Just how important is sleep?

Sleep really is the biggest rock when it comes to health and wellness, but just how important is sleep to your well-being?

Sleep facts you need to know

• Sleep inspires problem solving.  You are 3 x more likely to be able to solve a problem after a good nights kip.  You have heard the saying “sleep on the problem” ? well its true!
• Human beings are the ONLY species who deprive ourselves of sleep.
• Studies across millions of people show the less sleep you have the shorter your life
• After being awake for 21 hours you are as cognitively as impaired as someone who is legally drunk
• There are 2 stages of sleep; REM which is your dream sleep and Deep state sleep
• Hard science shows that deep sleep is critical for clearing toxins out of your brain
• Rem sleep is crucial for good emotional and mental health
• Deep sleep is the best blood pressure medicine you can get
• Deep sleep regulates insulin and blood glucose levels
• Sleep is essential for the reproductive system
• Lack of sleep will cause you to eat more the next day and crave high sugar and refined carbs
• Sleep is essential for the immune system one night of 4 hours sleep will drop natural killer cells (cancer killing cells by 70%

Tips for getting a better nights sleep

1. You should aim for 8 hours sleep per night – if you lose track of time at night and end up binge watching box sets you could set an alarm for bedtime too. 
2. An essential sleep hormone called melatonin loves darkness, it is often called the vampire hormone so try dimming your lights in your house.  Keep your room in darkness, use black out blinds or a sleep mask.
3. No screen time an hour before bed – looking at your IPAD and phone screens before bed seriously reduces your melatonin levels. 
4. No caffeine after 12pm.  Caffeine has a ½ life of 6 hours and a ¼ life of 12 hours so this means that if you have a cup of coffee at midday it is like drinking a ¼ cup of coffee at midnight and expecting a good restful nights sleep….
5. Alcohol will not help you sleep – it causes a disturbed sleep so you don’t wake feeling restored.  It also blocks your rem sleep which is so important.
6. Temperature is important for a great nights sleep so make sure that your bedroom isn’t too hot or too cold.  Optimum temp is 18 degrees.  Your body temperature needs to drop by about 2 degrees for good sleep.  This is why having a hot bath before bed works so well, its not just the relaxation but the way that your body cools down when you get out.

Sleep is one of the Core Subjects that I work on with my Empower Your Menopause Clients.

Credit; the above sleep facts were from Sleep Expert Dr Matthew Walker’s research.