Why Getting Enough Sleep is Essential for Health?

Sleep is as important for good health as diet and exercise. While sleep needs vary from person to person, most adults require between 7 - 9 hours of sleep per night. Sufficient good quality sleep can improve your brain’s performance, enhance your mood and support good health. Not getting enough quality sleep can raise the risk of many diseases and disorders.

The science behind sleep

Your internal “body clock” operates on a 24-hour cycle known as the circadian rhythm. This clock regulates your sleep cycle, controlling when you feel tired or refreshed and alert. After waking up from sleep, you will become increasingly tired throughout the day. Sleepiness will peak in the evening leading up to bedtime. Light influences our sleep cycle, because our body clock responds to light, as a signal to be awake, and dark, as a signal to fall asleep.

5 amazing things your body does while you sleep

• Your brain sorts through the day’s information:  Your brain stays awake and busy while you sleep, sorting and storing information from the day. This process is particularly important for creating long term memories, as your brain consolidates all the information it has picked up during the day, filing it away for later use.
•  Hormones flood your body: There are a number of different hormones released during sleep, all with a different purpose. Melatonin levels increase at night time and control your sleep patterns. While you are sleeping, your pituitary gland releases a growth hormone, which helps your body to grow and repair itself.
• Your sympathetic nervous system relaxes:  During sleep, your sympathetic nervous system, which controls your fight or flight response, gets a chance to chill out. Research shows that when you lack sleep, sympathetic nervous system activity increases, which is mirrored by an increase in blood pressure.
• Cortisol levels drop: Levels of cortisol, known as the stress hormone, decrease during the first few hours of sleep. They rise to a peak soon after you wake up, which helps to make you feel perky when you wake up and switches on your appetite.
• Your immune system releases inflammation fighting proteins: While you are asleep, your immune system releases proteins called cytokines. If you are sick or injured, these proteins help your body fight inflammation, infection and trauma. Without enough sleep, your immune system might not be able to function optimally.

What can you do to reduce short-term insomnia?

Many people experience short-term insomnia. This common sleep disorder can make it difficult to fall asleep and stay asleep until it’s time to wake up. Here are 8 tips for re-establishing healthy sleep patterns:

• Establish a realistic bedtime and stick to it every night, even on the weekends.
• Get into bed only if you’re tired.
•  Maintain comfortable temperature settings and low light levels in your bedroom.
• Keep a comfortable sleep environment by ensuring your mattress and pillows are in good condition – and suitable for your sleep preferences and body type.
• Consider a “screen ban” on televisions, computers and tablets, cell phones, and other electronic devices in your bedroom.
• Abstain from caffeine, alcohol, and large meals in the hours leading up to bedtime.
• Exercise during the day. This can help you wind down in the evening and prepare for sleep.
• When done before bedtime, mindfulness meditation, consisting of slow, steady breathing while sitting quietly, may help reduce insomnia and sleep troubles by promoting overall calmness. 

And load shedding can be good sometimes, because it’s so dark that all you CAN do is sleep (just make sure you have switched the lights off before you go to sleep!)

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