Importance Of Sleep

Importance Of Sleep

Sleep is such a vital part of our lives, but we often don’t prioritize it the way that we should.  While studies have proven that we can go as long as twenty-one days without food, they also have shown that we can live for less than two weeks without sleep.  If sleep is more important than food for staying alive, why do we schedule our lives around our meals but schedule our sleep around our day-to-day plans?  Let’s take a deeper look into why sleep is so important.

  1. Proper sleep keeps you alert and attentive.

One rough night of sleep can slow your mind down and make it difficult to concentrate or do problem-solving.  You’re negatively affecting your intelligence and mental development when you make a habit of not getting enough sleep, especially when you are younger.  You are also at a much higher risk of injury when you are not getting proper sleep.  You become a risk to yourself and to others because of your lack of attentiveness.  The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimated that fatigue was a major factor in over 100,000 wrecks and over 1,500 vehicular deaths each year. 

  1. Proper sleep gives you a lower risk of heart disease and diabetes.

You have a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, and heart attack when you do not get quality sleep.  According to the European Heart Journal, those who struggle with sleep are three times more likely to develop heart failure.  Sleep restriction affects your blood sugar and reduces your insulin sensitivity even if you are young and healthy.

  1. Proper sleep can help you maintain a healthy weight.

Making a habit of sleeping less than six hours increases your appetite, specifically for high carbohydrate foods leading to extra body fat storage.  You are 30% more likely to become obese compared to if you sleep between seven and nine hours each night. 

  1. Proper sleep helps you age gracefully.

Lack of sleep has long-term effects on your aging.  You run on the stress hormone cortisol when you do not have adequate sleep.  These high levels of cortisol lead to poor skin tone and wrinkles.  Deep sleep repairs your skin and releases hormones that help to firm your skin and tone muscles.

  1. Proper sleep helps your memory.

Sleep experts believe that during sleep your mind organizes your experiences and things you’ve learned throughout the day to make it easier to access in the future.  If you have a big test or stressful presentation the following day, you should make it a priority to get to bed at a good time.  Staying up to study or work may do more harm than good.

  1. Proper sleep is a defense against mental illness.

You’ve likely heard of the different stages of sleep and how we flow back and forth between them during the night.  REM sleep is your final stage and most heard of because of its importance.  Most of your dreaming takes place in REM.  Dreaming is important for good mental health; you process the events of the day in your dreams.  When you lack quality REM sleep, you are more likely to have depression, anxiety disorders, and other mental illnesses.  Because REM sleep is at the end of the sleep cycle, you are missing out on it when you aren’t getting a full night’s rest.  Lack of sleep can make you as much as five times more likely to develop depression. 

  1. Proper sleep is a defense against physical illness.

Your immune system is impaired even with a small lack of sleep.  Sleeping less than seven hours makes you three times more likely to develop a cold compared to if you slept eight hours.  You can also fight inflammation better when you get adequate sleep.  

Sleep is important to keep your body and mind healthy and prepared for the day ahead.  Going without adequate sleep will negatively affect many aspects of your life and can be dangerous to yourself and those around you.  Try Simply Organic Bamboo bedding to help you get the blissful sleep you deserve, so you can have the quality of life you’ve always dreamed of having.

Shop the collection.


Leave a comment

Please note, comments must be approved before they are published

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.