Have you ever wondered why you need to sleep?

Adequate sleep

Apr 19, 2012 8:42 AM

Sleep is as crucial for optimal health just as exercise and nutrition are. Quality of sleep can have an impact on your mental alertness, emotional state and your energy levels.

Sleep is an anabolic state, the mind and the body’s opportunity to grow, repair and rebuild. To do this important optimal health task, we need to temporarily pull back from the outside world and activity.

Health benefits of adequate sleep

Healthy Heart Function: In a 2010 study, those who slept fewer than 6 hours per night had higher levels of an inflammatory marker called C reactive protein, which has been linked to heart disease.

• Protection against cancers: Researchers have found that women who work night shift have higher levels of breast cancer.
• Weight Management: A good nights sleep reduces the hormone grehlin which tells you to eat and increases leptin which reduces appetite. A University of Chicago study found that adequate sleep had no effect on their groups total weight loss but the well rested group lost 56% of their weight as body fat and the sleep deprived lost more muscle mass.
• Enhanced mental and physical performance.
  
  During sleep our brains electrical activity slows. We go from daydream alpha waves, to theta, right down to slow delta waves which take us to the deepest and most restorative stages of sleep. Have you ever seen your cat or dogs eyes moving rapidly and twitching in their sleep? 20 – 25% of our sleep time is spent in REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep. During this time vivid dreaming occurs which is considered to have psychological health benefits.
  
  We all operate on a circadian cycles (circadian = biological cycles recurring at approximately 24 hour intervals). This internal ‘clock’ is built in but can be adjusted by environmental factors. The most important of these environmental factors is daylight. Our master internal clock is located in a group of cells in the hypothalamus in the brain. When light hits the eye, these cells send a message to another gland in the brain called the pineal gland. This shuts down production of our sleep hormone, melatonin. When light levels are low, melatonin production is increased and we become drowsy.
  
  This natural cycle can become interrupted if you are under stress or depressed, have irregular sleep patterns, do shift work or travel to different time zones.
  
  Tips for optimal sleep
• Have the same sleep time every night – preferably after 9pm when Melatonin production starts and before midnight.
• B group vitamins, Calcium and Magnesium and Tryptophan from protein are important nutrients to help with healthy sleep. Some foods have small amounts of melatonin including bananas, cherries, grapes, rice, olive oil, wine and beer.
• 30 minutes before bedtime sit in a semi darkened room – no lights, screens etc and listen to some relaxing music or do a relaxation exercise.
• Remove unnecessary artificial light from your bedroom including alarm clock lights and computer and TV screens and keep your room cool.
• Avoid stimulants including tea and coffee from mid afternoon. Caffeine blocks the action of adenosine, which contributes to sleepiness. Avoid vigorous exercise later in the day.

• If you have trouble getting to sleep, are under stress or have a racing mind try this exercise:

1. Lie on your back in bed. Breathe deeply into your abdomen so that your belly button rises and falls as you inhale and exhale. Do this for 2-3 minutes then:
2. Inhale, and as you exhale, in your mind repeat the word ‘relax’ and relax every muscle in your feet
3. Inhale again and as you exhale repeat the word ‘relax’ and relax every muscle in your calves
4. Continue this exercise relaxing every body part until you reach your head or until you are asleep.
5. Repeat this exercise every night before sleep or if you wake up during the night. It will help your body to switch from ‘fight or flight’ mode to a ‘rest and digest’ state. This exercise is adapted from a book by Herbert Benson called ‘The Relaxation Response'.

References

Sleep and Circadium Rhythm Disorders http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/guide/circadium-rhythm-disorders-cause. 2010 December, I(3):e62

University of Chicago Medical Centre (2010, October 4). Sleep loss limits fat loss. ScienceDaily. Retrieved April 11, 2012 from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/10/101004211637.htm

Benson Herbert. The Relaxation Response. Harper Collins. 1975. ISBN 978 -0688029555
Monsees GM, Kraft P, Hankinson SE, Hunter DJ, Schernhammer ES. Circadium genes and breast cancer susceptibility in rotating shift workers. Int J Cancer. 2012 Apr 2.

Mazzotti DR; Guindalini C; Pellegrino R; Barrueco KF; Santos-Silva R; Bittencourt LRA; Tufik S Effects of the adenosine deaminase polymorphism and caffeine intake on sleep parameters in a large population sample. SLEEP 2011;34(3):399-402.

Schiza SE, Mermigkis C, Panagiotis P, Bouloukaki I, Kallergis E, Tzanakis N, Tzortazki E, Vlachaki E, Siafakas WM. c - reactive protein evolution in obstructive sleep apnoea patients under CPAP therapy. Eur J Clin Invest 2010 Nov;40(11): 968-75

Sharad Taheri, Ling Lin, Diane Austin, Terry Young, Emmanuel Mignot. Short sleep duration is associated with reduced Leptin, elevated Grehlin, and increased body mass index. PLoS Med. 2004 December, I(3):e62