The body is immobilized. The eyeballs make circular movements under the closed eyelids. The brain is actively working – we see dreams.

These two phases alternate with each other. With prolonged healthy sleep, a person goes through five complete cycles. REM sleep gradually decreases, and REM sleep increases (from 5 minutes to an hour).

Scientists have proven that a healthy adult should sleep for about eight hours: 5 cycles of 100 minutes (5×100 / 60 = 8).

Sleep also depends on age. The younger, the longer it takes for tissue growth and recovery. Newborn babies sleep more than half a day, and older people need much less time.

Photo by Hamza Bounaim on Unsplash
Photo by Hamza Bounaim on Unsplash

Are Naps Good For You?

The stereotype that naps are exclusively for young children is not true. A short rest from 13.00 to 16.00 improves memory (transfers information from short-term to long-term), stimulates creativity and learning ability, helps the body withstand stress, and improves mood.

Ideally, doze for 10-20 minutes (you will go through two stages of slow-wave sleep and feel refreshed). After 30-60 minutes of naps, you will feel overwhelmed. But 90 minutes is an entire cycle; it will help you wake up quickly and experience a surge of energy.

Why Is Lack of Sleep Dangerous?

It is essential to feel your body and, in any case, not to allow chronic lack of sleep, which can lead to terrible consequences.

1. Deterioration of memory, attention, coordination, and speech. According to statistics, one in five road accidents occurs due to lack of sleep.

2. Weakening of immunity. During sleep, the immune system synthesizes proteins called cytokines.

3. Overeating. With a lack of sleep, ghrelin, the hunger hormone, is produced.

4. Lack of adequate sleep is a catalyst for forming bad habits: a person is looking for external stimulants (caffeine, nicotine).

5. Development of diseases of the heart and blood vessels, diabetes mellitus.

Therefore, it is essential to get enough sleep to have a good and quality life and health. Sweet dreams!

Featured Photo by juan garcia on Unsplash