Tips for good sleep, benefits, pattern & consequences

Sleep is very important to each one of us. And there are many reasons for it. When we sleep our body goes in passive mode where it recovers and restores the energy and rebuild as well strengthen our memory. Our body get time to rest.  When you have excellent sleep, it will heal damaged cells, fights off illness and fatigue by strengthening our immune system and recharges you for the next day. You will feel noticeably changes next day like you will be refreshed whole day and will be active in your activities. Creativity will be higher as you would be able to think more clearly.

Sleep can be compared with exercise as it is most important part in our life but one of the most neglected too. Many people try to compromise on their sleep to increase their productivity which is often dangerous. If you overlook your sleep schedule and begin collecting a sleep deficit, it can affect your health mentally and physically.

Below are few benefits (though there are many) if we get good night sleep.

1| Obesity

When a person does not sleep at night, body produces “hunger hormone” ghrelin which will stimulates to eat more. And which will lead to more of fat deposit. When we sleep less, ghrelin spikes and leptin falls wherein leptin is known for decreasing our appetite. So this is the reason when we are awake whole night we tend to eat more which will increase our body mass index.  As we sleep more than ‘leptin’ levels goes up and it tell our body that you got plenty of energy left and there is no hunger triggers which will directly help in cutting appetite?

2 | Blood sugar

If we get good sleep the glucose in our body drops. And if we don’t get adequate sleep the amount of glucose increases. It is a brutal cycle which we need to take care of. If we don’t sleep enough the risk of getting diabetic increases.

3 | Superb productivity

Many studies have been concluded with sleep having links with several brain function. When you work for longer hours and sleep less then you will be less alert and less energy. Your productivity will effect. There will be no energy in you and because of that we will have difficulty in taking important decisions. You will appear confused. Hence sleep plays an important role in memory and learning new things.

4| Brain

Recent studies have been conducted that says that sleep plays a housekeeping role that removes toxins in your brain that was built up when you were awake. When we sleep less the neurons ability to encode the information degrades. Deep sleep is important not only for body but also for our brain.

5| Heart

When we sleep more that time blood pressure goes down which gives a bit of rest to your heart and blood vessels. When we sleep less the blood pressure increases. Higher blood pressure can lead to heart disease. Hence quality sleep is important to lower the heart related disease.

6 | Less chances of sickness

When we fall sick doctors will always advice you to take rest. Because when you take rest body start healing and it gets time to heal. When we are in deep sleep the body produces a chemical called cytokine which helps in keeping any infection at bay. So when we sleep less this effects the production of cytokine which makes us more vulnerable to virus.

7 | Depression & Immune system

When we have deep sleep it keeps depression at bay. Sleep helps our body to rebuild and repair itself. It strengthens our immune system which will helps us in fighting off illness and fatigue.

How much sleep we should have every night?

Sleep pattern as per age group:

• Newborns (0–3 months): 14–17 hours
• Infants (4–12 months): 12–16 hours
• Toddler (1–2 years): 11–14 hours
• Preschool (3–5 years): 10–13 hours
• School age (6–12 years): 9–12 hours
• Teen (13–18 years): 8–10 hours
• Adult (18–60 years): 7-plus hours
• Adult (61–64 years): 7–9 hours
• Adult (65+ years): 7–8 hours

Along with above sleep pattern the quality of sleep is also equally important.

How can we have adequate sleep:

Tips for Good Sleep

Going to bed early

Every night at night you should switch off all the gadgets and try to sleep. You can sleep around 8.30 or 9 p.m. As per the pattern mentioned above for adults 7 to 9 hours of sleep is mostly enough. Try to practice this every night and maintain disciple. One must never sleep at day time. Try to be active whole day then at night you will feel sleep automatically.

Say ‘NO’ to Caffeine Products

Avoid caffeine products as when you consume it then you will hardly sleep. Since caffeine is a stimulant you may take it early morning. Try to avoid it at night.  Hence avoid coffee, tea, chocolates, soda so you can get peacefully sleep at night.

Exercise

One must exercise regularly as it improves our physical health as well as mental health. Exercise can provide excellent benefits to our sleep. You will find many studies wherein it has been proved that exercise improves sleep. You can try to do at least 45 to 60 minutes of exercise which can include brisk walking, jogging, swimming, cycling which will also help you in your sleep quality.

Low Lights or no lights

Sleep with no lights or light dimmed as too much of light will not allow you to sleep peacefully. Maintain this habit, as this will make your body used to it and when there are is low light your body will automatically try to sleep. Too much bright light before bedtime may keep you awake when you lie down to sleep.

Habits

Good Habit is one of the important things which one needs to follow daily. Some people have habit to sleeping early from Monday to Friday and will try avoid sleep by partying late or watching their favorite matches on Saturday and Sunday. Or they may try to do the opposite they will sleep few hours during their office time (Monday to Friday) and will try to sleep more on Saturday and Sunday as they think this will make up their sleep which was missed. Never do that as after Sunday, Monday follows which will make you very hard for you.

Consequences of loss in sleep

Sleep loss can effect your physical and mental health which can cause greater risk and which needs to be identified some of those are:-

:: weight gain & obesity

:: lethargic

:: heart attack & stroke

:: hypertension

:: decrease in performance in office or in college

:: not able to concentrate

:: aggressive nature

:: will make an habit of eating junk food

:: memory loss

:: infertility

:: diabetic

If all the above symptoms are seen and because of it you are not able to sleep at night or you sleep more in day time then you need to check yourself with doctor.

Photo Courtesy:- Unsplash & Pixabay

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