How sleep affects your body and what you can do to prevent sleep deprivation.
When I was a teenager I probably spent more than half my day sleeping or lying on the sofa napping. Most teens and young adults are like that. Babies, too, of course. They need huge doses of rest and relaxation (between bouts of physical energy and exertion) due to their bodies working overtime to develop and grow. But what about adults? Wasn’t it true that Benjamin Franklin despised sleep and said, “There will be sleeping enough in the grave?” Or that Thomas Edison thought we should only sleep four to five hours a night so as to get the most of our waking day? While workaholics and geniuses might be able to pull off all-nighters, most of us can’t and shouldn’t. And though we sometimes glamorize the feat of sleeplessness (thanks to Edison), biologically we require seven to nine hours of sleep.
All things in nature seek balance. The same can be said for the human body. And so, our ability to relax and de-stress is equally important as our ability to produce. From a health perspective, here are some facts why our bodies need sleep:
- High blood pressure: Skipping just one hour of sleep is bad for your health. Middle-aged adults who miss just one hour of sleep for five years are 37% more likely to develop high blood pressure.1
- Cardiovascular heath: Not getting enough sleep can jeopardize the health of your arteries. Reuters News reported on a new study that showed sleeping “less than five hours a night” can increase the risk of hardening of the arteries by 27%, and those who slept more than seven hours decreased their risk, having only a 6% chance of developing hardening of the arteries.2
- Weight gain: “Chronic sleep deprivation may cause weight gain by affecting the way our bodies process and store carbohydrates, and by altering levels of hormones that affect our appetite.”3
- Disease: Lack of sleep disrupts the delicate system of balance within the body, causing hormone imbalance, immune deficiencies and “increased risk for colon cancer, breast cancer, heart disease and diabetes.”4
- Mood: Cranky, irritable, impatient? Lack of concentration? These are some of the effects of sleep loss. “Too little sleep can also leave you too tired to do the things you like to do.”5
How much smarter would Edison have been if he’d realized the importance of a good eight hours? Good question. Not sure there’s an answer. But here’s what you can do to steal a couple more hours of sleep a night…
- Avoid overstimulating activities an hour or two before bed: For starters, avoid stress in the evenings. Hours before bed, try to relax your mind rather than engage or stimulate it. Find an activity that relaxes you instead of stresses you out. If you have small children this may seem like a ridiculous suggestion. But once you get the kids to bed, that’s when you need to focus on you. Try muscle relaxation, meditation, yoga or even guided visualizations. Don’t watch the news or an action movie an hour or two before bed. These things add to physical and mental stress and make falling asleep difficult.
- Avoid caffeinated products: Think a cup of “soothing” green tea is a good idea before bed? Heck no. It has caffeine in it. Try to avoid all caffeinated products (coffee, tea, soda, chocolate) after three in the afternoon. Caffeine stays in your bloodstream anywhere from three to 12 hours (for pregnant women it lasts up to 18 hours!). Even decaffeinated products have traces of caffeine in them. Look for “caffeine free” on the label.
- Avoid food an hour or two before bed: Eating a couple of hours before bed is bad on many levels, especially weight gain and sleep deprivation. A stomach that’s busy digesting doesn’t want to sleep! Besides, food is energy. You don’t need to energize right before crashing for the night. If you need to grab something, try warm milk (it has melatonin, which is responsible for helping the body to relax) or a piece of toast or crackers. Bland, low-fiber foods are less taxing on your digestive tract.
- Love your bed: Save your bed for sleep and sex only. If you’re the type of person who eats and/or drinks in your bed, watches TV, listens to the radio and has trouble falling asleep, maybe it’s time to remove all those stimulants from the bedroom. You may even be associating your bed with feelings of frustration and lack of sleep. Redefine your sleeping space. Make it a sanctuary of harmony and peace. You may have to trick your mind into doing this, but it’s well worth it in the long run. Heck, maybe it’s even time to get new sheets and a fluffy new comforter!
- Try herbal remedies: Find an all-natural sleep supplement that combines relaxing, commonly used herbs (like valerian or chamomile) in one formula. When combined, the sedative effect is increased and synergy occurs, which may have a greater, more natural effect on relaxing.
- Get medical help: Insomnia could be a symptom of another medical problem such as depression. A checkup with a physician may be helpful to identify hidden medical problems or other health issues that require resolution. Review all supplements with your physician prior to use, due to any medications that you may be taking.
Coming up next week: Better Digestion (juicing, fasting, probiotics, enzymes and more…)
1. Too little sleep raises blood pressure risk: study, Reuters, June 9th 2009
2. Skimping on sleep is bad for the heart: U.S. study, Reuters, December 2008
3. http://www.health.harvard.edu
4. http://www.washingtonpost.com
5. http://www.health.harvard.edu
Tags: Advice