Sleep is a physiological human need, just like hunger or thirst. If a person is deprived of sleep, he will eventually die. In ancient times, people considered sleeping a kind of death, because when a person went to bed and closed his eyes, his breathing became rarer and his reaction to external stimuli decreased. Scientists realized that sleep is not a monotonous state, but an active process with many functions. So today I will tell you about the importance of a good night's sleep.
What are the dangers of insomnia? Every neurologist knows that insomnia is an insidious time bomb in our bodies. It starts with difficulties falling asleep, as well as short-term sleep disorders, and eventually leads to physical and nervous exhaustion. Insomnia can cause fairly serious CNS disorders, psychosis, depression, lack of sufficient normal sleep increases the risk of dangerous diseases such as stroke and heart attack.
What Happens to Our Brain Because Of Lack of Sleep
Insomnia and lack of sleep significantly reduce the quality of human life, cause apathy, irritability, and increased fatigue. A "sleep-deprived" person may have problems with memory, reduced mental and physical activity, and this will have a negative impact on your professional activities.
1. The Latest Findings on Sleep and Memory
How well we sleep depends on our brain and memory function. Our brain, not getting the hours of rest it needs, begins to perceive familiar tasks as new, and therefore spends considerably more effort to solve them.
2. Sleep as A Means of Memory Training
Those people who regularly do not get enough sleep very often show poor results in memory tests. Belgian scientists conducted an entertaining experiment. Volunteers were shown images and then given time to rest. Those of them, who suffered from insomnia, when repeatedly shown the images were able to remember less than those who had a good sleep.
3. Remembering Things
Recent scientific research has revealed that while sleeping, the brain is engaged in remembering and learning things seen while awake. Evidence has been found that sleep is indeed necessary for humans at all stages of learning about the world, from schoolwork to learning how to cook. In addition, they look better.
4. Sleep Time
Babies spend the most time sleeping. While an adult's need for sleep is satisfied on average by seven to eight hours, for infants it is at least ten. In addition, a child has to absorb a lot of new information. Just to remember and process it requires a long sleep.
5. After Pregnancy, You Won't Have A Good Night's Sleep for A Long Time
Unless you plan to give your baby to a nanny immediately after birth, you will definitely not have a good night's sleep for the next few months. However, it turns out in your case, tries to get as much sleep as possible during your pregnancy. Sure, it's hard to get enough sleep, but you won't be as crushingly tired.
6. A Good Night's Sleep Is Important for The Fetus
Getting plenty of rest is critical not only for you but also for your unborn child. During pregnancy, the body has special stress, only properly sleeping, he will be able to cope with them fully.
7. Nervous System
Lack of sleep affects the immune system. Simply speaking, the antiviral system simply doesn't have time to recover, thereby depressing it. This makes us vulnerable to any infections. Sleep and immunity are interrelated. The immune system can affect sleep patterns, and sleep affects the body's defense system. More sleep is unlikely to make you completely immune to disease, but lack of sleep very quickly leads to an imbalanced immune system in which some elements are overstimulated and others are weakened.
8. Sleep and The Brain
The nervous system is directly affected by your sleep patterns. If we don't give our head enough rest, our nerve cells become agitated, work beyond normal, our mood becomes anxious, aggressive, depressed, etc. The brain becomes incapable of working, the ability to work falls.
9. Weight Gain
If a person is sleep-deprived, they expose themselves to weight gain, obesity, and even type 2 diabetes. If the brain and nerve cells begin to work at full blast, then most of the energy from food goes there.
10. Hormone Production
- First, melatonin, which normalizes hormones in general and blood pressure, as well as supports the immune system.
- Second, male and female sex hormones.
- Third, the hormones leptin - satiety, and ghrelin - hunger.
11. Training
The connection between normal sleep and training is simple: if you got enough sleep - full of strength and energy - ready and willing to work out if you did not get enough sleep - no mood, strength, energy, desire to do something - you skip the workout. At this point, melatonin and somatotropin are important. They help repair the muscles and the body as a whole. If sleep is lacking, cortisol (elevated) will come into play and prevent proper recovery or even expose the muscles to decay.
12. Cleansing
While awake, the human body is busy organizing movement, digesting food, and actively exercising. In sleep, when you are resting, completely different processes take place - the binding and removal of toxins, the elimination of harmful microorganisms.
13. Fixation of Information in The Brain
New knowledge stays in the memory exactly because of the night process of remembering. Long-term memory is formed, new skills are fixed.
14. Immunity Strengthening
New immune system cells are formed during sleep, protecting the person from infections.
15. Replenishment of Energy Resources
Performance in the morning is due to the fact that for 6-8 hours there was no load on the muscles.
That’s It!
To get a good night's sleep and a good night's sleep, you need to take your bedroom arrangements seriously. It is not enough to choose a beautiful and comfortable bed, you need a mattress on which you will feel comfortable all night long.