The Importance of Sleep

The Importance of Sleep

            As we’ve heard our whole lives, we should always shoot for 6-8 hours of sleep. Now if you break this down, that is about ¼ or ⅓ of your entire life that you’ll be sleeping. Why do we sleep so much? Why are we supposed to get 6-8 hours of sleep every night? What is our body doing while we sleep? All of these are important questions that most people don’t know the answers to.

Our goal is to simply explain these answers below.

What Does Sleep Do for Your Body?

• Sleep helps the brain to process all of the information we take in throughout our waking hours.
  • If we don’t get enough sleep, we are more likely to forget things we learned during the day, and our memory is not as sharp.
• More recent research has found that during the deep sleep stages of Non-Rem Sleep, the brain is able to more easily expel toxins from the brain (1. 2.)
  • This means that if we don’t get enough sleep, and the body is struggling to expel these toxic proteins; they can build up more quickly in the brain and lead to neurogenic disease such as dementia and Alzheimer's
  • This is something that occurs over the course of years, so it is important to have good sleep habits early
• The body repairs and builds muscle and tissue
• Helps to regulate hormones within the body
• Helps regulate metabolism within the body
• Helps regulate circulatory system and blood flow within the body

What happens if I don’t Sleep?

Decreased sleep and rest can contribute to many issues.

• Poor sleep can lower your immunity and cause you to be more susceptible to colds and flu.
• Lack of sleep can also affect your attentiveness and ability to perform daily activities

If you do not get enough sleep, your body is unable to recover and rest properly, increasing your risk of the following: (3. 2022)

• Coronary heart disease
• High blood pressure
• Obesity
• Stroke
• Depression

In terms of metabolism and the way your body processes food and nutrients, the following can occur with poor sleep patterns: (3. 2022)

• Higher levels of the hormones that control hunger, including leptin and ghrelin, inside your body
• Decreased ability to respond to insulin
• Increased consumption of food, especially fatty, sweet, and salty foods
• Decreased physical activity
• Metabolic syndrome

What are the Different Stages of Sleep?

            While you sleep, your brain is actually active. It cycles through different types of sleep. Different types of sleep have different stages within them.

Non-REM Sleep (Non Rapid-Eye Movement):

                        Stage 1: Between wakefulness and sleep

                        Stage 2: Light sleep; heart rate and breathing regulate and begin to slow as your body temp drops

                        Stage 3 & 4: Deep sleep; restful and restorative phases of sleep.

• Also thought to be memory and learning

REM Sleep (Rapid-Eye Movement):

• Eyes move rapidly behind your eyelids and brain waves are very similar to brain waves of someone who is awake.
• This is the dream stage as well

How Does Sleep Connect to Disease Like Dementia or Alzheimers?

• During deep sleep of Non REM Sleep, the brain is able to get rid of neurotoxins that can lead to degeneration of cells in the brain, therefore leading to dementia and Alzheimer's
• Sleep and achieving deep sleep allows the glymphatic system to expel these toxins at a higher rate than they can be expelled during waking hours
• If deep sleep is not achieved, then the toxins are not expelled as fast, resulting in build up (1. 2.)

How Does Sleep Affect Strength:

• Sleep is important for muscle recovery and repair, which leads to muscle growth
  • Poor sleep will limit the body’s ability to create strength and hypertrophy gains, due to the limited ability to recover after workouts
• Research states that limited sleep decreases maximal muscle strength during compound movements (4. 2018)
  • Compound movements can typically consist of daily activities and movements