Who needs sleep?

                                                      

“Now I see the secret of making the best person: it is to grow in the open air and to eat and sleep with the earth.” Walt Whitman 

In prior blogs we spoke about different topics, goal setting, gut health/immune health, and super foods.  This is beginning to cover some interesting and important topics having to do with health and fitness; one we need to go over is key in recovery which is the lynchpin to success. This leads us to the question of the hour, who needs sleep?  We all need sleep approximately 8-9 hours a night, how many of you are screaming what????  Is he mad, or  delusional, is he in the 21st century? I know we are all short on time as it is not enough time for the most necessary of tasks, which means sleep takes a back seat.  I am not delusional but you may be if you do not get enough rest; to avoid that lets take a look at the importance of sleep.

Sleep is not a time when your brain and body are shut off. While you rest, your brain stays busy, overseeing a wide variety of biological maintenance that keeps your body running in top condition; preparing you for the day ahead . Without enough hours of restorative sleep, you won’t be able to work, learn, create, and communicate at a level even close to your true potential. If you regularly skimp on “service”,  you may be headed for a major mental and physical breakdown.  There is a big difference between the amount of sleep you can get by and the amount you need to function optimally . If your logging enough hours of sleep you will feel energetic and alert all day long; from when you wake up, until your regular bedtime.  In order to see if you are getting enough sleep is to keep a sleep log . Lets review the effects of the lack of sleep. Lack of sleep affects your judgement, coordination, and reaction times. Sleep deprivation can affect you as much as being drunk . The other effects include: Irritability, cognitive impairment, memory lapses or loss, impaired moral judgement, severe yawning, hallucinations, symptoms similar to ADHD, impaired immune system, risk of diabetes type 2, increased heart rate variability, risk of heart disease, decreased reaction time and accuracy, tremors, aches, growth suppression, risk of obesity, decreased temperature and an inability to cope with stress. 

 You are not alone, some 70 million people in the United States have a sleep problem. About 40 million adults suffer from a chronic sleep disorder; an additional 20 - 30 million have intermittent sleep-related problems. The effects of sleep loss on work performance may be costing U.S. employers some $18 billion in lost productivity. American adults average 6.9 hours of sleep a night and three quarter of american adults said they frequently experience at least one symptom of a sleep problem in the past year. One-quarter of America’s adults, 47 million people, don’t get the minimum amount of sleep they say they need to be alert the next day.While the majority of America’s adults do not use anything to help them sleep, for those who do use a sleep aid, alcohol appears to be the popular choice; 11 percent of adults said they used alcohol, beer or wine at least a few nights a month, 9 percent used over-the counter sleep aids, 7 percent said they used prescription medications. 

 Let’s take a look and breakdown sleep. There are two types: Non-REM (NREM) sleep consists of four stages of sleep, each deeper than the last. REM or rapid eye movement sleep is when you do the most active dreaming. Your eyes move back and forth during this stage, which is why it is called Rapid Eye Movement sleep. The stages of sleep begins with the transition to sleep, which lasts about five minutes; your eyes move slowly under the eyelids, muscle activity slows down, and you are easily awakened.  Light sleep, which is true sleep, lasts between 10 to 25 minutes. Your eye movement stops, heart rate slows, and body temperature decreases . During the stage of deep sleep, it is difficult to be awakened and if you are woken up you do not adjust immediately and often feel groggy and disoriented for a few minutes. In this deepest stage of sleep, your brain waves are extremely slow. Blood flow is directed away from your brain and towards your muscles; restoring physical energy. REM sleep occurs about 70-90 minutes after falling asleep. You enter REM sleep, where dreaming occurs. Your eyes move rapidly, your breathing shallows, and your heart rate and blood pressure increase. Also during this stage your arm and leg muscles are paralyzed. The body will cycle through approximately 6 times per night , the time spent in each stage is important for recovery .The most damaging effects of sleep deprivation are from inadequate deep sleep. Deep sleep is a time when the body repairs itself and builds up energy for the day ahead. It plays a major role in maintaining your health, stimulating growth and development, repairing muscles and tissues, and boosting your immune system. In order to wake up energized and refreshed, getting quality deep sleep is essential. 

Now for some solutions that may help you in the quest for a full night's sleep . Sleep tip number one, keep a regular schedule, set a regular bedtime and regular waking time. Nap to make up for lost time, be smart about napping. If you find yourself getting sleepy way before your bedtime, get off the couch and do something mildly stimulating to avoid falling asleep, such as washing the dishes, calling a friend, or getting clothes ready for the next day. If you give in to the drowsiness, you may wake up later in the night and have trouble getting back to sleep. A couple of other tips: remove your sunglasses in the morning and let light onto your face, spend more time outside during daylight. Let as much light into your home/workspace as possible, if necessary, use a light therapy box . Approximately an hour before bed turn off your television and computer, don’t read from a backlit device at night, avoid bright light bulbs in the bedroom, when its time to sleep keep the room dark, use a flashlight to go to the bathroom at night. Also during the day avoid caffeine,  avoid alcohol before bed as well.

So who needs sleep ? We all need sleep, and more than we have been getting. Proper rest is a key component of  optimal performance. This should be part of a comprehensive program of nutrition, rest and training.  One of the reasons as to why I wrote this blog was to help others who may have difficulty sleeping. I too would like to find a solution for my insomnia.  Hopefully this will help you .