Do you get enough sleep?
Sleep is an interesting topic. From the outside, it doesn’t appear to be a useful activity – we can’t find food while we are asleep, or find a mate, or protect ourselves – so why has evolution kept this function?
An old school of thought around sleep was that it caused the brain and body to enter a ‘dormant state’. As science has progressed, we have learned a great deal more about the many functions that the brain undergoes during sleep, and the health impacts that follow when we do not get enough.
A healthy amount of sleep (approximately 7-9 hours per night) is essential for brain function. If we are not meeting our daily (or nightly) requirements we:
Reduce our brains ability to adapt to change and/or input (brain plasticity).
Difficulty processing (and retaining) new information.
Limit the removal of waste products from brain cells (which occurs predominantly during sleep) and has been linked to Alzheimer’s disease.
Compromise our immune function, by reducing our T cells and increasing our inflammatory cytokines.
Negatively impact our metabolism, which can lead to over eating and weight gain.
Psychological disorders worsen.
Have a higher risk of cardiovascular/ blood pressure problems.
Cause a hormonal imbalance.
Sleep has a unique function that cannot be substituted for another health activity, for example exercise. While we know that exercise is vital for our health and brain function, we shouldn’t be sacrificing sleep for it.
Tips to help sleep:
Decrease screen time an hour before bed
Try not to sleep with devices in the bedroom
No caffeine 12 hours prior to bedtime
Decrease alcohol consumption before bed (a sedative is not the same as proper sleep)
Wake up and go to bed at the same time
Meditate
Food for thought…
Most of us enjoy a cup, or two, of coffee during the day, however, does the time of the day matter? In short, yes! Coffee has a half-life of 6 hours, and a quarter- life of 12 hours. This means that if we have a coffee at 2pm, the effects of the caffeine will still be present in our system at 8pm and even at 2am!
Try swapping the coffee for decaffeinated coffee or herbal tea. The warmth of the hot drink will still help to give you a little boost by raising your core body temperature and thus energy levels!