For a long time, some therapists, researchers, and even physicians ignored the importance of sleep to human development. Not anymore, though, as today, sleep has been figured as one of the crucial parts of human life. And not just sleep, but quality sleep. Interrupted and short amounts of sleep can’t offer the same benefits that a full rest offers.
If you don’t get the recommended 7-8 hours of sleep per day, you’re bound to have some effects. These effects can leave long-lasting marks on you that would take time to recover from. If you had no idea, here are some reasons why regular sleep is quite crucial to avoid these effects.
1. Strengthened Immune System
If there’s a part of the human anatomy that professionals have struggled with over the years has got to be the immune system. One of the things that have been determined to boost it, however, is enough sleep. Your body needs sleep to repair worn-out cells, among others.
The same applies when it comes to the immune system. When you have torn and wear since your body works extra hard during the day, sleep fixes. For example, when you have a cold, and you sleep, the cold heals quickly. This is because the immune system has been strengthened and will be able to fight off the cold. You can track your sleep time using a sleep calculator to know the best time to sleep and when to wake up. You can also use sleep therapy. So, same to your body repairing worn-out cells during sleep time, your immune system is boosted when you sleep. You need to sleep the required 7-8 hours for any effect to take place.
2. Prevent Depression
There has been a rise in suicide cases reported across the world of late. This is because of the rise of depression among people today. And this is due to people not getting enough sleep due to various reasons they face during the day.
During the day, there’s a lot that goes to the mind, and the body also gets to work harder. This can cause some stress when you get home and hence interfere with your sleep patterns. And when you don’t get sleep, you’re likely to turn out depressed.
A study by JAMA Psychiatry found that one of the leading reasons for deaths due to suicide is lack of sleep. When you don’t sleep due to stress, this doesn’t help, and in fact, it can end up worse.
Also, those who have insomnia, among other sleeping disorders, are bound to suffer depression. The link between depression and lack of REM sleep is conclusive and has been confirmed by numerous sources.
3. Better Productivity
If you are suffering from less productive days, you are likely to have fewer sleeping hours. A study done in the 2000s proved that sleep patterns can vastly impact your productivity.
This can happen to both kids and adults. In fact, for kids, you can see it in their academics when they don’t get enough sleep. The Journal of Child Psychology also showed that failure to get enough sleep could affect the child’s behavior.
On average, kids have different sleep times, and they are as follows
Newborns 14-17 hours
Infants 12-16
Toddler 11-14
School-age 9-12 hours
As for adolescents, they should get at least 8-10 hours of sleep per day for better productivity. Adults, however, should get at least 7 hours of sleep per day. Though, you can extend to 8 at times, but never less than 7 hours per day.
4. Great Workout Performance
If you’re an athlete, you can sleep as much as 10 hours per day. First, athletes have to undergo rigorous training every day, which causes tears and wear in the body. Sleep will be required to repair these tissues and generate new ones.
Another thing is that when you work out during the day, you get tired, and sleep gives you enough time to recover. This will ensure that you hit the gym with the same intensity as before. Cells will have recovered, and you’d have rested enough for great performance.
As seen above, sleep can bring in productivity, and you will work out better. It has also been found out that lack of sleep can have the same effect on the brain as alcohol. And this will reduce the input you’ll have in your workout.
5. Prevents Heart Disease
Heart diseases are quite as scary as any disease can come, but they can be avoided due to enough sleep. When you sleep, your blood pressure is regulated, hence preventing the most common risk of heart disease.
When you sleep and regulate the blood pressure in your body, you also get sleep-related illnesses such as apnea. So, sleep can not only keep heart diseases at bay but also keeps your body generally healthy.
Another aspect of sleep deprivation is that it can lead to strokes. When you don’t get REM sleep, you are at high risk of stroke as much as heart diseases.
6. Calorie Regulations
When you enjoy the required 7-9 hours of sleep in a day, you’re unlikely to have a high-calorie intake. Lack of sleep can cause an increase in appetite hormones and hence increase your calorie intake.
You’ll find that when you get adequate sleep per day, you’re likely to have the right amount of appetite. However, when you don’t get enough sleep, your appetite goes up significantly. Ghrelin levels increase dramatically when you don’t get enough sleep.
Ghrelin is the hormone that stimulates the appetite. And when it is increased, leptin production is decreased. Leptin is the hormone that alerts your body that you have had enough to eat and you’re full.
Conclusion
There are no exceptions for sleep, as everyone needs to get adequate sleep to function properly. Various marks can be left on you when you don’t get enough sleep. It may even end up causing chronic illnesses such as heart diseases and strokes. But when you get the recommended 7-9 hours of sleep per night, you can keep your body from such illnesses and various other marks.
