In the past, before electricity was discovered, people had less trouble sleeping, therefore they were healthier, happier, much stronger, and more productive.
In this article, we will be explaining the top 10 reasons why sleep is important, especially these days.
1- Poor sleep is linked to depression
Depression and low-quality sleep are associated with each other closely.
Most people with depression have sleep problems. These disruptions in sleep can potentially impact the activity of the neurotransmitter serotonin, which can make depression worse.
However, having a sleep issue doesn’t necessarily mean that you are depressed, but it may increase the chance of developing depression.
2- Sleeping well can maximize athletic performance
Sleep is essential for maximizing athletic performance because it has a tremendous effect on various aspects of physical and mental well-being.
Here is how sleep affects athletic performance:
- Physical recovery: During deep sleep, your body releases growth hormone which is responsible for muscle repair and recovery.
- Allows your heart to rest: As you are moving through the stages of sleep, the changes in your heart rate and breathing throughout the night Improve heart health.
- Muscle growth and repair: Protein synthesis needs sleep because as you are engaging in highly intense activities you are causing muscle microtears. High-quality sleep aids these muscles to become stronger.
- Prevents diseases: While sleeping, your body produces cytokines which are known as the hormones that help the immune system to fight off infections.
3- Sleep reduces your stress levels
Sleep allows our brains to recharge and our bodies to reset.
Stress and sleep are associated with each other, our daily life is stressful, our jobs, relationships, etc…
However, if you are struggling with stress you should try to improve your sleep quality. Here is how sleep may affect your stress levels.
- Sleep decreases cortisol levels: Cortisol is known as the stress hormone and it is responsible for the fight-or-flight response to danger. However, too much Cortisol can lead to weight gain and cardiovascular problems over time. Nevertheless, getting enough sleep overnight may help your body to equalize these hormone levels.
- Sleep reduces anxiety: According to Medical News Today Deep sleep may prevent or protect you from anxiety therefore protecting yourself from anxiety will surely lead to a decrease in your stress levels.
4- Poor sleep makes you gain body fat
Poor sleep negatively affects all aspects of our life and weight gain is one area of them.
When we think about the factors of gaining or losing weight we might think about diet and exercising. However, sleep plays a significant role in this puzzle, and here is how.
Sleep deprivation makes you “metabolically groggy”. Insufficient sleep may negatively affect your insulin – which is known as the hormone that is responsible for changing sugar, starches, and other food into energy – When your body doesn’t respond correctly to insulin, it will have trouble processing fats from your bloodstream, so it ends up storing them as fat. This thing is known as Insulin resistance.
5- Better memory and learning
Staying for late night hours studying is very prevalent among students, in fact, that’s the worst way possible to memorize and learn well, here is why.
If you don’t sleep properly at night your brain’s ability to function gets worse. Your brain needs to recharge and it only recharges at sleep. So preventing yourself from sleeping at night to study more for a test or something isn’t going to help you to grade better.
How does sleep affect your memory? Researchers have found that sleep is needed for transferring information from short-term memory to long-term memory while you are in deep sleep stages.
6- Lack of sleep affects emotions and social interactions
Lack of sleep sabotages your social life because it triggers loneliness and social rejection. According to the University Of California, studies showed that people with poor sleep suffer from loneliness more than people who sleep regularly and they are more likely to have social anxiety. Here is how lack of sleep affects your social life:
- Emotional regulation: Adequate sleep is essential for proper emotional regulation. Lack of sleep can lead to heightened emotional reactivity, making it harder to control emotions. Therefore, it increases mood swings, irritability, and even more intense emotional responses to various situations
- Mood disorders: As was shown above, mood disorders like depression and lack of sleep are very associated, so insufficient sleep may develop these problems into chronic cases.
- Communication skills: A study found that not getting enough sleep affects important parts of communication. This includes how well people understand language and how they change the rhythm and tone when they speak.
7- Sleep improves your immune system
Lately, people struggle with illnesses more than before, it’s because people aren’t getting proper sleep. But how does maintaining a good sleep schedule affect your immunity and your immune system, here is how:
- Balanced immune system: In accordance with the Sleep Foundation, sleep plays a significant role in improving your immune system through cytokines. Cytokines are the hormones that are responsible for fighting infection and promoting sleep and they are only produced while sleeping.
- T Cell Function: T cells are white blood cells that play a crucial role in the immune response. Sleep deprivation can negatively impact the functioning of T cells, leading to weakened immune responses.
- Rest and recovery: Our bodies need to rest throughout stages of sleep. Our immune system can concentrate its work on eliminating the dead cells and renewing them. This process helps immune function.
8- Poor sleep increases inflammation
There is a bidirectional relationship between sleep and inflammation. On one hand, inflammation can interfere with sleep by inducing discomfort, pain, or other issues that hinder the ability to initiate or maintain sleep. On the other hand, insufficient or poor-quality sleep can lead to an increase in inflammation.
Prioritizing proper sleep habits and adhering to a regular sleep routine, like going to sleep at the same time every day and waking up at the same time every day, is essential for mitigating inflammation and promoting overall well-being.
9- Sleep affects glucose metabolism and type 2 diabetes
Sleep duration has shortened over recent decades from 8 to 6.5 hours causing chronic sleep problems, The inconsistency in sleeping patterns like sleeping at different times or sleeping for different hours sabotages the biological clock. This in turn destroys metabolism, here is how:
- Insulin sensitivity: According to Sleep Foundation, insulin sensitivity is reduced by sleep deprivation, therefore, it impacts the metabolism negatively and this in turn increases the chance of obesity and weight gain.
- Hormonal equilibrium: Sleep deprivation can lead to weight gain by affecting the hormones in your body which leads to less control of metabolism and appetite, therefore, obesity is one of the most important factors for diabetes type 2.
- Stress increment: As was shown above, lack of sleep has a significant impact on stress levels, therefore your body releases the stress hormone which is cortisol, which turns to higher insulin resistance and high blood sugar levels.
10- Good sleep lowers the risk of heart disease
According to ESC, good sleepers have shown better results in heart disease rates. With that being said, scientists advise people to watch out for their sleeping patterns and duration because it affects their cardiovascular health.
Consistency of sleep is vital to heart health: When your heart gets used to a consistent sleeping pattern (waking up and going to sleep at the same time daily) the risk of getting a stroke is reduced by 50 percent compared to people who have irregular sleep.
Further reading:
- How to sleep better at night naturally [10 Proven Methods]
- Your Sleep Environment Checklist [For Healthier Sleep]
Conclusion
Sleep is incredibly important for your well-being. It’s not just about feeling rested, it affects many aspects of our lives. It can help you with your mood. When you sleep well, you tend to feel happier and less stressed.
Sleep is crucial for your body’s recovery. It helps your muscles heal, your immune system stays strong, and even your heart works better.
It plays a big role in your thinking and memory. So, if you want to be healthier, happier, and think more clearly, make sure you’re getting enough good sleep. It’s a simple but powerful way to take care of yourself.