Get Quality Sleep

There are so many benefits to getting a good night's rest. Listed below are just a few of the ways it can impact your lives.

Sleep is the Best Defense: When your body gets the sleep it needs, your immune cells and proteins get the rest they need to fight off whatever comes their way — like colds or the flu. And according to sleep specialists, proper sleep can also make fighting off new flu and viruses much easier.

Weight Loss: Racking up eight full hours of sleep isn’t going to result in losing the lbs. by itself, but it can help your body from packing on the pounds. If you don’t get enough sleep, your body produces ghrelin, a hormone that boosts appetite. Your body also decreases the production of leptin, a hormone that tells you you’re full. Put ’em both together and that’s one dangerous combo for late-night snacking, my friend. Plus, when you don’t sleep enough you get more stressed and don’t have the energy to fight off junk food cravings.

Sleep the Heart Healer: Not getting enough sleep can lead to heart health problems like high blood pressure or heart attacks. That’s because lack of sleep can cause your body to release cortisol, a stress hormone that triggers your heart to work harder. Just like your immune system, your heart needs rest in order to function powerfully and properly. Just another reason to “heart” sleep.

Be in a Better Mood: There is some truth in the old saying, “Getting up on the right side of the bed.” It has nothing to do with which side of the bed you roll out of, but sleeping can lead to good moods.  And really, it makes sense. If you sleep well, you wake up feeling rested. Being rested helps your energy levels soar. When your energy is up, life’s little challenges won’t annoy you as much. When you’re not annoyed, you’re not as angry. If you’re not angry, you’re happy. So, go to bed early and everyone around you will thank you for it.

Be more Productive: You may think you’re wowing your boss by burning the midnight oil, but putting off a good night’s rest could be having an adverse effect at work or school. In fact, sleep has been linked to improved concentration and higher cognitive function, both of which can help you be successful at work. But one restless night can leave you feeling frazzled, making it more likely that you’ll make mistakes that a pot of coffee won’t be able to fix. Speaking of coffee, the more tired you feel, the more likely you are to reach for that afternoon cup. And while that may seem to fix the afternoon crash problem you experience, the extra caffeine late in the day could set you up for another sleepless night. Talk about a counterproductive cycle.

Stay out of Danger: According to a study from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, you’re twice as likely to get in a car accident when you’re cruising on six to seven hours of sleep compared to if you get a full eight hours. Sleep less than five hours and your chances of a crash quadruple! That’s because your reaction time slows down when your brain isn’t fully rested. 

Increase Performance: After several sleep studies with professional athletes, it has been verified that due to lack of sleep, their on-field performances degraded with each hour lost of sleep. They also found that sleep affects all types of exercise performance. Good rest helps with hand-eye coordination, reaction time, and muscle recovery. Plus, depriving yourself of sleep can have a negative impact on strength and power.

Sleep Improves Memory: Even though sleep gives your body the rest it needs, your mind is still hard at work. It’s actually processing and consolidating your memories from the day. If you don’t get enough sleep you can not process those memories. Lack of sleep has been linked to dementia later on in life.