How much sleep do you even get each night? Because the role of sleep in your overall health is quite important. You might not know this, or maybe you do but tend to forget sometimes. Regardless, you need to know that sleep helps you function better at almost everything you do in life. Many areas of your life could suffer without proper sleep, including your physical and mental health. According to Sleep Foundation, sleep helps regulate your insulin levels, and improves one’s mood.
The role of sleep in overall health includes repairing and maintaining events that affect almost every part of the body. Therefore, a good amount of sleep is essential in keeping things together in your body. And the lack thereof can have detrimental consequences on you mentally, and physically. In this article, we’ll explore the importance of sleep in physical and mental health, its impact on your daily life, and the consequences of sleep deprivation.
After reading this article, will you promise yourself to start sleeping early? I hope you do!
Benefits of sleep (Role of sleep in overall health)
Why is getting enough sleep important?
Getting enough sleep has many benefits. When you sleep regularly and enough, it helps you:
- Get sick less often: The role of sleep in the body can be found in how it boosts the immune system function, by producing cytokines that fight off infections and inflammation. So, if you want to lower your risks of becoming ill, especially due to stress, you need to work on sleeping well.
- Stay at a healthy weight: Sleep helps regulate hunger hormones. Sometimes feeling hungry all the time, and the need to eat sweets and sugary snacks can be due to lack of sleep. Sleep affects levels of ghrelin (which increases hunger), and leptin ( decreases hunger). So, when you don’t get enough sleep, especially for a long time, ghrelin increases and leptin decreases, which could lead to excessive hunger. Additionally, sleep influences your resting metabolic rate (RMR), a rate at which your body burns calories. Getting enough sleep helps keep your RMR higher, it also supports weight loss and maintenance.
- Lower your risk of developing serious health problems, like diabetes and heart disease.
- Restore and repair cells and tissues, build bones and muscle, and strengthen the immune system.
Furthermore, the role of sleep also extends to how it reduces inflammation and chronic pain. Research shows that not getting enough sleep can lead to increased inflammation, exacerbating conditions such as arthritis, diabetes, and heart-related illnesses. So, sometimes those aches you feel in parts of your body, and can’t account for, could be due to you not getting adequate sleep each night.
Mental health benefits
Let’s talk about the role of sleep in your mental health.
It’s so surprising that sleep can affect one’s mental health, it’s even shown in movies. Characters who are sleep-deprived tend to behave in certain ways (usually bizarrely). Well, it’s not just for the plot, but actually what can happen to a person when they’re highly sleep deprived. Sleep has a profound impact on our mental health. During sleep:
- Our brains regulate emotions and mood, which helps reduce stress and anxiety and helps us get along well with others.
- Cognitive function and concentration improve, which enhances problem-solving skills and memory. Therefore you’ll be able to do better in school and at work.
- Our risk of depression and mental disorders decreases.
In addition, sleep helps us make better decisions and avoid hurting others or causing injuries. For example, a drowsy driver can cause fatal accidents. It is also important for children or teen’s healthy development. Also, sleep helps us process and manage our emotions, which reduces the risk of emotional overload, and mental breakdown.
Remember the time you felt so overwhelmed, sad, and filled with so many emotions? You were probably stressed due to sleep deprivation, and just needed a lot of rest. Sometimes, mood-related issues can be prevented by sleeping more.
The Role of Sleep in Daily Life
Sleep also affects your day-to-day activities or routine, from cleaning your room to washing the dishes. When you don’t sleep well, it can make you tired during the day and unable to finish tasks. This can make it look like you’re lazy, whereas you just don’t have the energy and are groggy throughout the day. However, when you’re well-rested:
- You wake up feeling better instead of tired
- There is an improvement in productivity, creativity, and accuracy
- It improves decision-making skills, which helps you make better choices
- Every other person is safe as sleep reduces the risk of accidents, injuries, and fatalities
- You’d be able to work out that morning or hit the gym
- There’ll be plenty of energy to clean the house, declutter, finish school or work projects.
Sleep Disorders and Deprivation
Despite the importance of sleep, many people struggle with sleep disorders or deprivation. Common sleep disorders include:
- Insomnia: Difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep.
- Sleep apnea: Constant pausing in breathing during sleep.
- Restless leg syndrome: Uncomfortable sensations in the legs during sleep.
- Narcolepsy: Too much sleepiness during the day.
What Happens When You’re Sleep Deprived?
Consequences of sleep deprivation include:
- Fatigue: Feeling tired, sluggish, and lacking energy, especially during the day.
- Cognitive impairment: Difficulty concentrating, memory lapses, and reduced problem-solving skills.
- Weakened immune system: Increased risk of illnesses and infections.
Actions You Can Take To Sleep Better
You can take certain actions to improve the quality of your sleep. Try these tips:
- Go to bed and wake up at the same time
- Make your bedroom dark, quiet, and cool
- Stay away from screens, avoid exercising, and have long talks before bedtime.
- Avoid consuming caffeine and nicotine close to bedtime
- Try relaxation techniques like deep breathing, meditation, or progressive muscle relaxation.
The bottom line
The role of sleep in the body is to keep it moving by fueling it with energy. Without sleep, a person can break, and develop serious health conditions. From their mental to physical health, which are the primary factors in life. It restores and repairs the body, regulates blood sugar levels, maintains a healthy body weight, and keeps you feeling good. By prioritizing sleep, and practicing good sleep hygiene, we can improve our overall health and well-being.
FAQ.
Does it matter when I sleep?
Yes, it does, when you sleep matters a lot. Your body sets a “biological clock” according to the pattern of hours of sunlight where you reside. This is why you start to feel tired and sleepy when nighttime comes and stay alert during the day.
Why can’t I fall or stay asleep?
Trouble sleeping can be caused by several things, including:
- Stress or anxiety
- Overthinking
- Relationship issues
- Pain
- Certain health conditions like heartburn or asthma
- Some meds
- Untreated sleep disorders like insomnia or sleep apnea
- Alcohol and other drugs
- Poor mattress
- Noisy neighborhoods
- Caffeine (usually from coffee, tea, or soda)
- Excessive fullness from food
How many hours of sleep should adults have?
Most adults need 7 or more hours of sleep per night. It’s also key that you get good-quality sleep regularly so you feel rested when you wake up.
You can also read
Sleep: What is Sleep? How Much Sleep is Enough and Health Benefits.
