Sleep is a physiological human need, just like hunger and thirst. All the functions of sleep have not yet been studied, but its lack strongly “hit” the mental and physical health of a person.
Even after one sleepless night, fatigue appears, and concentration decreases. If you do not sleep long enough, then coordination of movements and focusing of vision are disturbed. As a result, irritability appears, movements slow down, speech becomes fuzzy, and hallucinations may even occur.
How sleep affects the body
Toxic substances accumulate in the brain during the day and are removed during sleep. If you don’t sleep long enough, your condition is like a mild concussion.
During deep sleep, our body produces growth hormone – somatotropin. It regulates metabolism and launches a complex “restoration” of the whole organism. With a lack of sleep, the risk of developing diabetes mellitus, hypertension, obesity, and chronic age-related diseases increase. It is not without reason that during an illness we want to sleep – the body “updates” and “restarts” itself.
Lack of sleep lowers the immune system. Indeed, during sleep, neurotransmitters are produced – special chemicals, thanks to which our body begins to work like clockwork.
How sleep affects health
Regularly lacking sleep, you can earn yourself a whole scattering of “sores”. Just a few nights without sleep can bring a healthy person to a pre-diabetic state. What else happens with lack of sleep?
1. Good sleep improves concentration and productivity
The concentration and productivity of your brain is directly related to the quality and quantity of sleep. For example, consider the interns of medical institutions. Everyone knows their heavy work schedule. According to the study, interns with more than 24 hours of work time made 36% more medical errors than those interns who got enough sleep.
2. Good sleep in turn improves problem solving and memory in adults and children.
3. Lack of sleep reduces the ability to social interaction
Scientists from around the world have conducted independent studies on the relationship between lack of sleep and the level of empathy. Tests showed that people who were awake began to have difficulty recognizing expressions of anger and happiness.
The input of scientists is disappointing – with lack of sleep, people are less able to recognize the emotions of others and important social signals. Subsequently, this can lead to more serious mental disorders. According to research by the US National Institutes of Health, 90% of depressed people complain about the quality of their sleep.
How can sleep affect beauty
Do you want to stay young and beautiful? Make time for sleep. No less than 6-7 hours a day. Otherwise, it will instantly reflect on your face.
The ideal beauty sleep is as follows – fall asleep at 11pm, sleep within 6-8 hours, wake up before 7am.
Why do you have to go to bed so early, you ask? From 11pm to 1am, the hormones melatonin and somatotropin are produced. They have fat burning and anti-aging effects.
If there is not enough sleep, the body perceives it as stress and begins to produce cortisol. Didn’t fall asleep on time? This way you only helped your body to synthesize fat mass in the abdomen and thighs.
Benefits of quality sleep:
- Less wrinkles. Collagen is produced at night, which increases skin firmness and elasticity. Every hour counts. Therefore, if you sleep only 5 hours a day, then soon you will have twice as many wrinkles as a person with a 7-hour sleep. Also, with lack of sleep, the skin is dehydrated, which is why wrinkles become more noticeable.
- Radiant complexion. During sleep, blood flow to the skin increases. Sleeping too short prevents the rosiness from appearing on your cheeks, leaving you with a gray and lifeless complexion.
- Shining look. The more sleep you have, the lower your chance of waking up with puffiness and dark circles under your eyes. In 7-8 hours, excess fluid will have time to leave. Life hack against edema – use a high pillow. But first, we recommend reading the instructions on how to choose the right pillow.
- Healthy thick hair. Hair follicles receive nutrients from the blood. Therefore, the less you sleep, the worse the blood flow and the less trace elements enter the follicles. Cortisol, which is produced when there is a lack of sleep, causes hair loss.
- Maximum effectiveness of cosmetics. At night, your skin is busy repairing and this is the best time to use skin care products. This makes the upgrade process more efficient. At night, the skin dries out, so it needs additional moisture.
- You will look better. A sad expression, red eyes, dark circles and gray skin give a sickly appearance. Therefore, if you do not want to scare people on the street and always look good, get enough sleep.
What can be done now
Your health is in your hands. Whether or not you seek the advice of a specialist, there are simple things you can implement into your life without help that are guaranteed to improve your sleep quality:
- Create a relaxing space to sleep. Keep the bedroom dark and as quiet as possible, keep any electronics (computer, TV, phone) in another room, buy quality bed spreads online. Any stimulating objects and light sources affect the level of melatonin, a hormone that is responsible for the functioning of the biological clock.
- Set a strict sleep schedule for yourself. Get up and go to bed at the same time. Yes, even on weekends. Physically, the condition will not improve if you sleep longer than normal, on the contrary: the risk of developing diseases from excessive sleep also increases.
- Stick to a consistent workout schedule. Interestingly, physical activity increases the total sleep time, especially its deep phase, during which the body recovers. It is important, however, not to train too late in the evening, because this will lead to an over-mobilization of the body and it will be problematic to fall asleep after such a shake-up.
- Don’t drink alcohol and don’t eat late at night. Sometimes it seems that a heavy dinner or a glass of beer makes it easier to fall asleep, but on a physiological level, this seriously affects the quality of sleep, to the point that during the night it will be intermittent and too superficial.
- Remind yourself what you are waking up for. Organize your life so that there is always something to please yourself when you wake up: waiting for your favorite work or a long-awaited vacation, anticipation of a meeting and joyful moments. You can give all this to yourself in order to improve not only the quality of sleep, but also the quality of your whole life.