When was the last time that you can honestly say you had a good nights sleep? You know, the kind of sleep where you wake up feeling so refreshed, you could take on just about anything. It’s been a while hasn’t it? So if I were to ask you when the last time was you had several of these nights in a row you would probably look at me like I was speaking Chinese! I’m on holidays at the moment, and have been sleeping up a storm. It feels great, I’ve got energy, my skin has improved, I’ve been able to focus & concentrate on study & I just feel outright AMAZING!
We have such busy lifestyles, and sleep takes up so much time – any wonder why we scrimp on sleep just to get everything done. Guaranteed, if we could, we would eradicate sleep altogether, after all, we would then have time to work, study, exercise, socialize & just about anything else we wanted! Feeling as great as I feel now, I thought it was important to look into what sleep is, why we NEED it & how important it is to get a good nights sleep.
What is sleep?
Sleep is defined as a state of reduced motor activity & lower response to sensory stimulation. Sleep is essential for the normal functioning of all systems in the body & has direct effect on our mental and physical health. Lack of, or poor sleep can affect our ability to fight and endure sickness, cause irritability, poor concentration, impair memory and decreases hand-eye co-ordination.
Many of us consider sleep as a passive state (where nothing happens), however brain activity actually continues during sleep. Our cells produce and release proteins essential for growth and tissue repair during sleep. Sleep helps us maintain optimal emotional and social functioning while awake by giving a rest during sleep to the parts of the brain that control emotions and social interactions.
Brain activity plays an important part in sleep. Neurotransmitters control whether we are awake or asleep by acting on nerve cells in different parts of the brain. The neurons located in the brain stem cause sleep by inhibiting other parts of the brain that keep a person awake.
Circadian Rhythms
Biological variations that occur in the course of 24 hours are called circadian rhythms. Circadian rhythms are controlled by the body's biological clock. Many bodily functions follow the biological clock, but sleep and wakefulness consist of the most important circadian rhythm, with our hypothalamus controlling our sleep/wakefulness rhythm.
Light directly affect the sleep/wakefulness rhythm. This is why it is more normal for us to be awake during daylight and asleep at night. Light is called a zeitgeber (a German word meaning time-giver) as it sets the biological clock.
The hypothalamus also controls body temperature. Body temperature increases during the day and decrease at night. Prolactin, testosterone and growth hormone have a maximal secretion at night.
Circadian rhythms can be affected by external influences like alarm clocks, meals, travel/crossing of time zones and shift work. It usually takes several days for the body to adjust. Not to mention our busy lifestyles. It’s so easy to work all day, go to the gym, come home, eat dinner – then you look at the time it’s already 9.30pm & you still have to prepair your meals for tomorrow, have a shower etc. Before you know it, it’s midnight and you’re only just thinking about getting to bed!
6 Reasons why sleep is important!
Learning and memory: Sleep helps the brain commit new information to memory through a process called memory consolidation. In studies, people who’d slept after learning a task did better on tests later.
Metabolism and weight: Chronic sleep deprivation may cause weight gain by affecting the way our bodies process and store carbohydrates, and by altering levels of hormones that affect our appetite.
Safety: Sleep debt contributes to a greater tendency to fall asleep during the daytime. These lapses may lead to a lack of concentration - not good when you are driving or operating machinery!
Mood: Sleep loss may result in irritability, impatience, inability to concentrate, and moodiness. Too little sleep can also leave you too tired to do the things you like to do.
Cardiovascular health: Serious sleep disorders have been linked to hypertension, increased stress hormone levels, and irregular heartbeat.
Disease: Sleep deprivation alters immune function, including the activity of the body’s killer cells. Keeping up with sleep may also help fight cancer.
Magnesium & Sleep
If you are still having trouble with sleep, add some magnesium to your diet. Our bodies use magnesium in more than 300 metabolic reactions. Magnesium helps maintain normal muscle and nerve function, steadies heart rhythms, and supports our immune systems. Additionally magnesium regulates blood sugar levels, blood pressure, and enhances metabolism.
Magnesium is considered the "anti-stress" mineral and is a natural sedative. Magnesium supplements improve sleep by decreasing the release of cortisol, a known cause of sleep disruption. Stress depletes magnesium and magnesium relieves stress. When your magnesium levels are low, your nervous system gets out of balance, and you feel on edge, naturally resulting in tightening muscles.
Although we expect sleep to relax us, when magnesium levels are low, it may not. When we sleep, muscle groups move and stretch, in preparation for the next day’s activity. However, magnesium works with the calcium in our bodies to help our muscles first contract and then relax again. Muscles contract with the help of stored calcium. Magnesium is the mineral that helps them relax. Without enough magnesium, muscles are unable to relax fully after contraction and nighttime muscle cramps develop, causing another sleep disruption.
The high levels of magnesium found in Cacao, make cacao a great choice for magnesium supplementation. Cacao also contains phytonutrients including aminos, protein, omega-3, calcium, zinc, sulphur, copper, potassium, beta-carotene, chromium as well as Penylethylamine (PEA). PEA is a chemical associated with love and optimism. When we feel good our PEA levels increase. When we ingest PEA rich foods such as cacao our mood also is likely to become elevated, combine this with a good nights sleep – and you will feel on top of the world! (I like to make a Hot Chocolate before bed - check out the recipe here!)
It’s great to exercise & eat well, but you aren’t doing yourself any favours by overlooking the importance of a good nights sleep! In the long run it will catch up with you. After experiencing how amazing I feel at the moment, allowing myself to sleep – I won’t be letting myself forget this feeling in a hurry & I urge you to do the same!
SWEET DREAMS!
Do you have your own website or blog? Check out the Tonic Superfoods Affiliate Program. By spreading the word about Tonic Superfoods on your site, you are not only helping people in their health journey, but you can make money!
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment