People think that to be healthy you just have to eat right and exercise. While these two aspects do help of course, you need to make sure you’re getting enough rest too. You need rest days, the odd cheat meal, and plenty of sleep! Here’s how sleep plays a huge part in our overall health:

Keep Your Brain Healthy

As we sleep, our brains prepare for the next day and it creates new pathways to successfully handle certain situations. Sleeping helps the brain to learn and cope with new information, which means we learn and remember more from the day before, and prepare to let more information in the next day. If you want to enhance your problem solving skills, sleep will help you to do that but without enough sleep, you’ll have trouble coping with your emotions. So, not only does sleep keep the brain healthy, it helps with our emotional well being. Whether you’re in the midst of getting a qualification or learning a new language, you must ensure you’re getting enough sleep.

Ward Off Disease and Illness

People who have sleep deficiencies have been linked to a number of illnesses, from heart disease to strokes. Sleep is essential for the growth of children and teens and it can also help people to keep a healthy weight. If you don’t get enough sleep, your blood sugar levels rise and you tend to overeat as you get cravings.

Perform Better in the Day Time

People who can’t get enough sleep don’t cope very well with everyday life. They don’t take in information very well, and they can feel a bit slow. Even if you’re only getting 1-2 hours less per night, after a few days it will be as if you’ve missed days of sleep. People who don’t get enough sleep may even suffer with something called ‘microsleep’. People don’t realise they’re doing it. It happens when you’re driving and you forget part of the journey. It happens when you’re in a class and you forget what the lecturer has said. Lots of people microsleep without even realising it. Even if you are sleeping, it might not be high quality. Your bed and mattress needs to be high quality. Latex mattresses are very comfortable, but it’s down to your personal preference. You’ll need to do some research and check them out in person.

Safety

It goes without saying that a lack of sleep can affect your safety. Driving when you have a sleep deficiency is almost as bad as driving when drunk. Not getting enough sleep isn’t only harmful to yourself, but others too. If you’re an airline pilot and you don’t get enough sleep, you could be putting all of your passengers at risk. It can happen anywhere at any time.

Quick Tips to Get to Sleep Earlier

• Limit the use of electronic devices before bed.
• Don’t have TVs or mobile phones in the bedroom.
• Exercise in the morning, not close to bedtime. This stimulates the body too much.
• Read before bed to wind down.
• Have a hot bath to relax you.
• Use scents like lavender to soothe your mind.

Everybody is different, so you may only need 6 hours sleep while somebody else needs 9. Listen to your body!

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