Sleep is something which was ignored completely in the
earlier times when people carried rational myths and stereotypes related to it.
Lack of sleep at night has the tendency to make you grumpy the next day that
can mess your mood in the morning too. Sleeplessness can keep you dizzy the
whole day which can possibly fail you from completion of tasks. Sleep
deprivation is mostly due to lack of good night’s sleep that can make you look
cranky the whole time.
Since science has improved a lot these days, people now have
begun to understand the importance of sleep for overall health and well being.
Many believe that at least 6-7 hours of sleep in a day is crucial to get going
with your all your activity flowing. Hence, people who do not practice this
figure are vulnerable to adapt to diseases.
Everybody loves taking a power nap during the day too. But
very few people are aware that such power naps indeed have the power of
rebooting your brain. Apart from increasing your brain’s productivity it keeps
your well being unharmed. Most of the people who are chronically underslept
make it up by drinking tons of coffee but the consumption of caffeine is not the
best idea for this problem.
The following reasons are why sleep and power naps are necessary for your health and how the needful ‘zzzzzs’ powers up your mind and body:-
1. Healthy heart
A night of good sleep is very much essential for a healthy heart because sleeping helps your blood vessels and heart to take rest. This happens due to the blood pressure going down while you’re in sleep. Your blood vessels need a break in the 24-hour cycle so the less you sleep, the longer your blood vessels wake up. Lack of sleep is proportional to worsening of blood pressure and cholesterol which are major symptoms of heart stroke. A healthy heart needs expanded sleep of 7 to 9 hours each night.
2.
Sharpens
Brain’s memory
It is observed that less downtime of sleep results in trouble of recalling details. Sleep plays a very vital role in the process of memory consolidation. This is because sleep gives rest to the body while the brain is engaged channelling your day making memories through sensory inputs. It helps in both learning and improving memory so that when you wake up the next day, you’re adherent with the needful details. Sleep helps your brain catching up with what is approaching next.
3.
Prevents
Cancer
Working in the late-night shift makes you more prone to developing breast and colon cancer. This is because of a lot of electric light consumption by some parts of the body reduces the production of Melatonin levels which are the hormones produced to regulate the sleep-wake cycle and protecting cancer. These hormones suppress tumour growth. Also, it is very important to put off all the light, keep your bedroom dark while you give the body a rest to produce melatonin in an accurate amount to kill tumour cells softly.
4.
Mood
booster
Your brain is habitual of processing both your memory
as well as emotions. When you sleep, your mind takes some quality time to
interpret, recognize, store and react to the emotions in the correct way.
Sleeping late or cutting short on your sleeping cycle one tends to express
things more negatively. This is also an alternate reason for mood disorders
which is why people who are insomniac develop depression, anxiety and panic
attacks sooner. The refreshing power nap helps you push the reboot button on a
bad day and look at things in a more optimistic way.
5.
Keeps you
active
An energizing sleep keeps you alert and agile the next day. Being active helps you prepare for another good night’s sleep. People who are more engaged in work feel better throughout the day with the feeling of rejuvenation when they do active things going out in the daylight. Sleep increases the energy level every day and a will power to achieve better things the next day.
6.
Makes you
fit to exercise
Those who exercise and play sport need to give more patience to their bodies with sleep. Sleep is something that is very crucial to give your body a rest from all the physical endurance throughout the day. It helps in repairing muscles; binding tissues and preparing your body for the next day go through. Sleep also allows more mental space in your brain to inculcate the idea of being ready for more sets of push-ups and lunges.
7.
Reduces
stress
Sleep-deprived brain cultivates a room for stress inside it. High alertness generates in the body leading to high blood pressure which is definitely not good news. The state of stress occurs when stress hormones make it harder for the person to sleep. It is also true that the people who get external stress need more brain relaxation to prevent stress borne problems.
8.
Steadies
Blood Sugar
Deep and calm sleep drops the level of glucose in the blood. This means that sleep denial turns up the volume of blood sugar level giving your body a harder time to respond to the cells’ needs. Lesser you sleep, more the glucose level in the body which might lead to developing the type 2 diabetes.
9.
Helps in losing weight
Well, resting people are less hungry which is why napping either during the day or night helps in prevention of obesity. Lack of sleep induces the hormonal balance affecting the appetite. The hormones ghrelin and leptin function to control appetite, resisting the temptation of eating unhealthy food. The more time you stay in bed, the lesser you sit on the table to eat junk. This equation is helpful for overweight people in preventing the urge to eat more.
10. Body repairing and germ-fighting
Relaxation time is the time your body takes to repair
itself from the damage caused by stress, UV rays and other harmful elements.
Protein production while sleeping helps in building blocks of cells which
repairs the damage. This also wards off illness because the immune system
destroys the harmful bacteria and viruses with mass production of antibodies
when we sleep. Due to this reason, sick people are suggested to sleep more for recovery.
Sleeping
more than 9 hours too can harm your body more since people who sleep more
accumulate more calcium in their flexible arteries which is another reason of
laziness. Sleeping for around 7-8 hours peaks your health benefits with better
results in psychological behaviour.