Why do we need to sleep?
The fast-paced nature of contemporary living might make it difficult to take breaks and relax. It may make consistently getting a restful night’s sleep seem like an unattainable goal. But just as vital to overall health as nutrition and exercise is sleep. Your emotions, health, and mental performance all improve with good sleep. Regular sleep deprivation increases the risk of many different health conditions. These include dementia, obesity, and heart disease as well as stroke.
There’s more to good sleep than just the hours spent in bed. Healthy sleep encompasses three major things: how much sleep you get, whether you get uninterrupted and refreshing sleep, and whether you have a consistent sleep schedule.
People who work the night shift or irregular schedules may find getting quality sleep extra challenging. And times of great stress – extra hours when colleagues lay down with influence, a new and challenging project at work, or private preoccupations – can disrupt our normal sleep routines.
In addition, some modern habits disturbs our ability to fall asleep. Instead of reading in a book at the end of the day, which usually is a relaxing routine, we check email, work up last tasks on the laptop, or get caught in social media – distracting, sometimes unsettling, and the blue screen light destroying the melatonin hormone released in our body after sunset to make us sleep.
Why do we need to sleep?
People often think that sleep is just “down time,” when a tired brain gets to rest. However, while you sleep, your brain as well as your body is working a lot. A whole series of complex processes take place – contrary to what our appearance might suggest. Your body is repaired and strengthened during your sleeping hours – if you don’t get enough good quality sleep, those processes are going to be disturbed.
What phases of sleep are there?
What happens in our body when we sleep also depends largely on which sleep phase we are in. Based on measurements of brain activity, eye movements and muscle tension, sleep researchers have identified four sleep phases that every person goes through in a specific, repetitive sequence when sleeping:
Falling asleep: the first sleep phase describes the transition from wakefulness to sleep and is a kind of ‘dozing’. This is merely a superficial sleep.
Light sleep: The second sleep phase is known as stable sleep. Falling asleep and stable sleep phases are summarized as ‘light sleep’, as sleep is still easily disturbed in these phases.
Deep sleep: In the third sleep phase, we enter deep sleep. The muscles relax and the heartbeat slows down.
REM sleep (dream sleep): Finally, the fourth phase, known as REM sleep, is named after the rapid, jerky eye movements of the sleeping person. REM sleep differs from the first three sleep phases in that it is characterized by particularly vivid dreams – even though dreams can also occur in other sleep phases. The sequence of these four sleep phases is called the sleep cycle.
What characterizes a healthy sleep cycle?
A healthy sleep cycle is characterized by a clear sequence: A short phase of falling asleep is followed by stable sleep and deep sleep. From deep sleep, you return to REM sleep via stable sleep, which completes each cycle. In adults, the first REM sleep phase occurs between 60 and 90 minutes after falling asleep. In the course of sleep, the length of the REM sleep phases increases, while the length of the deep sleep phases decreases.
Every night, healthy sleepers go through four to seven sleep cycles. The duration of a sleep cycle is approximately 90 to 110 minutes. Even in healthy people, sleep is interrupted by short periods of wakefulness, which we generally do not perceive as being awake.
Why is sleep important ?
Researchers have already done a lot of research into how exactly the body and mind depend on sleep and what the effects are if rest periods are not taken so seriously. Here are the ten most important reasons to make sure you get enough sleep:
1. Sleep strengthens the heart
Prolonged sleep deprivation triggers inflammatory processes in the body. This favors calcification of the blood vessels (arteriosclerosis), which is considered the main cause of cardiovascular diseases such as heart attacks and strokes.
Just as a lack of sleep damages the heart, sufficient sleep protects it: Sleep keeps blood pressure constant in the long term, which has a positive effect on the health of blood vessels and the heart.
2. Sleep keeps the immune system fit
The body’s own defense against infection, the immune system, needs sleep to function optimally. More specifically, sleep is needed so that the immune cells are able to fight pathogens. Short-term sleep deprivation, for example, impairs the function of the so-called T-cells, which eliminate infected body cells and thus prevent a virus, for example, from spreading too far in the body.
3. Sleep promotes muscle building
Sleep and sport go hand in hand: Sleep plays an important role in muscle building. Studies suggest that muscle mass decreases more in people who sleep a maximum of five and a half hours per night than in those who get more than eight hours of sleep. Researchers suspect that sufficient sleep releases growth hormones and influences the production of proteins that are important for building muscle.
4. Sleep can increase performance
Sleepless nights significantly impair concentration and mental performance. How well someone sleeps influences the performance of the brain, because: Memory is formed and consolidated during sleep. Memories are consolidated and superfluous information is ‘sorted out’.
5. Sleep reduces the risk of accidents
In some cases, neglecting sleep can be life-threatening – especially in road traffic. Those who are constantly overtired are at an increased risk of accidents, as driving drowsily can lead to so-called microsleep, a life-threatening attack of falling asleep. Shift workers on their way home are particularly at risk: their accident risk is up to eight times higher.
5. Sleep reduces the risk of accidents
Does too little sleep favor weight gain? Researchers have been looking into this question for some time. A study from the UK suggests that adults who sleep less have a higher risk of obesity. Conversely, people who sleep more tend to have a lower body mass index (BMI). This negative relationship between sleep duration and BMI can be attributed to various pathophysiological causes. These are disease-related changes in bodily functions. These include, for example, the negative effects of sleep deprivation on the metabolism. In addition, people who sleep little tend to have higher concentrations of ghrelin, a hormone that regulates the feeling of hunger and satiety.
7. Sleep reduces the risk of diabetes
Sleep plays an important role in many metabolic processes in the body – including sugar metabolism. People who sleep less than four and a half hours without interruption have a higher risk of diabetes. The reason for this is that a lack of sleep makes the body’s cells less sensitive to the messenger substance insulin, which lowers blood sugar. To avoid this, it is not only important to get enough sleep, but also to sleep without interruptions that cause the body to wake up completely.
8. Sleep promotes mental health
Those who sleep poorly risk developing mental disorders or exacerbating existing ones. Frequent interruptions to sleep, such as those that occur in sleep apnea syndrome, lead to a lack of concentration and drive as well as changes in mood comparable to those of depression. Mental well-being therefore needs sleep just as much as the body.
9. Sleep helps processing emotions
Everyone spends around 20 per cent of every night dreaming, even if they don’t remember it the next morning. The most vivid dreams take place in the REM sleep phase. Exactly what tasks dream sleep fulfils has not yet been conclusively clarified. However, researchers assume that dreams help the brain to process emotions, especially those from the so-called ‘day residues’, i.e. emotional memories of the previous day’s events. A good reason to go to bed early more often.
10. Sleep may prevent headaches
There is a connection between sleep and headaches: three out of four people with headaches also suffer from sleep disorders. It is not only sleep that is disturbed by the pounding and throbbing in the head, but also the other way round: those who do not sleep enough or sleep badly risk waking up with a thick head. Healthy sleep is important to prevent these headaches.
Getting Better Sleep
If you’re having trouble sleeping, hearing how important it is may be frustrating. But simple things can improve your odds of a good night’s sleep.
- Stick to a sleep schedule.Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, even on the weekends.
- Get some exercise every day.But not close to bedtime.
- Go outside.Try to get natural sunlight for at least 30 minutes every day.
- Avoid nicotine and caffeine.Both are stimulants that keep you awake. Caffeine can take 6–8 hours to wear off completely.
- Don’t take naps after mid-afternoon.And keep earlier powernaps naps short.
- Avoid alcohol and large meals before bedtime.Both can prevent deep, restorative sleep.
- Limit electronics before bed.Try reading a book, listening to soothing music, or another relaxing activity instead.
- Create a good sleeping environment.Keep the temperature cool if possible. Get rid of sound and light distractions. Silence your cell phone!
- Don’t lie in bed awake.If you can’t fall asleep after 20 minutes, get up and do a relaxing activity until you feel sleepy again.
- See your health care provider if nothing you try helps.They can determine if you need further testing. They can also help you learn new ways to manage stress.
Have a good night, your TKH Team
