why sleep is important

[Hero]

http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/alternative/9908/25/heal.sleep/

 

By William Collinge, M.P.H., Ph.D.

 

(WebMD) -- Overlooking the single most important thing you can do for your health is easy with all the clamor surrounding various health products in the marketplace. But good-quality sleep goes far and beyond those products when it comes to restoring your health. And best of all, sleep is free.

 

Organizing your life so you get the highest quality sleep possible is well worth the effort. And quantity doesn't necessarily equal quality: You may sleep for many hours, but if your sleep isn't deep enough, or if your sleep cycle is disturbed, you may still be at greater risk for illness. A simple way to gauge the quality of your sleep is to see how refreshed you feel when you wake up.

 

A matter of hormones

 

Part of sleep's effect lies in hormones. During deep sleep, the production of growth hormone is at its peak. Growth hormone speeds the absorption of nutrients and amino acids into your cells and aids the healing of tissues throughout your body. The hormone also stimulates your bone marrow, where your immune system cells are born.

 

Melatonin, often called the sleep hormone, is also produced during sleep. This hormone inhibits tumors from growing, prevents viral infections, stimulates your immune system, increases antibodies in your saliva, has antioxidant properties and enhances the quality of sleep.

 

Rhythm and blues

 

Some studies show the value of maintaining a steady and natural rhythm in sleep patterns.

 

Researchers at the University of Toronto Center for Sleep and Chronobiology are uncovering important insights into how sleep heals. Dr. Harvey Moldofsky and his colleagues studied the natural rhythm of sleep by interrupting the sleep of a group of medical students. Over several nights, each time the students entered a deep-sleep phase, called the "non-REM" or "delta" phase, the researchers would interfere. After a few nights of these disruptions, the students developed the classic symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia.

 

Moldofsky conducted another study examining how the immune system reacts to sleep deprivation. Researchers examined natural killer cells -- a component of the immune system that attacks bacteria, viruses and tumors. During the study, 23 men slept about eight hours the first four nights. On the fifth night, researchers woke the men up at 3 a.m., giving them four hours less sleep than usual. This one insult to their sleep pattern caused the activity of the natural killer cells to decrease by more than one-fourth the next day.

 

Five keys to optimal sleep

 

 

Rise and shine. Spending a few minutes in the early morning sun helps your biological clock align itself with the cycles of nature. Bright morning light stimulates the release of serotonin, the hormone of wakefulness, and helps the brain reduce levels of melatonin, the sleep hormone.

 

 

 

Have your evening meal early. Finish your evening meal by 6 or 6:30 p.m. so your body's digestive processes can be at rest when you go to bed. If you need to change your meal times earlier in the day to do this, then work backward accordingly.

 

 

 

Go to bed at 10 p.m. Your body was designed to sync with the cycles of nature -- including daylight and darkness -- with the optimal time for sleep falling between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. If you're in the habit of staying up much later than 10 p.m., begin getting up progressively earlier by a few minutes each morning, over several days. This will make it easier to go to bed earlier in the evening until you reach your target.

 

 

 

Reduce stimulants. If you find it difficult to get to sleep around 10 p.m., try cutting stimulants out of your diet -- particularly caffeine products like coffee, chocolate and black tea -- even in the morning. These take a long time to be eliminated from your body, and their effects can linger into the evening.

 

 

 

Quiet your mind. If your body is tired but your mind is active, try meditation or prayer. But don't make it hard work; use a simple and gentle form, such as repetition of a thought or phrase, or just focus on following your breath in and out. Relaxation music is another excellent way to soothe an anxious or active mind.

 

 

William Collinge, M.P.H., Ph.D., is a consultant and teacher in integrative health care. He has conducted research in integrative programs for cancer, HIV and chronic fatigue syndrome. He is author of the books "The American Holistic Health Association Complete Guide to Alternative Medicine," "Recovering from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome," "Subtle Energy" and the audiotape series "The Mind/Body Medicine Library."

[Richard]

That's very interesting, thanks

[Hero]

anytime

[Gorilla]

Thanks so much for this Hero. I needed to be reminded of this!

 

It's one of my New Year's Resolutions to go to bed earlier and rise earlier.

 

The thing is, since I've been in Germany I've been partying and socialising like mad, getting to know everyone and making new friends.

 

Often I found myself going to bed as dawn was breaking, which is crazy.

 

Now that I know everyone and feel really settled I'll be able to get into a more sensible routine.

 

PS A note on New Year's Resolutions: last year one of my resolutions was to cut out ALCOHOL completely. I'm going to start a thread on alcohol...

[robert]

I never get enough sleep Topher will recall that I was always getting up early around 6AM, gone all day with work and other projects and then returning from the library around 1AM go get to sleep for a small amount of time and then get up and do it all over again.

 

For about a year now I've been working on getting more sleep but I'm not very good at it. I always want to be as "productive" as I can be, and I forget that sleeping falls into that category. It is just in my head that I need to be "doing something" at all times to move forward. But I do love me some sleep, so I'll work on getting more of it.

 

Sleep well everyone!

 

-Rob a donk donk

[CrispyQ]

Good article. Thanks for posting.

 

I'm envious of people who get by on 6 hours of sleep a night, but I will never be one of those people. I love my sleep! I get very cranky if I don't get enough.

 

A common form of torture is sleep deprivation. Amazing what lack of sleep does to the mind!

[Cristian]

Good article. I've found that since going vegan I can function well with less sleep, I feel much more energetic compared to when I was eating meat and dairy. Generally, I don't sleep more than 6-7 hours, I don't think adults need more than that.

[compassionategirl]

I gotta get a better pillow. Mine is so uncomfortable. I am constantly adjusting it throughout the night, and almost always wake up feeling more tired than I felt going to bed.

 

I'm sure a better pillow can make a difference. at least i hope.

[CrispyQ]

I gotta get a better pillow. Mine is so uncomfortable. I am constantly adjusting it throughout the night, and almost always wake up feeling more tired than I felt going to bed.

 

I'm sure a better pillow can make a difference. at least i hope.

 

 

Nat, a pillow can make a HUGE difference! Early this year I replaced my old worn out pillow with one of these:

 

http://www.qvc.com/asp/frameset.asp?nest=%2Fasp%2FisItemNumberRedirect.asp&search=SQ&frames=y&referrer=QVC&CLASSLEVEL=&txtDesc=memory+foam+pillow&SearchClass=

 

 

I love this pillow!! It has made a huge difference in my sleeping. It may not be the pillow for you, but for me it is wonderful. Google "special sleep pillows" & see what you get. Investigate & if you can, find a local place that sells the pillow you are interested in or buy from a place like QVC that will let you return within 30 days, no questions asked.

 

 

 

Another thing that really helped me improve my sleeping is a tonal alarm clock. I know this sounds weird. I grew up on a farm & it was always dark & quiet when I slept. I hate alarm clocks! ARGHHHH!! That loud buzzing/screaming noise is not a good way for me to wake up. Radio is just as bad. It immediately puts me in a vile mood -- no way to start the day.

 

I now have a very nice 'tonal' alarm clock that quietly rings tones instead of loud, annoying noises. I use to wake up around 3am-4am & then would be tense for the remainder 2-3 hours left cuz I knew that loud alarm was going to go off soon. Not anymore. I can wake up 1/2 hour before I know I have to get up & can fall back alseep easily.

 

 

In the future, I am going to look into one of those circadian clock/lamps where the lamp slowly comes to full light about 1/2 hour before your clock is set to go off. The idea is that light your circadian rhythms are heavily influenced by light. Makes sense to me!

 

 

I do believe that there are many little, subtle things that help or hinder your sleep experience! I told you I was weird.

 

 

 

---

[Hero]

I never get enough sleep Topher will recall that I was always getting up early around 6AM, gone all day with work and other projects and then returning from the library around 1AM go get to sleep for a small amount of time and then get up and do it all over again.

 

For about a year now I've been working on getting more sleep but I'm not very good at it. I always want to be as "productive" as I can be, and I forget that sleeping falls into that category. It is just in my head that I need to be "doing something" at all times to move forward. But I do love me some sleep, so I'll work on getting more of it.

 

Sleep well everyone!

 

-Rob a donk donk

 

the way i look at it is this:

 

sleep is productive. your body builds muscle and heals itself. this is doing somethng.

i used to never sleep, which is how i got mononucleosis for 9 months.

on the other hand, too much sleep can be bad cause oversleeping isnt good either. you need those hours to be awake and eating to build muscle.

 

surprisingly robert, i get up every morning at 7am now, since there is a sun now. and i go to bed around 11-midnight.

[Tarz]

The invention of the electric lightbulb was a calamity for human sleep patterns.

 

Before, our bodies would be in tune with nature, so most people would go to sleep and get up at normal hours. The electric lightbulb means we can alter our natural sleeping patterns. It is dangerous to not sleep at night and instead sleep in the day - it has been proven that night shift workers will have a shortened lifespan, be more prone to ailments and illnesses etc. Apparently sleeping in the day is not as restorative and recuperative as night sleep, i.e it is not a deep and restful sleep.

 

It is surprising the amount of us on this forum who take our diet and exercise very importantly and seriously, but neglect their sleep ( me included ). I consider sleep to be more important than diet and exercise. Too bad then that I don't place the same emphasis on sleep....

[compassionategirl]

Thanks for the links lezly.