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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.

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

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.

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

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.

Advantages of Sleep

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.

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.

Also Read: What Causes Morning Wood: A Scientific Explanation

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.

Health Benefits of Sleep

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)

Also Read: Can Sleep Apnea Kill You? Uncovering the Truth

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:

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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