Benefits of sleep for a healthier life
As every person knows a great night’s sleep is critical to how you feel about the up coming day. If you have a good sleep you will feel well rested and ready to attack the day, however if you have a bad sleep then it can cause you some serious problems. Feeling drained, headaches and just not at all at your best, you will suffer if you do not get the right amount of sleep. According to experts constantly getting a good quality sleep can have great health benefits. For one, it can help reduce stress, which in itself can be contributor to a state of suboptimal health, according to this article by Miskawaan Health.
Your brain functions better
Failing to get regular quality sleep can have negative effects on your brain and can cause you to not function at your best. According to experts, if you constantly do not get your quality sleep at night, it is harder for you brain to retain the information you learned throughout the day and will also leave you no where near focused enough while you are at work. A good night sleep is imperative so your brain can function at its highest level.
You feel better about yourself
As anyone can attest to, when you have a good night sleep, you feel better about yourself and feel better in general than when you have a poor sleep. This can impact how you perform at work and how you socialise too. When you are sleeping your brain processes all the information and emotions that you encountered during the day. If you do not get quality sleep on a regular basis you are a more likely to develop a disorder like depression or anxiety. Now this does not mean you will, it simply means you are at a bigger risk than those who get regular sleep.
Keeps you blood sugar low
If you get consistent high-quality sleep, your body can take the levels of sugar in your blood and slowly bring it down over night. However, it you are not getting a good deep sleep then that limits your bodies ability to do this and therefor can be harmful to your health over a long period of time.
You have more energy
Sporty people like myself who enjoy running, playing sports and like being active, then a low-quality sleep can leave you feeling sluggish and without much energy at all. When you sleep and have a high-quality sleep, you body repairs itself, it gives your muscles time to rest up and to get ready for the next day. On top of this your reaction times will also diminish which is not ideal, especially if you are playing sport that day. Having a high level of sleep will make you feel more energetic for the next day and that can only be a good thing.
It may prevent certain diseases
According to many experts, adults who have irregular working hours or who often work late into the night are at a higher risk of developing certain types of diseases like cancer. This is because working at night done not cut down the melatonin in our body because being in the sunlight does this for you. This is why many people are instructed to have their bedrooms as dark as possible because when you sleep the melatonin in your body helps to control the cycle in which you sleep and even according to some, get greatly reduce the chances of developing cancer and other diseases.
It can keep your weight down
This is one of the best benefits that comes with having a good quality night sleep on a regular basis. According to research, people who do not get quality sleep for what ever reason are more likely to put on weight than those who get their quality sleep. So, if you are looking at getting that nice-looking summer body, then getting a good rest will certainly help you.
So there are just some of the benefits of having a good night sleep, now we will have a look at some of the things you should not do so you can give yourself the best chance of getting quality sleep.
Do not smoke
As everyone knows smoking is extremely hazardous to your health and it can greatly impact you sleeping by the simple fact that the main ingredient, nicotine is a huge stimulant. That is not ideal if you are trying to get good sleep so if you can try and avoid it altogether or if you can not, do not smoke when it is close to your bed time so you can give you body a chance to calm down and relax.
Eating close to bedtime.
For the general population, many do not eat big meals when it is near their time to go to bed. This is because if you do you might feel uncomfortable because your body is trying to digest the food as you try and sleep. This keeps your body active when it should be in the process of slowing down and getting ready for sleep. So, try and keep your mealtime at least a few hours before your bedtime to allow your body to digest the food well before you go to bed ensure you make use of Sleep Calculators like this one here.
Do not do physical activity near your bedtime
This is a no brainer really. As we know, exercising can help you with your sleep but doing it close to your bedtime can impact how you sleep. This is because after you are finished exercising you body is still on a “high” and is alert. That is way it is important to leave plenty of time from when you finish exercising to when you go to bed so you are not in a state of alertness while you are trying to sleep.
So, there are just a few benefits that you can get from having a consistent and high-quality sleep each night. Sometimes thins might be out of your control but if you try your best to adhere to these tips, you will give yourself the best chance to have quality sleep.