Life is one of the most complex yet simple things, but why is it simple if it doesn’t feel like it? Life is pretty simple because it is straightforward. We only depend on four things to live: food, water, relationships and sleep. Let’s talk about the most important yet overlooked thing: sleep. Sleep is something we think about and want to do all the time but for some reason we are always sacrificing sleep because as long as we get 8 hours, we are ‘fine’. Just like anything else, society makes products, ideas, and standards out of sleep. Getting less than 8 hours of sleep is not healthy, more than 8 hours of sleep is not talked about. It feels like 8 is the golden number.
As we all know, sleep is important, but why? There are many reasons why sleep is crucial, and to be honest, we don’t completely, fully, understand how sleep works yet. The first reason why sleep is important is because it is the time where the body rests and relaxes. When we are awake, our heart rate and blood pressure is higher than when we are asleep, so getting a good night’s rest is key because it decreases the chances of high blood pressure, obesity, strokes and chronic heart disease. Sleep also plays a huge role in our metabolism. Metabolism is our digestion and we have a circadian clock which tells our body to digest food at specific times. Not sleeping enough or having an inconsistent sleep schedule can lead to metabolic diseases, increased hunger and consumption of fast, processed, unhealthy food. It will also affect your hormones, especially the ones linked to digestion for example, leptin and ghrelin. Last but not least our brain. Our brain is the most affected organ and the one that depends the most on sleep. Our whole body depends on our brain which is why it needs to recharge. Sleeping is linked to improving the memory, and processing what we learned in the day better. The brain is cleansed and rejuvenated during sleep by removing the waste byproducts so it is at its best for the next day. Sleep deprivation can cause the neurons to malfunction, worse memory, increase stress levels, and having difficulty focusing and paying attention.
How much sleep time we should get depends on how old you are but usually no less than eight hours for teens and adults. Sleep has two main different parts. Non-REM sleep and REM sleep. Non-REM sleep has four stages. The first stage is when we are falling asleep, the second stage is light sleep and stages four and five are deep sleep. After these four stages we move onto REM(Rapid Eye Movement). REM sleep is where our eyes are moving, we have irregular breathing and heartbeat, our brain increases its activity, and when we dream. Normally, we go through REM four to five times. In order to go through all of these stages and phases of sleep, we need the right amount of sleep. We can fit all of these stages in just eight hours, this is why eight hours is enough time to have a fairly good night’s sleep. Getting enough sleep increases our overall health by reducing illnesses and strengthening our immune system. We are in a better mood and we get along better with people.
Ultimately, sleep is crucial for everyday activities and we shouldn’t overlook it. Sleep has more impact in our lives than what we think and we should take it more into consideration and we should give it the attention it deserves because if we don’t sleep, we can’t do anything. And, if life is getting a little too harsh, try sleeping for at least eight hours, it might just be the solution to all problems.
Sources: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4651462/
https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/sleep/why-sleep-important
