It goes without saying that getting a good night sleep is crucial for our well-being, yet we may not realize how much it contributes to our health until we really think about it. So let’s discuss about what are the 8 Health Benefits of Getting More Sleep and how getting more sleep can give you a better life.
8 Health Benefits of Getting More Sleep
Beyond just feeling refreshed, here are the 8 surprising health benefits of good sleep.
1. Helps You Maintain a Healthy Weight
Just in case you did not know, getting more sleep also plays a huge role in regulating a persons weight. Normally, if you do not get enough sleep, your body increases the production of ghrelin, the hunger hormone as well as decreasing the production of leptin, known as the satiety hormone.
This will result to taking a lot of food frequently hence causing a gain in weight. In return, you are able to regulate your hunger balance the hormones and thus it easy to manage your weight and even loose some.
2. Boosts Your Concentration and Productivity
Sleep is very essential for the proper functioning of the brain. An effective indicator of waiting has significant influence on people’s concentration level, problem solving capacity and rate of recalling information when well-rested. While too much sleeping can cause you to feel sleepy and unproductive throughout the day for instance when in a class or at work.
3. Enhances Athletic Performance
Some people love to participate in sporting activities or exercises, any time you feel like engaging your body, sleep is your ally. Quality sleep is necessary to replenish the damaged tissues caused by physical activities; enhances reaction and increases efficiency. Physical fitness together with good health is a result of enough sleep so that athletes would be able to perform at their best and avoid any possible injuries.
4. Supports Heart Health
The health benefits of good sleep are that it is very helpful for the heart and this is why we should focus on getting good sleep. During sleep, the blood vessels and the heart can relax, which has a healthy effect on your blood pressure levels. Lack of sleep or sleeping less than seven hours can also put a person at risk of developing heart disease or high blood pressure.
When you consider that sleep top of the line recommends for health and fitness is essential for a health heart, you will have noted that by prioritizing sleep, you are undertaking a significant step towards ensuring that your heart is in the best form.
5. Regulates Blood Sugar Levels
It depicts how sleeping particularly at night help control sugar in the body. Lack of sleep also affects the body’s ability to utilize insulin properly, as a result, the blood sugar level is raised thus likely to cause type 2 diabetes. Sufficiency in sleep is considered crucial for the proper management of diabetes since it aids in regulating blood sugar levels.
6. Reduces Risk of Depression
One of the most surprising benefits of getting more sleep is that it reduces risk of depression. The overall wellness of a person encompasses his mental and physical health and one aspect of this involves sleep. Lack of sleep worsens symptoms of depression and anxiety in individuals who do not spend enough time documenting their sleeping patterns.
Getting a good night’s sleep and maintaining the regular nine hour sleep cycle will help keep off these mental health problems hence promoting a healthy, balanced and more joyful you.
7. Strengthens Your Immune System
The physical state in which your body has to be able to fend off infections is strengthened by getting more sleep. During sleep, the body produces cytokines which are proteins that have the function of combating inflammation and infection. Do not get sufficient sleep and this makes your body defense system compromise, thus prone you to diseases such as flu.
Checkout: The Importance of Health and Wellbeing, Ways to Improve It
8. Improves Emotional and Social Interactions
According to the experiment, it was found that when one is well rested, it is easier to manage one’s feelings and engage the right way with other people. Minimizing Sleep can make you less tolerant, or easily annoyed which puts pressure on you and your interactions with other people. Proper sleep enables one to be composed, handle stress, pressure and be sociable.
Tips on how to get a better sleep
To enjoy these health benefits of good sleep, try incorporating these sleep hygiene tips into your routine:
- Stick to a Sleep Schedule: Keep a regular sleep-wake cycle; fall asleep before the preferred time and wake up at the same time every day, it is not necessary to follow the routine just on working days but every day.
- Create a Relaxing Bedtime Routine: These include reading a book, listening to some calm music or even taking a warm bath as a way of relaxing.
- Limit Screen Time Before Bed: Minimize the use of screens before going to bed by ensuring that you give yourself at least one hour before sleep to adjust to the darkness.
- Watch Your Diet: Do not eat large meals, drink beverages that contain caffeine and alcohol close to the bedtime.
- Make Your Sleep Environment Comfortable: Keep your bedroom completely dark and create a cool and quiet environment for sleeping; besides satisfying mattress and pillows are also necessary.
Conclusion
When you focus on getting more sleep, you are actually doing several things right that will shift the direction of your health for the better. Therefore switch off those screens, establish the best sleeping procedures and give the body the rest it requires. This knowledge of your health will prove beneficial to you.
