How Does Sleep Affect Your Health?

 

Are you feeling sick and tired? There is a good reason why the two go hand in hand. Your body needs sleep to heal itself. The key to health and longevity is quality sleep, but exactly how does sleep affect health? If you currently struggle with obtaining quality sleep, you may be wondering if there are methods to improve sleep. One of the spermidine benefits is an improvement in sleep patterns.

How Does Sleep Affect Your Overall Health?

It is well known that a good night’s sleep is important to help us perform our daily routine, but exactly how does sleep affect your body? The benefits of sleep affect your health and quality of life in many ways. Adequate rest plays an essential role in your physical and mental health. Your brain requires healthy sleep to function correctly. Studies have shown how sleep affects learning in children, and the same goes for adults as well.

A lack of shut-eye can interfere with your ability to drive, work, learn, focus, and react. It can cause you to be irritable and unable to have regular social interactions. Sleep deficiency also leads to feelings of frustration, stress, and anxiety.

How Does Sleep Affect Your Mental Health?

How does sleep affect us in our mental health? You may face a variety of psychiatric disorders without it, including depression. Mental health physicians have long believed that poor sleep is a symptom of a mental illness, but now many think it could be the root cause of numerous disorders. 

If you suffer from anxiety, depression, or other mood disorders, you should improve your sleep hygiene. A healthy nighttime routine may ease your symptoms over time. Increased feelings of anger and irritability may also diminish with an improved bedtime routine. 

How Does Sleep Affect Your Physical Health?

The quality and hours of sleep you get also affects your physical health. Research has shown that adults who get less than seven hours of sleep each night are more likely to suffer from chronic illness. Possible health problems that can occur due to lack of sleep, are as follows:

  • High blood pressure

Your blood pressure goes down while sleeping. Having trouble getting normal sleep causes your blood pressure to be higher for extended periods of time. A leading cause of heart disease and stroke is high blood pressure.

  • Type 2 diabetes

Getting proper rest helps people with blood sugar control. A build-up of sugar in your blood is called diabetes, and it damages blood vessels. A healthy diet and good sleep can help prevent this disease. 

  • Obesity

Unhealthy weight gain is one of the many effects of poor sleep. Studies suggest that not getting enough rest affects the part of our brain that controls hunger. This means the more tired you are, the more hungry you may feel. 

What Are the Side Effects From Lack of Sleep?

Not getting enough rest can affect not only your life day-to-day, but also has serious long-term effects. Lack of sleep side effects include:

  • Higher chance of car accident
  • Impaired memory
  • Lack of alertness
  • Decreased immunity
  • Lower sex drive
  • Premature aging 
  • Decreased fertility
  • Weight gain

How Does Lack of Sleep Affect the Brain?

Studies have proven that lack of sleep affects brain function in a variety of ways. When we are over-tired, we begin acting irrationally and have heightened emotional responses. Babies are not the only ones that feel cranky when they are tired; adults do as well. 

Alzheimer’s disease may also be a result of poor sleep over a period of time. While we are in a deep sleep, our brains cleanse waste products that increase the risk of Alzheimer’s. Even with one night of insufficient sleep, plaques build up on the brain and have adverse health effects. 

Is Sleeping Too Late Bad for Your Health?

Believe it or not, sleeping too late affects health in a negative way. The key to a restful night isn’t just the quantity of sleep, it’s the quality of sleep as well. Circadian rhythms are affected by sunlight and darkness. Our bodies are programmed to know that rest should occur at night and productivity should start in the morning. 

Studies on sleep schedules have proven that those who wake early tend to have a healthier lifestyle than those who sleep late. Morning people were more likely to eat a healthy diet and exercise regularly. Healthy sleep is just one component of a long and healthy life. 

Why Is Sleep Important for Your Health?

The importance of sleep can’t be stressed enough as it affects overall health and well-being in several ways. You need quality sleep for your immune system to function at its best. When you are sleep-deprived, your body struggles to fight off infection.

The cause of mental and physical ailments is often lack of sleep. Sleep enables the body to repair itself when the brain consolidates information to store memories. Studies have also shown that quality sleep promotes a healthy weight. 

What Happens to Your Body When You Don’t Get Enough Sleep?

We all feel lousy when we don’t get a good night’s rest. You may find yourself feeling scatterbrained or unable to focus the next day. When your sleep is poor over long periods, the results are deadly. Chronic sleep deprivation symptoms include:

  • Frequent illness due to the body’s inability to fight off germs
  • Increased risk of breast, colorectal, and prostate cancers
  • Fine lines, wrinkles, and loose skin

Supplements Can Help

After reading this article the question does sleep affect health should be replaced with how can I improve my sleep. By getting 7 to 8 hours of every night of sleep, you can improve your health and increase longevity. There are a lot of ways you can improve your quality and quantity of sleep, such as:

  • Maintain a schedule by going to bed and waking up at the same time every day.
  • Avoid eating 3-4 hours before bed.
  • Limit caffeine to the morning only, or cut it out completely.
  • Reduce your sugar intake.
  • Exercise earlier on in the day, not before bed.
  • Read a book in bed instead of watching TV or scrolling on your phone.
  • Keep your room dark to increase melatonin.
  • Use a fan or sound machine to block out noises.
  • Meditate or practice deep breathing.
  • Try supplements.

Recent studies have shown spermidine, a naturally occurring molecule, beneficial in regulating and improving functions of the circadian rhythm. Spermidine helps your body induce a process known as autophagy, through which your body recycles damaged cells and cellular parts, providing energy to renew these damaged cells. Spermidine and sleep go hand in hand. Spermidine can help regulate your sleep patterns and provide your more restful and restorative sleep.

  • Don Moxley - Director of Applied Science

    Don Moxley is the Director of Applied Science at Longevity Labs. Moxley draws upon his career as an athlete, a sports scientist, and an instructor to lead and educate on the science of autophagy and longevity.