Sleep - What it is and Why we need it!

Ahhh sleep.... 

Sleep is something that most of us do not do enough. We assume that we can catch up on the weekends or over time. To most, sleep really isn't that big of a deal, it's more of a luxury than a necessity. Sometimes we even believe that getting things done at night or waking up early is more important than getting sleep. We love the idea of hustling. But this hustle is actually having terrible consequences. And our bodies and our emotional states are showing it. 

But first, why is sleep even important? Sleep is a human need. It's when we rejuvenate our body, it’s also when we do most of our healing. Our physical rebuilding happens while we're sleeping. We actually do need it for survival. In research, it was shown that if rats were deprived of sleep, their bodies would end up dying just like starvation from food.

I love the Biblical example that God gave us in Genesis chapter 1. There you will see that God gave us 24 hour periods with the Sun and Moon in order for us to have a rest cycle. And then He set the pattern of work time and rest. He even gave us a full rest day at the end of the week. So obviously rest and rejuvenation are important. The key is knowing how much we actually need. 

One of the ways that our body uses sleep is in our hormonal development. Our growth hormone, which helps to rebuild muscles after exercising, is secreted while we're sleeping. So less sleep means less growth and repair. If you're trying to work out and build strength, you will not be successful if you are not sleeping. Another hormone that's released is called melatonin. It does many wonderful things including helping us get deeper sleep, stimulating the immune system and increasing antibodies in your saliva. It actually prevents tumors from growing and it even helps prevent infections.

Sleep deprivation negatively affects our hormones and our overall immune system and weakens it in many ways. There's some evidence that the amount of cytokines and other inflammatory cells, which play a hand in cardiovascular disease, have to do with how much sleep we get.  If you're concerned with diabetes, then knowing that glucose is partially absorbed overnight and not getting enough sleep hinders the absorption of glucose into our body is helpful. More blood sugar in our blood means that more insulin has to be released in the body to take care of it. This can lead to insulin resistance, which is the onset for adult diabetes. The elevated insulin levels also lead towards a retention of body fat and obesity. So if you're trying to lose weight, not getting enough sleep is going to work adversely to your attempts. And then, of course we have our emotional and mental health. We all know that if we don't get sleep, we do not feel well. We do not think well. We have trouble with memory and emotional stability. These are not just little things that bother us, they actually have an effect on everyone around us as well.

Bottom line: we need sleep!! Don’t let anyone guilt you into thinking that it’s selfish to get a full night’s sleep. 

So now let’s talk about how much is enough sleep. We've heard in the past that six hours was a good baseline and that more than eight had negative effects. But based on current research, the Sleep Foundation is recommending seven to nine hours for adults. Children and adolescents actually need even more than that! And if they're going through a growth spurt, your kids are going to need more sleep. The same applies iIf they're going through a high stress situation.

Seven to nine hours is a big range. So most of us want to know how much we need personally. Some key indicators of sleep deprivation are:

• Are you falling asleep during the day?

• Do you wake up drowsy? 

• Do you feel like you never get quite enough sleep?

• Do you sleep a lot over the weekend

Those are good indicators that you may not be getting enough sleep on a regular basis. So try getting a little more sleep every night for a week and see if those symptoms begin to lessen. We really don't want to be sleeping during the day in the form of naps. As far as we can tell in western research, naps are not great for fixing our sleep debt. Although some people do find them very helpful. But we know for sure that if you're not getting that seven to nine hours of sleep during the week, you're not going to be able to make it up on the weekends. So if you're sleeping a lot on the weekends, it's not really going to adequately make up for that sleep debt. 

Here’s a few tips for good sleep. 

• Go to bed at the same time every night and then wake up at the same time every morning. 

• Stay away from anything that's going to stimulate your body or your mind before bed, such as blue light from electronics, alcohol, tobacco, and caffeine. Unfortunately, chocolate has caffeine! 

• If you don't want to have to get up to go to the bathroom overnight, then maybe drink a little bit less water before bedtime. Remember that sleep does dehydrate you. So in the morning make sure that you totally rehydrate with some water. A personal favorite of mine is adding a little lemon juice into my water. It’s amazingly refreshing. Or on other mornings I like green, fresh green juice comprised of a mix of green vegetables. It's an acquired taste but so yummy. 

• Have a regular bedtime routine. Turn off the big overhead lights. Play some calm music. Don't get yourself excited or stimulated before bed. Common sense is just to do the same things that you would do for your children to help them relax.

• The room should always be dark and cool rather than warm. And there shouldn’t be any strange noises. We like to use sound machines to cover background noises.We even bring them with us when we're traveling. They really help to block out outside noises 

• The mattress and the pillows that you're using can play into how well you're sleeping. While many people have plush pillowtop mattresses, they may actually be causing you more problems at night that you realize. They are not as supportive as we often think that they are. What is actually good for your spine and your body is most likely a harder mattress. Some proponents of natural posture and movements even recommend not using a  mattress and sleeping on floors so that you can get your body to stretch out overnight. I have not done it myself. But I have learned to not use a pillow and I have found that my sleep is greatly improved without a pillow. My neck and shoulders are much happier with me. 

•  Finally, my favorite - exercise. Yes, exercise helps you sleep. We'll talk about that more a little bit later. 

So that’s how we get good sleep. Unfortunately, many Americans are suffering from sleep disorders. You may be familiar with many of these. These include sleep apnea, narcolepsy, insomnia, snoring, delayed sleep phase syndrome, jetlag, sleepwalking, and sleep paralysis. These are only a few, there are more than 80 different sleep disorders that have been categorized. So if you're not getting good sleep, and you can't change it by simply doing some of the tips I shared above, then it might be time to check with your doctor. Poor sleep means that your body does not function at its optimal levels and there are many serious negative health physical effects of it.

But I want to end this little blog about sleep on a happy and encouraging note. So now we get to talk about EXERCISE. Obviously, you know that I love to exercise. And I can tell you from personal experience that exercise helps me sleep. It helps to rid my body of extra nervous energy from the day. It helps to keep my digestion regulated so that I have no stomach pains at night (something that I used to deal with frequently). It helps me recover better after hard workouts. It helps me sleep better after gentle workouts. And I know that it helps to balance out and challenge the body, requiring it to recover stronger and healthier. But if you don’t believe my personal experience, check the numerous studies on PubMed, one of the major online health research libraries. Research studies have shown that exercise helps every age group get better sleep. The level of fitness of the individual doesn’t make a difference. The research mostly focused on workouts of  20 minutes minimum. But any exercise is going to be better than no exercise at all. And daily exercise is better than a long bout of exercise over the weekends. So keep in mind that consistent daily exercise whether it's aerobics, such as running or walking or whether it's strength training with weights is much more effective than doing it sporadically. 

I hope that this blog has helped you to see why you need sleep.  Don’t let anyone or anything ever make you feel guilty about sleeping. Sleep is necessary and it is a wonderful thing.