FITNESS: Sleep for a Healthy Life

FITNESS: Sleep for a Healthy Life

Vikram Menon

Last few weeks I have written about the various areas you could look to improve in order to live a healthy life. This week I am going to emphasis on how a good night's sleep is incredibly important for health. In fact, it is just as important as eating healthy and exercising. Unfortunately, the Western environment is interfering with natural sleep patterns. People are now sleeping less than they did in the past, and sleep quality has decreased as well.

Here are a few reasons why good sleep is important.

Poor sleep is strongly linked to weight gain. People with short sleep duration tend to weigh significantly more than those who get adequate sleep. In fact, short sleep duration is one of the strongest risk factors for obesity. In one massive review study, children and adults with short sleep duration were 89% and 55% more likely to become obese, respectively. The effect of sleep on weight gain is believed to be mediated by numerous factors, including hormones and motivation to exercise. If you are trying to lose weight, getting quality sleep is absolutely crucial.

Studies show that sleep deprived individuals have a bigger appetite and tend to eat more calories.Sleep deprivation disrupts the daily fluctuations in appetite hormones and is believed to cause poor appetite regulation.This includes higher levels of ghrelin, the hormone that stimulates appetite, and reduced levels of leptin, the hormone that suppresses appetite.

Sleep is important for various aspects of brain function. This includes cognition, concentration, productivity and performance. All of these are negatively affected by sleep deprivation. A study on medical interns provides a good example. Interns on a "traditional schedule" made 36% more serious medical errors than interns on a schedule that allowed more sleep. Another study found short sleep can negatively impact some aspects of brain function to a similar degree as alcohol intoxication. Good sleep, on the other hand, has been shown to improve problem solving skills and enhance memory performance of both children and adults .

Sleep has been shown to enhance athletic performance. In a study on basketball players, longer sleep was shown to significantly improve speed, accuracy, reaction times, and mental wellbeing. Less sleep duration has also been associated with poor exercise performance and functional limitation in elderly women. A study of over 2,800 women found that poor sleep was linked to slower walking, lower grip strength, and greater difficulty performing independent activities.

So I conclude by saying - please find a minimum of 7 hours or good sleep every day to help boost your overall health.

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