Although most people know they should get between 7 and 8 hours of sleep per night, 40 percent of Americans are sleep deprived. The average American gets less than the recommended 7 hours of sleep per night during the week. In a 24-hour, rapid-paced society where sleep often gets put on the back burner, it can be challenging to prioritize getting enough rest. So why do you need a good night’s sleep?
For Your Brain
You may think your brain is resting while you are asleep, but it’s working hard to recover from your day and prepare you for the day ahead. Sleep, both before and after learning, is critical for memory consolidation and storage in long-term memory. Being well-rested provides advantages in learning and memory, as well as creativity. However, lack of sleep can dull and impair the brain’s ability to create new fact-based memories by 40 percent.
For Your Body
Just like your brain, your body works hard to recover while you are sleepーreleasing hormones that rebuild muscles and joints. The more you sleep, the more able your body is to repair itself. Sleep also gives your heart a break from all of its hard work throughout the day by reducing heart rate and blood pressure. On the other hand, short or interrupted sleep weakens the immune system and can increase the risk of heart disease, infections, and even cancer.
For Your Belly
While sleep affects many systems of the body, it also has a significant impact on our waistlines. This is because while we sleep, our bodies restore the appropriate levels of the hormones ghrelin (the hormone that makes you feel hungry) and leptin (the hormone that makes you feel full). Without a good night’s sleep, levels of ghrelin increase while leptin decreases, causing you to feel hungrier than you would be with a total of 7 hours.
But not getting enough sleep can also affect behaviors contributing to weight gain. A National Institutes of Health study found that when study participants’ sleep was restricted to four hours per night, they gained almost two pounds within five days without even realizing it. Not only does limited sleep increase appetite for fatty foods by 33 percent, but little sleepers consume 500 more calories per day than those who get sufficient sleep. In addition to the effect sleep deprivation has on metabolism, short sleepers tend to eat during periods when they would typically be sleeping, which can also lead to weight gain. So if you are struggling to lose those last few pounds, the secret may be catching more Z’s.
For Your Emotional Well-Being
Do you ever feel irritable or cranky after a poor night’s sleep? That’s because sleep can influence your mood. The amygdala and the frontal cortex are two parts of the brain that are vital to regulating and controlling emotions. When you get a good night’s sleep, your frontal lobe can settle down the vigorous activity in your brain. Conversely, both areas of the brain are impacted when we don’t get enough sleep, causing us to be less equipped to regulate our emotions.
For Your Safety
You may think you can function at your best without a whole night’s rest, but the lack of sleep may affect you without you noticing. Lack of sleep can lead to microsleepーbrief, uncontrollable moments of sleep that occur when you are generally awake. You may think you can operate at your fully-rested level because you’re probably unaware of microsleep. It can happen while listening to a lecture, sitting in a meeting, or even while driving, and studies show that drowsy driving is just as, if not more dangerous than, drunk driving. Decision-making, reaction time, situational awareness, communication, and memory are all impaired with less sleep and can lead to accidents. In addition, researchers at Harvard Medical School found that poor sleep habits in medical residents led to increased medical errors.
It can be challenging to go to sleep on time and prioritize getting a good night’s rest, but there are many benefits to your overall health and well-beingーall the, more reason to hit the hay and count some sheep!