"I'll sleep when I'm dead!" "We're so old because we're going to bed early!" The jokes don't end when it comes to sleep. But, in reality, your quantity and quality of sleep affect the quality of your day!
Shakespeare got it right many years ago. “Sleep… great nature’s second course, Chief nourisher in life’s feast” (Macbeth, Act II, Scene II).
High quality sleep fortifies your immune system, balances your hormones, boosts your metabolism, increases physical energy, and improves the function of your brain. With all the benefits sleeps gives you, you will never have the body and life you want without giving your body the right amount of sleep. High quality sleep is essential!
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Lack of sleep effects:
Lack of sex drive
Sleeping longer increases sex drive.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25772315
Forgetfulness
http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/little-sleep-much-affect-memory-201405027136
Craving of junk food
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3763921/
Drastically increasing the risk of disease:
Try immune system failure, diabetes, cancer, obesity, depression, and memory loss just to name a few.
http://healthysleep.med.harvard.edu/healthy/matters/consequences/sleep-and-disease-risk
Moodiness, depression and anxiety
http://healthysleep.med.harvard.edu/need-sleep/whats-in-it-for-you/mood
Sleep puts your body in an anabolic state, helping youthfulness, helping to restore the immune, nervous, skeletal, and muscular systems; these are vital processes that maintain mood, memory, and cognitive performance.
You may ask: how can I improve my sleep? Well, there are many ways!
Have a sleep routine. Go to bed at the same time every night.
http://www.aasmnet.org/articles.aspx?id=1259
Get black out curtains. Lighting effects your bodies production of melatonin, which also effects circadian rhythm.
http://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.1000145
Turn off all electronics an hour or longer before bed ( the blue light effects melatonin)
See number 4
Get blue light blocking glasses and wear them an hour or longer before bed.
http://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/blue-light-has-a-dark-side
Magnesium spray before bed
http://theshawnstevensonmodel.com/benefits-of-magnesium/
Exercise
Increase your physical activity during the day.
https://sleepfoundation.org/sleep-news/study-physical-activity-impacts-overall-quality-sleep
Have a caffeine curfew at least 6 hours before bedtime
http://www.aasmnet.org/jcsm/ViewAbstract.aspx?pid=29198
Make sure the temperature at night is comfortable. This is recommended to be between 60 and 67 degree fahrenheit.
https://sleep.org/articles/temperature-for-sleep/
Meditate: Just a few minutes of deep breathing a day helps you to relax and reduce stress, perpetually over time.
http://www.health.com/health/condition-article/0,,20189101,00.html
Sweet dreams! Here's to a better night's sleep and great days!
Sources:
http://sleepsmarterbook.com
http://www.health.com/health/condition-article/0,,20189101,00.html
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2929498/
