Nikki’s Natural Adventures

Many of us want to sleep as little as possible. There is so much to do that sleep seems like a waste of time. Yet sleep, an essential time of rest and rejuvenation, benefits our minds and bodies in many ways. When you continuously don’t get the amount of sleep you need, you begin to pay for it in daytime drowsiness, trouble concentrating, irritability, increased risk of falls and accidents, and lower productivity.

Sleep has distinctive stages that cycle throughout the night. Your brain stays active throughout sleep, but different things happen during each stage. For instance, certain stages of sleep are to help us feel well rested and energetic the next day, and other stages help us learn or make memories.

A number of vital tasks carried out during sleep help maintain good health and enable people to function at their best. Sleep helps to organize memories, solidify learning, and improve concentration. Proper sleep, especially sleep where you are actively dreaming (REM sleep), regulates mood as well.

Most adults need 7-8 hours of sleep each night. There is no evidence to show that older people can get by with less sleep than younger people. As people age, however, they often get less sleep or they tend to spend less time in the deep, restful stages of sleep. Older people are also more easily awakened.

Not only does the quantity of your sleep matter, but the quality of your sleep is important as well. People whose sleep is interrupted a lot or is cut short might not get enough of certain stages of sleep. In other words, how well rested you are and how well you function the next day depend on your total sleep time and how much of the various stages of sleep you get each night.

Sleep is also important for good health.

Lack of sleep can make you irritable and cranky, affecting your emotions, social interaction, and decision making. Sleep deprivation also affects motor skills, enough to be similar to driving while drunk if seriously sleep deprived.

How sleepy you are depends largely on how well you’ve been sleeping and how much sleep you’ve been getting. Another key factor is your internal “biological clock”-a tiny bundle of cells in your brain that responds to light signals through your eyes and promotes wakefulness. Because of the timing of the biological clock and other bodily processes, you naturally feel drowsy between midnight and 7 a.m. and again in the midafternoon between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m.

How do our bodies know when it is time to sleep? We all have an internal circadian clock that provides cues for when it is time to sleep and time to wake. This clock is sensitive to light and time of day, which is why having a good bedtime routine and a quiet dark place to sleep is so important. At the same time, a chemical messenger called adenosine builds up during the day as our bodies are busy using energy. The more adenosine builds up in the brain, the sleepier you will feel. Adenosine combined with the circadian clock sends a powerful message of sleepiness to your body.

Here are a few ways that sleep improves the quality (and even the quantity!) of your life:

• It helps to repair your body Your body produces extra protein molecules while you’re sleeping, and these help to mend your body at a cellular level. The damage from all kinds of things, such as stress, pollutants, infection, sun exposure and so on, is repaired while you’re happily in the land of nod. During sleep, your body produces valuable hormones. Deep sleep triggers more release of growth hormone, which fuels growth in children, and helps build muscle mass and repair cells and tissues in children and adults. Another type of hormone that increases during sleep works to fight various infections. This might explain why a good night’s sleep helps keep you from getting sick-and helps you recover when you do get sick, so sleep is essential to the immune system. Without adequate sleep, the immune system becomes weak, and the body becomes more vulnerable to infection and disease.

• Nervous system Sleep is also a time of rest and repair to neurons. Neurons are the freeways of the nervous system that carry out both voluntary commands, like moving your arm, and involuntary commands, like breathing and digestive process

• Helps maintain a healthy heart Studies show that not getting enough sleep or getting poor quality sleep on a regular basis increases the risk of having high blood pressure, heart disease and other medical conditions. Your heart and cardiovascular system is constantly under pressure, and one of the benefits of sleep is that it helps to reduce the levels of stress and inflammation in your body. High levels of ‘inflammatory markers’ are linked to heart attacks, heart disease and strokes. Sleep can also help keep blood pressure and cholesterol levels (which play a role in heart disease) lower.

• Reduces stress A good night’s sleep can lower blood pressure and the elevated levels of stress hormones which are a natural result of today’s fast paced lifestyle. Too much stress causes excess ‘wear and tear’ on your body, and increases the aging and degeneration of organs, cells and other body parts. By reducing high levels of stress, sleep helps to reverse these effects and encourages a state of relaxation.

• Sleep also affects mood Insufficient sleep can make you irritable and is linked to poor behavior and trouble with relationships, especially among children and teens. People who chronically lack sleep are also more likely to become depressed.

• Improves your memory That ‘foggy’ feeling that you struggle with when deprived of sleep makes it difficult to concentrate. This often leads to not being able to ‘commit to memory’ facts, faces, lessons or even conversations! Sleeping well eliminates these difficulties because as you sleep, your brain is busy organizing and correlating memories. One of the great benefits of sleep is that it allows your brain to better process new experiences and knowledge, increasing your understanding and retention. So, next time you hear someone say “why don’t you sleep on it”, take their advice!

• Performance We need sleep to think clearly, react quickly, and create memories. In fact, the pathways in the brain that help us learn and remember are very active when we sleep. Studies show that people who are taught mentally challenging tasks do better after a good night’s sleep. Other research suggests that sleep is needed for creative problem solving. Skimping on sleep has a price. Cutting back by even 1 hour can make it tough to focus the next day and can slow your response time. Studies also find that when you lack sleep, you are more likely to make bad decisions and take more risks. This can result in lower performance on the job or in school and a greater risk for a car crash.

• Can help control your body weight One of the lesser known benefits of sleep is that it helps regulate the hormones that affect and control your appetite. Studies have shown that when your body is deprived of sleep, the normal hormone balances are interrupted and your appetite increases. Unfortunately this increase in appetite doesn’t lead to a craving for fruits and veggies. Instead your body longs for food high in calories, fats and carbohydrates! So, if you’re trying to lose those stubborn few pounds that just keep hanging around, make sure that getting enough sleep becomes a priority. Hormones released during sleep also affect how the body uses energy. Studies find that the less people sleep, the more likely they are to be overweight or obese, to develop diabetes, and to prefer eating foods that are high in calories and carbohydrates.

1. The link between sleep deprivation and weight gain seems to be firmly linked to our hormone levels. Loss of sleep increases your body’s production of the hormone Ghrelin (which stimulates hunger), and decreases the levels of the hormone Leptin (which under normal circumstances, ‘tells’ your brain when your body doesn’t require any more food!). The results of this imbalance make you feel hungry all the time and encourages over-eating, while simultaneously slowing down the rate at which your body burns up the calories you’re consuming.
2. Getting too little sleep can also lead to behavioral changes that result in a tendency to gain weight. For example, people who are chronically tired may suffer from depression, this often leads to ‘comfort eating’. The types of foods that provide this sort of solace (and may be the object of your cravings) are often high-fat, high-sugar ‘fast’ or ‘junk’ foods. Being tired all the time can also mean that you’re too tired to exercise regularly, if at all.
3. Getting more sleep can help to decrease (or at least stabilize at normal levels) your body’s production of Ghrelin, the hormone which stimulates appetite – so you could almost think of a good night’s sleep as a natural appetite supressant! It also helps to maintain optimum levels of Leptin, so that you don’t feel hungry before your body actually NEEDS to eat.
4. If you have you ever experienced a sleepless night followed by a day when no matter what you ate you never felt full or satisfied, then you have experienced the workings of leptin and ghrelin.
5. Leptin and ghrelin work in a kind of “checks and balances” system to control feelings of hunger and fullness. Ghrelin, which is produced in the gastrointestinal tract, stimulates appetite, while leptin, produced in fat cells, sends a signal to the brain when you are full. So what’s the connection to sleep? When you don’t get enough sleep, it drives leptin levels down, which means you don’t feel as satisfied after you eat. Lack of sleep also causes ghrelin levels to rise, which means your appetite is stimulated, so you want more food. The two combined can set the stage for overeating, which in turn may lead to weight gain.
6. Logging in a few extra hours of sleep a week is not a bad idea, particularly if you get six hours of sleep or less a night. You may just discover that you aren’t as hungry, or that you have lessened your craving for sugary, calorie-dense foods. Once a person is not as tired, they don’t need to rely on sweet foods and high carbohydrate snacks to keep them awake — and that automatically translates into eating fewer calories.

Sleep deprivation and how it affects your life

How do you know if you’re getting the sleep you need? Sleep deprivation occurs when you are not sleeping the right amount for your individual needs. Sometimes sleep deprivation is short term, like a college student pulling an all nighter. Chronic sleep deprivation often occurs in professions who work long hours, caregivers with multiple responsibilities, a concurrent sleep disorder or another disease that interferes with sleep. If you are falling asleep as soon as your head hits the pillow, regularly need an alarm clock to wake up, or feel the need for frequent naps during the day, it is very likely you are sleep deprived.

Other signs you may be suffering from sleep deprivation include::

• difficulty waking up in the morning
• poor performance in school, on the job, or in sports
• increased clumsiness
• difficulty making decisions
• falling asleep during work or class
• feeling especially moody or irritated

Sleep deprivation can be dangerous not only to you but others, since it affects motor skills like driving. Chronic sleep deprivation is also thought to cause long term changes to the body, which contribute to increased risk for obesity, diabetes and heart disease.

Stick to a sleep schedule. Go to bed and wake up at the same time each day-even on the weekends.

Exercise is great but not too late in the day. Avoid exercising closer than 5 or 6 hours before bedtime.

Avoid caffeine and nicotine. The stimulating effects of caffeine in coffee, colas, teas, and chocolate can take as long as 8 hours to wear off fully. Nicotine is also a stimulant.

Avoid large meals and beverages late at night. A large meal can cause indigestion that interferes with sleep. Drinking too many fluids at night can cause you to awaken frequently to urinate.

Don’t take naps after 3 p.m. Naps can boost your brain power, but late afternoon naps can make it harder to fall asleep at night. Also keep naps to under an hour.

Relax before bed. Take time to unwind. A relaxing activity, such as reading or listening to music, should be part of your bedtime ritual.

Take a hot bath before bed. The drop in body temperature after the bath may help you feel sleepy, and the bath can help relax you.

Have a good sleeping environment. Get rid of anything that might distract you from sleep, such as noises, bright lights, an uncomfortable bed, or a TV or computer in the bedroom. Also, keeping the temperature in your bedroom on the cool side can help you sleep better.

Have the right sunlight exposure. Daylight is key to regulating daily sleep patterns. Try to get outside in natural sunlight for at least 30 minutes each day.

Paying off your sleep debt

Your body can’t just bounce back from not sleeping enough. Sleep deprivation adds up to what is called a sleep debt. A sleep debt can range from one night’s very poor sleep to the accumulation of many days of not enough sleep. Although you won’t be getting letters from creditors if you ignore this sleep debt, not paying it off leads to decreased mental and physical health.

Paying off your sleep debt and getting your body back to normal may seem difficult or impossible with work and family responsibilities. However, making up for lost sleep and improving future sleep habits will increase your productivity and health in the long run.

Short term sleep debt

For a short term sleep debt, like a night or two of little sleep, you may just need a day or two of increased sleep to make it up. However, try not to make it a habit. Making up sleep on the weekends so you can sleep less during the week, for example, can disrupt overall sleep quality. Your sleep will be better if you go to bed and wake up at roughly the same time each day.

Long term sleep debt

If you have been chronically sleep deprived, you might need a longer time to make up your sleep debt. You may even need to take a sleep vacation, where you devote a few days to sleeping as long as needed. Although it may seem excessive at first, soon your body will revert to your optimum sleep needs