HERE’S TO A LONG & HEALTHY LIFE…
The 3 main requisites to health & longevity are exercise, diet & sleep. Diet & exercise are beyond our expertise, but we can help with the sleep category. A good night’s sleep can help with:
The Stress Cycle
With not enough sleep, your body boosts its stress hormone levels. The brain chemicals connected with deep (REM) sleep are the same ones that tell the body to stop producing stress hormones. When you don’t sleep well, your body keeps producing those hormones. The next day, you feel more stressed. The following night you find it harder to fall asleep, and so on.
Cellular Repair
While in deep sleep, your body produces extra protein molecules that can strengthen your ability to fight infection. It also carries out the cellular repairs necessary to maintain good health. Getting more restful sleep encourages a state of relaxation that can also help reduce blood pressure.
Happy Lifestyle
Lack of sleep can make us more agitated and more apt to snap at our loved ones. The better you sleep, the better your ability to remain calm and upbeat. This can be especially important while driving. We all know the term “road rage” and how poor or aggressive drivers on the road can annoy us. Sometimes it can even escalate our own anger. Perhaps if more people just got a few extra ZZZs at night, many of these road rage incidents could been avoided altogether.
Maintain a Healthy Weight
Unfortunately, sleep won’t directly make you lose weight, but it can help you keep it under control by regulating the hormones that affect your appetite and reducing your cravings for high calorie foods.
Improve Memory
Your mind is surprisingly busy while you sleep. During sleep you can strengthen memories or "practice" skills learned while you were awake. In other words, if you’re trying to learn something new, whether it’s Spanish or a new tennis swing, you’ll perform better after sleeping.
Curb Inflammation
Inflammation is linked to heart disease, stroke, diabetes, arthritis, and premature aging. Research indicates that people who get less sleep - six or fewer hours a night - have higher blood levels of inflammatory proteins than those who get more sleep.