If you want to lose weight, have more energy and look younger, here we will explain to you why sleep is so important
Going to work cranky, having eye bags, experiencing sugary cravings every other afternoon: these are some of the day to say effects of sleep deprivation. For example,
Have you ever tried to lose weight without succeeding? Perhaps, lack of a good night of sleep is standing between you and your few pounds fewer goals.
By just sleeping between 7 to 9 hours every night you will enhance your overall mood and health, helping your body to improve its processes while decreasing your chances of developing many important health-compromising conditions.
1. Brainpower boost
Your brain is the first organ that benefits from a good night’s sleep. Your memory and attention span will be more acute.
In addition, creativity can be improved with a good night’s sleep. When you sleep between 7 and 9 hours every night, you will help your brain to consolidate your memories, knowledge, and skills, but you also have time to reorganize and restructure all these new data that improve your creative process. (1)
A good sleeping routine can help you to deal better with or even avoid some mental conditions such as depression and anxiety, since insomnia only worsen the symptoms of mental disorders, and even increases the chances of death by suicide. (2)
2. The better mood throughout the day
Mood swings may improve or even disappear with a good sleeping routine.
Since your brain needs time to react, recognize and integrate all the emotions that occur on daily basis, lack of sleep can impair these functions and result in bad moods and general negativity. (3)
3. Improve weight loss journey
If you feel well-rested, then you probably will feel less hungry and have fewer sugar cravings.
This happens because when you skip a night of sleep to catch up on your favorite series, you activate hormone secretions in your brain, such as leptin and ghrelin, the ones related to hunger – which will make you feel hungrier for unhealthy food and sugary snacks.
4. Fewer colds and flu
It is common for people who suffer from even a small amount of sleep deprivation to experience an impaired immune system, making them more likely to develop colds if sleeping less than 7 hours a week than those who do 8 hours or more. (4)
Increasing your sleep hours to 8 or more each night will help your body recover and strengthen your immune function.
5. Improve your cardiovascular health
When your body is in sleep mode, your blood pressure goes down, thus decreasing the possibilities to develop heart issues as well as stroke risk. (5) Your blood and heart vessels will thank you for enjoying a good night of sleep by also lowering the possibility of developing type 2 diabetes, which can be increased by sleeping less than 6 hours every night even causing prediabetes in just 6 days of sleep deprivation. (6)
6. Energy burst for your social activities
Catching up upon your sleep can enhance your social interaction since your brain needs a well-rested night to efficiently recognize and process emotion signs and social cues. (7)
7. Sleep = beauty
Sleeping better is related to longer lifespan. By sleeping the necessary hours per night according to your age, it will help you feel happier, which can reduce the risk of suffering numerous medical conditions that could affect your life.
Sleeping properly will help you reduce the bags under your eyes and soften your facial wrinkles
Sleep, as necessary for your wellness as diet and exercise
As you may see, a good sleeping routine is just as necessary for your overall health as a good dietary regime and an effective exercise routine.
By adjusting your sleep times to between 7 to 9 hours of a well-rested night every day with the help of a good sleep routine to practice even on weekends, your body clock will readjust; you will start to enjoy immediate positive changes in your mental, physical and social health.
Sleep, nutrition, and exercise are the three necessary pillars to building robust health and extending your active life.
References
- https://www.health.com/condition/sleep/11-surprising-health-benefits-of-sleep?slide=d0d75075-3bbc-4dab-abf4-accc5bff278d#d0d75075-3bbc-4dab-abf4-accc5bff278d
- https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/10-reasons-why-good-sleep-is-important#section7
- https://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/benefits-sleep-more#1
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19139325
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21300732
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15851636
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20337191