Many of us wonder what difference can an extra hour of sleep make in our lives?! If you carry out some research, you’ll discover, quite a lot.
Scientific studies have revealed that the gap between sleeping just enough and sleeping too little can have a major impact on your overall health, your weight, your mood patterns, and even your bedroom life!
Please keep in mind that getting a good night’s rest is never a luxury, but an absolute necessity for each one of us. Go over the figures below and you’ll understand why. A recent study revealed that:
Consider yourself either lucky or as someone having excellent sleeping habits if you don’t fall in any of the brackets above. If you do, it’s high time that you review your sleeping routine to understand if you’re getting enough sleep required by your body.
If you’ve been regularly sleeping lesser than the recommended 7 to 9 hours of sleep each night, following are some important reasons that’ll make you shut down your laptop, turn off the lights and hit the sack an hour before time tonight:
Our body naturally enters into the state of stress whenever it is deprived of enough quality sleep. When this happens, the body’s functions start remaining on high alert, increasing the blood pressure and initiating the production of stress hormones. These stress hormones, in turn, may make it more difficult for you to fall asleep, making it a vicious circle.
On the other hand, high blood pressure may significantly increase your risk of suffering from strokes and heart attacks. Your heart can be a lot healthier if you sleep for a minimum of 7 to 9 hours each night.
If you too, like many others think that six hours of sleep is enough for you, think again!
The percentage of the population that has the required gene to perform at optimum levels despite getting only 6 hours of sleep each night is a meager 3%. The chances are quite less that you’re a part of that 3% minority.
For the remaining 97% of the population, 6 hours sleep may not be enough to perform at their best during the day. Majority of healthy adults require anywhere from 7 to 9 hours of uninterrupted sleep each night.
How Much Sleep is “Enough”?
If you look at the youth of today, the ability to survive on a few hours of sleep is actually perceived as an accomplishment and a badge of honor of sorts! It is something that young people boast about nowadays. Simply put, sleep is an undervalued commodity in the present time.
To tell you the truth, if you’re really concerned about your health, you must resist all types of social pressures and pay heed to what your body needs. Continuous lack of sleep can result in serious health problems, harm your productivity, jeopardize your safety and reduce your memory power and immunity levels.
Inflammation is a condition that is often associated with arthritis, stroke, diabetes, heart diseases, and premature aging. Scientific research suggests that people used to 6 or lesser number of hours of sleep each night have higher blood levels of inflammatory proteins compared to the ones who sleep for at least 7 hours or more each night.
People suffering specifically from insomnia and/or sleep apnea can experience major improvement in their inflammation and blood pressure by treating their sleep disorders.
Getting ample sleep isn’t just about the number of hours you keep your eyes closed. The benefits of sleep may come by only if the quality of your sleep is also good enough.
The quality of sleep is about the number of hours you get uninterrupted sleep. When you do so, you’ll be able to recharge your energy levels and wake up refreshed each time. Try minimizing the stimulants and noises that prevent you from getting that sort of deep sleep.
Quality sleep can be disrupted by snoring. To improve sleep quality stop snoring with an anti snoring mouthpiece or other snoring aids. SnoreRx is one of the best-reviewed appliances.
Many people understand and appreciate the value of sleep, but use sleep medications as the easy way out to overcome the sleep deprivation problem. If you aren’t getting enough quality sleep, consuming sleep medications on a regular basis is not a long-term solution. Instead, get down to the root of the problem and take well informed and knowledgeable decisions to alter your sleeping habits.
Why not go for a comprehensive health check-up right now to find out if there are any underlying medical problems that may be preventing you from getting ample good quality sleep.
Serotonin is one of the most popular biochemical substances that gets majorly impacted by our sleep patterns. It is a neurotransmitter which determines our mood patterns.
High serotonin levels can make you feel happy, while their depletion can make you vulnerable to emotional conditions like depression and other health disorders. By getting enough quality sleep each night, you can ensure that your serotonin levels remain in check and you stay happy and more productive.
Unlike the common perception, people who get a good night’s sleep each day, are more creative than others. Apart from improving its ability to make strong memories and consolidating them better, your brain will be able to restructure and reorganize the memories more efficiently if you sleep well. All this may have a major positive impact on your creativity levels.
Researchers at the Boston College and Harvard University have found that people strengthen the emotional aspects of their memories when they’re fast asleep, thereby improving the creative processes of their minds.
Hi, I'm Helen Hudson a health geek mom to two awesome boys. Wife of a snoring husband. Photographer, writer and Co-Editor at snorenation.com