March is National Sleep Awareness Month. If you’ve spent any time on the Say No To Stroke website you probably know that sleep is one of the important contributors to optimal brain health. Adequate sleep quantity and good sleep quality will help optimize your brain and overall body health and function. During March look at your sleep habits and explore ways to improve both quantity and quality.
Maybe you’re wondering why sleep is so important. We tend to minimize it’s importance and cut it short to get things done. That is a mistake. Sleep has clear benefits AND there are negative effects of not getting enough sleep. First, let’s look at the benefits…
The Benefits of Sleep
Sleep is a natural bodily function just like breathing, eating and drinking. What you may not realize is just how beneficial sleep is for you and why. You know you feel tired and have no energy when you miss sleep, and that your mood and general well being changes. Did you know that you will spend a third of your life sleeping?
A great deal of research has gone into understanding the benefits of sleep. Sleep is required for your body to run and perform optimally. Sleep has been shown to help improve immune function, metabolism and memory as well as the ability to learn. A person who is deprived of sleep has difficulty focusing and will not learn effectively. Also, after learning something new your memory consolidates the information during sleep. So studying just before going to bed is a good thing.
Adequate sleep has been linked with living longer. Research has shown that people who slept fewer than 5 hours per night were more likely to die early. This does not mean you should oversleep because too much sleep was also associated with a shorter life span.
Sleep quality is also a factor. People who sleep less than 6 hours a day often suffer with health issues such as arthritis, diabetes, heart disease or stroke. This has been linked to higher inflammatory protein levels in the blood. When the health issues were treated and sleep improved the protein levels declined.
Creativity levels, athleticism and school grades can all improve by sleeping more. It was discovered that some children with ADHD were actually sleep deprived. It is recommended that young children get 8 or more hours of sleep per night.
If you are trying to lose weight, sleep has additional benefits. Dieters who sleep more find that they are better able to lose weight. This is because metabolism and sleep are controlled by the same areas of the brain. If losing weight is your goal, then try to get a good night’s sleep every night.
As you can see sleep really does have a major impact on your brain, overall health and your life in general. If you are having difficulty sleeping then look for ways to improve this.
