How Does Your Body & Mind Benefit From A Good Sleep?

Naptime is the best time, isn’t it?

Sleep is important for every individual. We simply can’t go on a single day without proper ZZZs and sound sleep. One day, you are unable to sleep in a comfortable environment; your body gives in to distress and makes you feel exhausted all day long.

The symptoms of low ZZZs in the night are more than just a headache or dark circles. Lack of sleep is known to reduce concentration levels, increase irritation, body weight, stress, etc.

Benefits of Good Sleep

Now, you may be wondering, what should you do? How much sleep do you need? And what are the benefits of sleep? Why should you get a good night’s sleep every day?

Let’s find the answers to all these questions

1. Better Memory

Have you ever heard of consolidation?

It is an activity carried out by our mind. During sleep, our brain strengthens or consolidates memories. When awake, the learning process starts, which is again retained or remembered for a while.

When you are trying to learn something mentally or physically, you can enhance the impact with proper sleep. Certain mind or brain processes during sleep help in the consolidation or retention of memories.

2. Reduced Inflammation

Did you know that if you sleep less than 7-8 hours, you may have increased levels of inflammatory proteins?

An increase in inflammation in the body can increase the risk of high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke, arthritis, ageing, etc.

In fact, in research, it was revealed that individuals who sleep for six or fewer hours have high C-reactive protein in their bodies. This protein is associated with heart stroke and other heart-related diseases.

A healthy heart requires proper sleep!

Read More: 20 Essential Heart Healthy Tips

3. Enhanced Creativity

Whenever you have an important presentation the next morning, simply get a good night’s sleep and spur your creativity the next morning. This is because 7-8 hours of healthy sleep can help you enhance or trigger your creativity centre.

Are you thinking of your friend who sleeps a lot but has a creative mind?

Sleep consolidation not only strengthens or consolidates your memories but also restructures and reorganizes your memories. Restructuring and reorganizing these memories helps in improving the creativity of the individual.

Additionally, it is known that proper sleep can consolidate emotional wellbeing and aspects of the individual’s memory. This further helps in increasing creativity.

4. Better Attention

If you can get a sound sleep in the night, isn’t the next day better, more productive and simply hassle-free?

Proper sleep offers the right amount of energy to the mind and body, which helps in executing tasks with efficiency on the next day.

For children, attention reduces if they are unable to get at least 8 hours of sleep daily. Without the right amount of sound sleep, children are more susceptible to getting hyperactive. This means that they will get impulsive, agitated and irritated.

Further, lack of sleep can decrease the effectiveness of learning, which can reduce grades. It is even believed that regular lack of sleep or sleep deprivation can cause learning impairment in growing children.

5. Low-Stress Levels

Did you know that if you don’t get enough sleep, your body enters a state of stress?

All the functions of your body are in a high alert mode, which also increases blood pressure and leads to the release of stress hormones. The stress hormones then make it harder for the body to reduce anxiety and fall asleep the next night. This is why elongated sleep deprivation can put the body in total turmoil. The increase in blood pressure adds to the issue by increasing the risk of health diseases.

6. Weight Regulation

If you don’t get enough sleep even for a single day, your weight will increase a little the next morning. This is why dieticians always stress the importance of healthy sleep while suggesting a proper diet to an individual.

Without proper sleep, there is no point in following a diet because it is a vicious loop. With less sleep, the body feels drained out, stress hormones are high, digestion is poor and attention span is reduced. All these factors increase the craving for unhealthy, junk food. This increased craving leads to an increase in weight.

Sleep deprivation might impact endurance activities like running, swimming, and cycling if your sport involves fast bursts of energy, like weightlifting or wrestling. Lack of sleep depletes your vitality and may stave off having enough time to rebuild your muscles. Your physical and mental challenges will be more difficult and your reaction times will be slower. You can perform at your peak level if you get enough sleep.

Dr. Siddharth Gupta, B.A.M.S, M.D (Ayu)

Tips to Get a Good Night’s Sleep

Sometimes all we want to do after a long tiring day is sink into a deep slumber but wait, you look at the clock and it’s already 3 am. You toss and turn in your bed multiple times hoping that this time you’ll hit the jackpot but another hour goes by without any success. If you are someone who has been having trouble falling asleep then here’s what you can do to boost better sleep and get the much-deserved rest:

• Sweat It Out – Exercising is known to help in the secretion of sleep hormones like melatonin. Incorporating brisk walks and exercises in your daily schedule not only helps you fall into a routine but also ensures a good night’s sleep.  
• Ditch Your Bed – Get into the habit of delegating your bed only for sleep. Wake up in the morning, make your bed and get on with your day. If you are working from home then make sure that you have an assigned work corner that is not your bed. Train your brain to accept that your bed is reserved for sleeping. Your bed needs to stimulate sleep and not activities associated with wakefulness.
• Make Your Room Your Comfort Zone – Keep your bedroom stocked with items that make the ambience cosy and comfortable. Having things around you that you ideally link to comfort triggers sleep.  
• Eat Right, Sleep Right – Hunger pangs can keep you awake at night but so does binge eating. Knowing when to stop is important. Having an overloaded belly right before sleep time can keep you awake for hours.  
• Caffeine? No thanks – Caffeine is infamous for disrupting a good night’s sleep and we don’t want to wake up in the morning all grumpy, do we? Replace caffeine with a healthy munchy or a glass of warm milk to sleep better.
• Stress and Sleep Don’t Go Together – Stress is one of the leading factors contributing to late nights and insomnia. Before going to bed, make sure you assign a little ‘Me Time’ to yourself to eliminate the day’s stress and rejuvenate. Take a warm shower, watch your favourite movie or pick up an interesting book but give yourself the opportunity to unwind. Do things that bring you calm and peace and get rid of the fight-or-flight hormones that stress prompts.  

Your immune system recognises dangerous germs and viruses in your body and eliminates them to assist you avoid getting sick. Consistent sleep deprivation may alter how your immune system’s cells function. You could become sick more frequently and they might not strike as fast. Now, getting a good night’s sleep may help you from feeling exhausted and worn out, as well as from spending days in bed while your body tries to recuperate.

Dr. Rajeev Singh, BAMS

Read More: How Many Hours Should We Sleep?

Conclusion

It is not possible to reverse the prolonged damage caused by a lack of sleep. With time, your body gives in to stress, adjusts to high blood pressure and increases inflammation. All these factors combined can increase vulnerability to several diseases. So, increase your benefits of sleep by getting a sound sleep every night. Say bye-bye to health issues!

Must Read: 9 Side Effects of Less Sleep

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