Everyone loves a good sleep, whether it’s sleeping for a solid 12 hours or a simple half hour nap in the afternoon, we’ve all been there. But why do we sleep? Do we understand just how much our sleep really affects us?
Sleep serves many purposes and having proper sleep provides us with many benefits. While we are sleeping our body is in what’s called a parasympathetic state. This is when your body is in a relaxed mode in which all background and automatic processes are priority. This state is also referred to as your rest and digest state. During this state your body will focus it’s energy on digesting your food, restoring lost or damaged tissues, filtering blood and fluids to balance your body’s chemistry and restore function. While most of these processes also occur while you are awake, they are most efficient and effective while you are asleep – due to your body not focusing on anything else such as work, exercise, or other day to day activities. One process in particular is the clearing of a by-product called adenosine. Scientists believe that the buildup of adenosine throughout the day is what causes the feeling of being tired and while we sleep the body clears this substance and we are able to feel more alert the next day.
Research shows that the major restorative processes like muscle growth, tissue repair, protein synthesis and growth hormone release occur mostly, or only, during sleep. We’ve all heard that adequate rest is just as important as training when it comes to building muscle and maintaining performance. This is due to these restorative processes mainly occurring while we sleep. Top level athletes like LeBron James or Roger Federer get roughly 12 hours of sleep every night, as their performance levels are so high they require much more time to recover.
Another function of sleep is the buildup of memory and storage of information in the brain. When we take in information it is not instantly stored in our memory. While we sleep, our brain processes information from the day and creates connections with other areas of the brain to store important information so that it is ready to access when needed and discards things that are less important to us - this is called neural-plasticity. With this in mind, good sleep is also vital for people who are studying, or undergoing intensive learning, so that the brain has a chance to store what is required for later recall.
It is especially important to consider how much sleep our children are getting too. As they are growing up they are constantly taking in information about the world around them and their bodies are also growing and developing at a rapid rate. Given that all the developmental processes are most effective in sleep, ensure your child is getting the right amount of sleep to allow for healthy cognitive as well as physical function.
If we are not getting enough sleep, all these aforementioned functions and processes are not carried out the way they should be and will limit the way our body performs day to day. We all know that we feel great after a good night’s sleep and following poor sleep we feel sluggish, unfocused and unmotivated.
Now we have a decent understanding of why we sleep and how important it is for our health and well-being, but how do we get the most out of our sleeping hours?
As with a lot of human habits, you will get better results if sleep is a routine task. Going to bed at the same time each night and getting up at the same time in the morning will help your body preempt the time for rest and recovery, meaning it will be in the appropriate state to carry out its functions when the time comes. Having a pre-bed routine will also help the body to get into a more sleep-ready state. More sleep is not always what you need. We know that oversleeping can be just as draining as under sleeping. Aim for a consistent 7-8 hours of sleep for adults and 8-10 hours for children and teenagers. You may find it tough at first, but if you can stick to this for 1-2 weeks you will find it much easier to fall asleep at night as well as get up in the morning.
Keep screen time to a minimum in the evening and avoid using your devices at least an hour before you go to bed. The light exposure from screens has a huge effect on how our brains work and prepare for sleep.
Avoid staying up late. Hours of sleep before midnight have been shown to be of greater quality than hours after. Also try to rise with the sun or soon after. Before the introduction of artificial lighting all we had to tell us when and when not to sleep was the rise and fall of the sun – our bodies are designed to work in these cycles.
Make sure your bed is comfortable. Your bed covers should leave you enough room to stretch and turn comfortably without becoming tangled. If you often wake up with a sore back or an aching neck, you may need to experiment with different levels of mattress firmness, foam toppers and pillows that provide more or less support.
Reserve your bed for sleeping and sex. By not working, watching TV, or using your computer in bed, your brain will associate the bedroom with just sleep and sex and make it easier to wind down at night.
And as always keep well-adjusted by your chiropractor to keep your body functioning its best. This will help all these processes that go on during sleep to perform as efficiently as possible and leave you feeling more energetic and refreshed.
References
Frank MG. 2006. The mystery of sleep function: current perspectives and future directions. Reviews in the Neurosciences. 17:375-392.
A. Green et al. Evening light exposure to computer screens disrupts human sleep, biological rhythms, and attention abilities. Chronobiology International. Vol. 34, May 26, 2017, p. 855. doi: 10.1080/07420528.2017.1324878.
Porkka-Heiskanen T. 1999. Adenosine in sleep and wakefulness. Annals of Medicine. 31:125-129.