According to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, most adults need at least seven hours of good-quality sleep every night for good health and overall well-being. Unfortunately, many people have no qualms sacrificing precious hours of sleep when they’re having fun or trying to beat deadlines. They regard sleep as a luxury, thinking that what they can gain from limiting their hours of shut-eye is more important than the cost of insufficient sleep.

Perhaps you are one of those who easily give up sleep because you’re busy with so many things. If so, you may want to think twice. Take note that poor quality sleep and not sleeping long enough, especially over a long period, can impact your physical, mental, and psychological health more than you realize.

On the contrary, getting enough high-quality sleep offers numerous benefits that could help you live a better and more productive life. Indeed, it’s a good idea to start investing in high-quality womens sleepwear and adopting other healthy sleep habits. From reducing stress and improving memory to boosting immunity and minimizing the risk of developing severe medical conditions, here are several reasons why getting a good night’s sleep can be beneficial to your health:

Sleep Improves Learning and Memory

Getting adequate sleep is essential when learning something new and strengthening the memories you’ve formed in your waking hours. One sleep study funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) found that getting a good night’s rest before learning is beneficial for preparing the brain to absorb new information and form memories. When studying or learning a new skill, getting a full night of sleep within 24 hours after is also vital for retaining new information.

When you get insufficient sleep, you are unknowingly reducing your learning ability by as much as 40 percent. It’s worth noting that lack of sleep significantly affects the hippocampus, which is the part of the brain that plays a crucial role in learning and memory.

Sleep Can Alleviate Stress

When you get enough high-quality sleep every night, your mind and body are well-rested, giving you more energy and increased mental clarity. That means you are in a better position to tackle any stressful situations you may encounter during the day.

In contrast, inadequate sleep causes your body to go on heightened alert. As a result, your blood pressure increases, your body releases more stress hormones, and the vicious cycle of stress and lack of sleep begins. Simply put: stress leads to insufficient sleep, and the loss of sleep leads to more stress.

Sleep Can Support Your Body’s Immune System

You know full well that when your body gets enough rest, your immune system has more strength to fight off infections and other diseases. That is why you hardly ever suffer from colds and flu when you sleep adequately. A recent study published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine further reinforced the positive benefits of sound sleep in improving immunity.

The findings of the said study indicate that sleep can boost the function of immune cells known as T cells, especially when it comes to activating integrins. Integrins are a sticky type of protein, and they play a crucial role in a successful immune response. Researchers found that, compared to the T cells of those who stayed awake throughout the night, the T cells of people who slept soundly showed higher levels of integrin activation.

Sleep Can Reduce the Risk of Diabetes

Diabetes is a disease that affects the body’s ability to properly process sugar (glucose) from food, resulting in the accumulation of extra sugar in the bloodstream. Left untreated, it can lead to harmful consequences, including damage to major organs and tissues.

In the U.S., diabetes is known to affect over 30 million Americans. If you want to lessen your chances of developing this medical condition, getting sufficient and good-quality sleep every night can help significantly.

Multiple studies have shown how decreased sleep duration or quality may increase the risk of having or developing diabetes. For instance, a 2006 study published in JAMA Internal Medicine found that sleep loss is linked to increased diabetes risk. Improving length and quality of sleep has also been found to improve blood sugar control and mitigate the effects of type 2 diabetes.

Sleep Makes You More Resistant to the Common Cold

The common cold is the leading cause of school and work absences across the country. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), adults experience an average of two to three colds annually. Although there is no known cure for this viral infection, you can practice healthy habits to make you less susceptible to colds, like getting enough hours of sleep.

This is further supported by a recent study led by a professor from Carnegie Mellon University. According to their findings, people who averaged less than seven hours of sleep every night were three times more likely to develop cold symptoms when exposed to the cold virus. Meanwhile, individuals who sleep for eight hours or more were less likely to experience the same. Moreover, those who got sufficient and good quality sleep were also least likely to suffer from the common cold.

Sleep Can Keep You from Gaining Weight

You may not realize it, but a good night’s sleep is a significant factor in preventing weight gain. People who get less than six hours of sleep every night are more likely to have excess body weight compared to those who get around eight hours of sleep.

As you may know, lack of sleep causes numerous changes in the body, including an increase in ghrelin and a decrease in leptin levels. Ghrelin is the hormone that triggers feelings of hunger, while leptin is responsible for making you feel full. Essentially, you have increased appetite and reduced feelings of fullness when you fail to get enough sleep. That means you will most likely engage in excessive eating to satisfy your hunger.

Sleep Is Good for the Heart

Heart disease is the number one cause of death in the country. CDC statistics show that one person dies every 36 seconds because of it.

If you want to keep your heart healthy, you cannot afford to keep sleeping less than the required hours each night. In fact, a 2008 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed that even reducing your sleep to six hours per night can be dangerous. The short sleep duration increases the risk of coronary artery calcification, which is a predictor of future heart attacks and deaths caused by heart ailments.

Sleep Improves Your Mood

Perhaps your own experience is enough for you to appreciate the role of good sleep in improving your mood. Think about the last time you spent a night tossing and turning in bed. Perhaps you were more irritable, anxious, or even stressed.

Now compare that experience to the times when you were able to get adequate and satisfying sleep. Odds are, you felt more relaxed and happy. After all, it is relatively easy to deal with life’s minor nuisances and challenges if your mind and body are well-rested and you have sufficient energy.

Sleep Heals Your Body

While it may seem like your body is doing nothing as you sleep, it’s actually hard at work attending to physiological issues during this period. For one, your brain releases hormones that support tissue growth to mend blood vessels. This process helps to address sore and damaged muscles and heal wounds. A good night’s sleep also triggers the production of more white blood cells to combat pathogens that can deter healing. Good quality sleep also gives your body a much-needed break so that it can relax and recover.

The benefits discussed above are just some of the ways sleep contributes to good health. With all of this information in mind, one thing is clear: sleep is essential to a healthy body and happy life. Hopefully, reading this article was enough to convince you to improve the duration and quality of your sleep.

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