The 10 Greatest Health Benefits Of Sleep

1) Enhanced Memory and Learning

You shouldn’t be surprised to learn that getting a good night’s rest is extremely helpful for your mental performance. While you sleep, your body uses the downtime to improve your performance by strengthening your ability to recall and by applying skills you’ve learned throughout the day.

As you rest, the brain continues to work, making connections between the events, feelings and memories that you’ve experienced and stored in your mind that day. This means that those people who get enough sleep are much more likely to benefit from better memory.

There are also several studies which have shown a link between sleep and learning. This is particularly important to school children. Research has suggested that those who receive the recommended amount of sleep each night perform much better in education than those who do not.

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2) Raised & Sustained Energy Levels

As we know, sleep is when the body winds down at the end of the day, to relax and to recover from its exertions. But when you have a rough night, do you ever wake up feeling groggy or fuzzy? The chances are, you’ll feel listless and unable to comprehend carrying out physical tasks that normally come easily to you.

Well, it’s not coincidence. Scientific theories suggest that the function of sleep is to reduce the amount of energy we need and use. This is so that energy can be reserved and used at a time when it is more appropriate; namely during the day. For people who struggle to sleep or don’t get enough, energy continues to be used throughout the night, meaning that their reserves are depleted the following day.

3) Boosted Immunity

Another negative effect of not getting enough sleep is that you are more likely to suffer from illnesses such as a common cold or flu. Sleep deprivation suppresses the function of your immune system.

This means that those people who don’t get the required amount of sleep each night are at much bigger risk of suffering from illnesses and ailments. Those people who do get the required amount of sleep are likely to be much more resistant to such illnesses.

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4) Pain Relief

If you have recently suffered an injury that is causing you pain, it might be hard for you to fall asleep quickly. But it’s important that you do get the required amount of rest, as studies have found a link between sleep and pain levels. It has been concluded that sleep deprivation may be responsible for lowering pain thresholds. Over the counter medication can help you to sleep better if required, to enable you to build up a decent threshold and to feel less pain.

People who suffer from inflammatory pain caused by heart issues or arthritis may also benefit from sleep. Studies have shown that people who sleep less have more inflammatory markers within their blood stream, putting them at more risk of pain and discomfort.

5) Stress Relief

One of the most important benefits of sleep is its effects on your stress levels. Sleep deprivation is closely linked to higher levels of stress. This is because the body enters a state of stress when you do not get enough sleep, which causes an increase in your blood pressure. Along with increased blood pressure, the production of stress hormones within the body is amplified.

This obviously means that you feel more stressed, but can also unfortunately become part of a vicious circle as it can make it difficult to sleep at night. Relaxing for an hour or two before bed by taking a warm bath or reading a book can help to wind the body down, easing stress levels and making sleep come easier.

6) Effective Weight Control

If you’re concerned about your weight or simply like to look after your body and maintain a healthy lifestyle, have you ever considered that your sleep patterns may be hampering your goals?

It has long been established that sleep directly affects a number of hormones in the body, and it is now believed that appetite is also affected. The hormones leptin and ghrelin are responsible for regulating how full and satisfied you feel, and their levels decrease with poor sleep. This means you feel less satisfied, causing you to eat more.

People who are sleep deprived are also more likely to reach for unhealthy foods such as sugary snacks which provide an instant rush of energy. These types of foods can be detrimental to your weight and any fat loss goals.

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7) Natural Mood Regulation

Once more, the relationship between sleep and hormone balance is a factor in another of sleep’s benefits. If you don’t sleep enough, you’ll probably know that you feel irritable, anxious, stressed or angry. You might find yourself becoming annoyed at things that normally wouldn’t phase you.

The reason for this is that the hormones that control your moods are directly connected to your sleep patterns. If you don’t get the required amount of sleep, hormonal imbalance can occur which causes your moods to become irregular and can leave you suffering from mood swings or low mood.

8) Exhilarating Sex Life

Although it’s often seen as a taboo subject, sex can also be negatively affected by lack of sleep. In fact, the sex lives of many couples can suffer because one or both of the partners are too tired to take part.

This can of course have knock on effects if it continues over a long period of time. It can put strain on a relationship and may even lead to a breakdown if neither party has the energy to rediscover that intimacy. On the flipside, a couple who get a good amount of sleep can benefit from a healthy sex life and a happy all round relationship.

9) Exceptional Alertness

If you don’t get enough sleep, you’ll find yourself feeling lethargic and listless the next day. But that also extends to a mental level. When you are tired or fatigued, your alertness suffers and you will find that your judgement is impaired.

This puts you at more risk of making mistakes at work, or suffering needless (and sometimes serious) injuries caused by accidents. Getting a good amount of sleep can ensure that you are at peak mental focus and avoid such incidents.

10) Natural Anti Depressant

Levels of serotonin are affected by your sleep patterns. Serotonin is a vital hormone for mood regulation; so much so that it is often referred to as ‘the happy hormone’. If you don’t get enough sleep, serotonin production can be negatively impacted, meaning that your moods suffer. Over time, this can contribute to depression. To avoid suffering from depression, getting the recommended amount of sleep each evening is a hugely important factor.

As you can see, there are many health benefits associated with a good sleep pattern. In order to reap the benefits offered by sleep, it’s important that you get the recommended seven to nine hours each night, and build sleep into a healthy lifestyle schedule.

Creating a healthy and welcoming sleep environment can help to ensure that you get enough sleep each night to give yourself the best chance of maximizing the relevant benefits for your well being.

The 10 Greatest Health Benefits Of Sleep