He had a very long tiring day at work and he was already sleep-deprived. He was trying to focus throughout the day but how could he after feeling tired and was already lacking sleep for several days?
Sleep disorders can be frustrating especially when you are craving sleep but your sleep schedule is a mess. Good health resonates around a rich nutritious diet and good sleep hygiene.
What is a Sleep Hygiene?
As with any occasion or situation, everything has factors that contribute to making it perfect, comfortable, and satisfactory. A sleep hygiene is an ambiance rotating around sleep itself. To clarify it, even more, it is the environmental and behavioral entourage from comfortable pillows and mattresses, good room scent, and the routine assessment with sleep (dim lights, total blackout, music, etc…).
Sleep hygiene has been developed and practiced in the late 1970s to help people with moderate to mild insomnia. When sleep hygiene is successfully achieved, the quality of your sleep changes and gradually starts taking its stable position.
What is a Circadian Rhythm?
Have you ever heard of this term? A circadian rhythm is your body’s clock that ticks and are directly linked to light and dark. Circadian rhythms affect your sleeping habits, moods, body temperature, hormones, and eating habits. To get a good night’s sleep, a circadian rhythm knows when your body’s clock is ticking in the right direction and when its rhythm is swept off.
The most important sleep cue to your body is light. Your body goes into sleep mode when it is dark outside and wakes up when there is light. Melatonin is a hormone that makes you feel sleepy and is activated once the eyes send messages to the brain that it is dark outside. As soon as light occupies, the eyes signal the brain to tone down the melatonin averages to then wake up.
Every person has a different sleeping mechanism and habit. Early birds, or morning larks, are those that find it easy to wake up early in the morning and achieve more during these hours. As per scientists, the body clock of morning larks runs a bit faster than 24 hours.
A night owl is a person that finds it hard to sleep early, sleeps all the way through noon or late morning, and his body clock runs slower than 24 hours.
Circadian rhythms may get distorted due to interrupted sleep cycles. If your brain is regulated and programmed to wake up and sleep at a specific time, it will take effort and trials to reorganize your new circadian rhythm on the new timing.
What are the Benefits of Sleeping?
When we get a full night’s sleep without any interruption, we are the luckiest. Good sleep is not known for being important out of the blue. This is to showcase the importance and the advantages of getting a full 7 to 9 hours of uninterrupted sleep.
– Sleep is good for your immune system. While resting, your immune proteins and cells get the rest they need to fight off any intruders and do their work effectively.
– Good sleep prevents weight gain. How? When you are well-rested, the resistance to temptation increases because your brain balances out the Leptin and Ghrelin hormones that control an appetite. Lacking sleep imbalances the secretion of these two hormones leads to unstoppable cravings.
– The better mood is another advantage of sleep. Your brain controls your mood and how you react to things and feel them. When you lack sleep, your brain feels already exhausted and loses focus. Mental and body exhaustion lead to negative emotions, depression, panic, and anxiety attacks.
– Sleep improves concentration and productivity. Maintaining a good sleeping habit regularly increases productivity. You are more focused, your memory is better, and your energy is higher. Your brain will not shift on imagining your bed and being sleepy during the day.
What Disadvantages Does Lack of Sleep Have?
Imagine not getting enough sleep for one night, how hard is it? Some people are sleep-deprived for days, months, and years. Sleep deprivation frustrates the person and his surrounding as well. Health problems usually get associated with lack of sleep due to the body and brain shock they undergo. What are the disadvantages of sleep?
– Frustrated Nervous System Problems: Depression, anxiety, mood swings, paranoia, and suicidal thoughts are passively driven by sleep deprivation. This is an outcome of brain distortion while sending the message to the organs.
– Weak Immune System Problems: Your immune system has to reboot first to then be able to standstill. When lacking sleep, your immune system gets restrained from building up forces that attack bacteria and viruses. Body malfunctions, diabetes, and heart diseases chances increase with time (cardiovascular problems).
– Endocrine System Problems: Hormone secretion and production are dependent on your sleep quality. Testosterone production requires at least 3 hours of uninterrupted sleep which is the beginning of the first R.E.M episode. Sleep deprivation affects hormone growth products that are essential for kids and adolescents in specific.
– Respiratory and Digestive System Problems: Apnea, cold, flu, and chronic lung illnesses are drawbacks of sleep deprivation. As well as excessive weight gain due to hormone secretion malfunction.
How Many Hours Should a Person Sleep?
The hours of sleeping are common among all ages but maybe less or more according to the person. The common sleeping hours for a good sleep and energetic body is between 7 to 9 hours per day.
A pregnant woman for example sleeps a bit more than 9 hours due to tiredness and pregnancy hormones. Older adults (65 and more) usually need 7 to hours of sleep each. Of course, this is among the normal cases and spectrum.