Health

Sleep – Lesser-Known Facts, Q & A and Tips 

Sleep. One of the most basic requirements for a good healthy life. Regardless of age, gender, and station a common denominator for all humans, nay, living beings.

So what exactly happens inside the body when we sleep that makes us feel so relaxed?

Well, science is still on the subject. But it seems that the body gets a whole lot of activities done while we are sleeping.

• A lot of maintenance, toxic waste removal happens when we sleep. Research has shown that the brain has a lymph drainage system and this drainage happens in REM sleep. 
• Repair and restoration happen quietly when we sleep.
• There is less requirement of energy and the body slows its metabolic rate.
• The heartbeat slows down when we sleep and for an organ at work throughout the day, this slow down of activity is akin to rest.
• Ghrelin and leptin, the hunger hormones –the former regulating your appetite and the latter your feeling of fullness after eating, are busy all through the day. At night they are minimally secreted. Sleep deprivation can make the hormones go crazy. Ghrelin gets secreted in excess and leptin production decreases.
• When we sleep, cytokines are produced in the body. These fight against infection and inflammation. Overall the antibodies and other substances produced help in keeping the body well protected.

Why is it that, even after sleeping we don’t feel well-rested sometimes?

To understand this, we have to understand the different stages of sleep.

1. You are drifting off to sleep. Your heartbeat, eye movements, brain waves start slowing down. Known as the Non REM stage (Rapid Eye Movement), this could last for 10-15 minutes.
2. In the second stage, you are not in deep sleep yet, but getting there. This is also Non –REM sleep. The brain waves are slowing down even further.
3. In the third stage, the brain waves are at their slowest. All the repair, maintenance, and restoration happen at this stage. You feel well-rested, only if you have spent enough time at this stage.
4. The next stage is REM sleep. Suppose, you were to observe someone sleeping, there would be significant eye movements. EEG and ECG study both point towards increased brain and heart activity in this stage. Dreams and information processing occur in this stage.

As we mentioned earlier, the brain has a lymph drainage system and the draining takes place in REM sleep. But one needs 3-4 cycles of sleep in a night to get full drainage of oxidants and toxins. If this has not happened, we feel tired even after sleeping.

A good night’s sleep means you have spent enough time in all four stages. So you wake up feeling fresh, refreshed, and well-rested.

As a consequence, your immunity, digestion, memory, understanding, mood, appetite, healing are all in good shape. You are feeling healthy and well.

An adult requires 7 hours of sleep whereas children require 10-12 hours of sleep.

How can you ensure that you sleep well?

Suppose your sleep quality or quantity is not sufficient, your health suffers over a period of time.

You become more prone to weight gain, diabetes, blood pressure-related issues, heart-related issues. Your immunity, moods suffer. Overall physically and emotionally, your body suffers.

Ask yourself the following questions and make the necessary changes to sleep well.

1. Am I in tune with the circadian rhythm? Connecting the dots between circadian rhythm, melatonin, and the smartphone.

The circadian rhythm of the body is how the body is naturally tuned to day-night. If you are a late-nighter or someone who works in the night shift or maintains irregular sleep timings your rhythm goes out of whack.

Melatonin, a hormone secreted by the pineal gland is your best buddy with regard to sleep. This not only regulates the circadian rhythm but also helps in regulating immunity, blood pressure, and cortisol level.

The blue light emitted by smartphones and the laptop can disturb your sleep pattern by confusing the brain.

You have a difficult choice to make at night

1. Sleep buddy melatonin b)  Smartphone

Tips:     

• Work at sleeping around the same time every day.
• Spend some time in sunlight. There is research to back that this can help get your sleep cycles back on track.
• Blue light blocking glasses are available. If much of your time is spent on a device, this would be a wise investment.
• lux is an app that helps block blue light from your device.

2. Am I maintaining proper sleep hygiene?

By this, we are referring to how conducive is your bedroom to good sleep. Hasn’t it happened that there are times when we sleep better in the hotel or elsewhere?

Tips:

Ensure your mattress, bedding, pillow are neither too soft nor too hard.

Switch off all your gadgets, dim your lights half an hour before sleep.

Ensure that your room doesn’t feel either too hot or too cold.

3. Do I have a good night-time ritual to aid sleep?

There are people who fall into the bed and are asleep in a matter of minutes. But there are others who take time their own sweet time falling asleep.

In such cases, it is better to practice some activities at night that can aid the process of falling asleep.

Tips :

• Consume a light meal two hours before you go to bed.
• Limit fluid intake an hour before going to bed.
• Rituals like journaling, EFT Tapping, listening to music, deep breathing, massage are helpful.

If you have serious sleep issues do discuss with your Doctor and also try maintaining a sleep journal. This will help you understand if some foods or activities are responsible for your poor sleep. You might also become aware of what was of help.

Happy sleeping!

Would be interested in knowing if you found this article helpful.  Is there anything that you would like to add? Please feel free to add your comments, suggestions.

Written by: sowspeaks

                   Sowrabha Mahesh, Happy member of Digital Writopreneurs Hub

#sleep #writingcontest #digitalwritopreneurshub #rajindersoni #sowspeaks

#sowrabhamahesh #knowledgeispower