Heads up: This article was commissioned as a part of the Adam Rush Project. It was an experiment I did a few years ago to see if having books written by ghostwriters would be commercially viable. It wasn't. That said, the following article was written by someone else and not yet edited to my standards. I hope to find time to rewrite it myself in the future, but for now, read with caution.
Disclaimer: I wish I could tell you that I’m a doctor, but I can’t. I’m just an inquisitive author with a background in science and a love for practical research. The content of this article is provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice. If you want medical advice, ask a real doctor.
Why do we need sleep at all? Sleep has a direct association with your physical and mental health. It determines the quality of the time you spend awake. Sleep affects your productivity, energy, motivation, emotional balance and health. No other activity that you perform on a daily basis comes with as many benefits as sleep. Here are some reasons why you need adequate sleep:
- Sleep helps your body run in the best condition. It is one of the primary reasons why you should sleep. Your body does not shut off when you sleep. As you rest, your brain stays busy. It focuses on the biological maintenance that helps your body run in the best condition. It also prepares you for the following day so you can operate at your full potential. Lack of sleep can lead to both physical and mental breakdowns.
- Sleep improves your athletic performance. Sleep is not only important for boosting your cognitive abilities. It is also essential for helping you to stay healthy and fit. One study found that basketball players who slept more had better accuracy, speed, and reaction times.
- Lack of sleep leads to functional limitation among senior women. A study of 2,800 senior women showed that poor sleep affected their walk and grip strength. It also affected their function in independent activities.
- Sleep gives you immunity against stroke and heart disease. It is another reason why you should focus more on sleeping. Your sleep has a significant effect on your risk of chronic diseases and heart ailments. A review of 15 studies found that people who sleep less have a greater risk of heart disease and stroke than those who sleep more than seven hours a night.
- Sleep lowers your risk of diabetes. Not getting enough sleep affects your blood sugar and insulin sensitivity. In one study, researchers deprived healthy young men of sleep. They began to show symptoms of diabetes and pre-diabetes. The symptoms disappeared after they got enough rest.
Myths About Sleeping
Myth #1: Sleeping one hour less won’t affect your daily functions. Losing even one hour of sleep can reduce your cognitive abilities. It is true even if you don’t feel sleepy during the day. It also affects your logic and reaction times. On top of that, it compromises your energy balance, immunity, and cardiovascular health.
Myth #2: Your body can adapt quickly to various sleep schedules. Although most people can sync their biological clock, it only works with timed cues. Altering your biological clock is a slow process. You can only change it by one or two hours at a time. It might take over a week to recover from jet lag if you travel to the other side of the world.
Myth #3: Sleeping more will solve all your sleep problems. The time you spend sleeping is important. But in reality, the focus should be more on the quality and not the quantity. Some people have nine hours of poor quality sleep a night and still do not feel energetic in the morning.
Myth #4: You can make up for lack of sleep on the weekends. Many people think you can make up for too little sleep during the weekdays by sleeping more on weekends. But this is a myth. This sleeping pattern will make up for only a part of the sleep debt. Sleeping in on the weekends can mess up your sleep cycle so that it becomes difficult for you to sleep on other days. It is why many people find it difficult to sleep on a Sunday night and wake up early on Monday morning.
The Stages of Sleep
There are four stages of sleep. The stages progress in a cycle from the first to the fourth stage then starts over again from the first stage. The fourth stage of sleep is REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. In the first couple sleep cycles, the REM stage is shorter and comes with long periods of deep sleep. But as we move to the later stages, the time we spend in REM lengthens and deep sleep time decreases.
The first stage deals with the lighter kind of sleep where you drift in and out of consciousness. Waking up from the first stage is easy. Here, your eye movement slows, and your muscles engage in less activity. Many people experience sudden contractions in muscle at this point.
In the second stage, your eye movement ceases, and your brain wave activity lessens. Your body prepares for deep sleep by dropping its temperature and slowing the heart rate.
In the third stage, slow brain waves called delta waves mix in with the faster regular brain waves. Delta waves occur only during deep sleep. It becomes difficult to wake someone once the delta waves start. After a few minutes, your brain begins exclusive production of delta waves. It is the stage when you sleep deepest. There is no eye movement or muscular activity. It is also when children might experience terrors, bedwetting, and somnambulism.
The fourth stage of sleep is REM sleep. During REM sleep, your breathing becomes more rapid and irregular. Your eyes jerk side-to-side while your eyelids remain closed. Your muscles shut down and stop all movement. Then your brain activity increases along with your heart rate and blood pressure. Males experience erections, and the body loses some ability to regulate its temperature. During this period of heightened brain activity, you dream. If you wake in the middle of REM sleep, you might remember your dreams. Otherwise, after your REM sleep you either wake up, or your sleep cycle resets back to stage one. Most individuals experience three to five REM intervals every night.
Benefits of Sleeping
- Good health. Studies show that too little sleep can lead to heart problems, diabetes, and obesity. So when you get consistent sleep, you reduce your risk of many ailments.
- Better sex drive. A poll by the National Sleep Foundation showed that 26% of people have issues in their sex life due to the lack of sleep. They tend to suffer because they felt tired and exhausted throughout the day. Studies have also shown that men have lower levels of testosterone when they get less sleep.
- Good mood. Getting too little sleep can put you in a cranky mood. Lack of sleep makes it difficult for you to control your emotions. That’s why reality television shows force their contestants to wake up early for challenges. It heightens the drama.
Not getting enough sleep puts you at risk for severe disorders like insomnia, anxiety, and dementia. So no matter how busy you are, always make sleep your priority. Sleep is a requirement, not a luxury. Focus on your sleep, and you will enjoy a healthier, happier life.
Summary
- Your body needs adequate sleep to function properly.
- You can’t cheat sleep. It will catch up to you eventually.
- You sleep in 90 minute cycles. Each cycle has four stages.
- Sleeping better will improve your health, your sex drive, and your mood.