Elusive sleep- get the facts on what you need and how to get more of it!
Written on July 20, 2009 at 5:28 am
If only it were that easy....
Sleep is seriously under-rated as a powerful health tonic. Well, not so much under-rated but not prioritized (for most of us).
How much sleep do we need?
Yeah, around 8 hours is ideal. Most of us get between 7 and 7.5 hours a night, which technically makes us all a bit sleep deprived. Less than seven hours a night and you start to see some of the negative health effects kick in.
What are the health effects of lack of sleep?
- It takes out your immune system. Sleep deprived people have altered lymphocytes- one of the types of immune cells that helps fight off viruses. Les sleep equals more colds and flu for you!
- It makes you cranky, irritable and snappy.
- After about four days it makes you feel depressed and quick to tears. There’s a strong link between sleep deprivation and depression.
- People who get less than 7 hours sleep a night have around 50% more cancers.
- Sleep sub six hours a night increases your chances of getting high blood pressure and heart disease by between 200 and 300 percent.
- People who don’t sleep do not metabolize sugar properly and have more problems with overweight and obesity. Want to lose weight? Try getting enough zzzs at night!
Do you need eight hours every night?
No. Consider your sleep like a bank account; you can make a few excessive withdrawals as long as you put in some big deposits. So burn the midnight oil for a couple of nights? You can catch up by having a massive 14 hour sleep on Saturday. Just beware that after a few days without the catch up, you will be performing way below par and your decision making might be off.
Why do some people need more sleep than others?
Some experts play the gene card insisting that some families have a genetic ability to throw off the adverse effects of sleep deprivation. People like Winston Churchill and our own PM, Kevin Rudd can thank their parents and other ancestors for that one.
Other experts claim that people who claim to sleep three hours a night are kidding themselves. Napoleon was said to nap frequently to make up for the long nights of strategizing.
How about a power nap?
Yep. Good for the mental faculties and getting you through that important meeting when you need to be on your game to impress a client. Useless against the effects on your heart, immune system and your ability to beat off cancers. Beware too that power napping doesn’t work so well for you that you don’t feel the need to get some real sleep!
How do I get more sleep?
Here are my top 5 tips;
- Make sleep a priority. Schedule it in ruthlessly. You might need to give up hours of Facebook, Twitter, Masterchef and partying to fit it in but them’s the brakes!
- Exercise! Wear out your body in the morning and you’re brain will tire out at night.
- No alcohol or caffeine from 6pm. Both can be stimulants so try cutting them out at night and see how you go.
- Wind down your brain. An hour before bed turn down the lights, switch off the Crackberry, the laptop, the TV and the Xbox to let your brain unwire before put it to bed.
- Take it when you can get it. Catch up sleep is not an indulgent waste of time. If you’re off your head busy during the week, catch up on the weekend!
