10 ways sleep can improve your life
What sleeping like a log can do for your health and happiness.
At times, there can be nothing worse than waking up feeling knackered and yawning your way through the day.
If you don’t get enough sleep, you may find it hard to concentrate, feel grumpy, have no energy, and tend to reach for sugar or caffeine. There are surprising ways your body says “I’m tired”, like brain fog, skin breakouts and low mood.
Regular, poor-quality sleep can also increase your risk of serious medical conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, mood disorders and obesity.
If you sleep well, you’re more likely to feel mentally and physically refreshed, in a good mood and able to focus on whatever tasks lie in front of you. In a nutshell, sleep is essential for your mental wellbeing.
Regular, good-quality sleep is like a big, fluffy protective blanket that helps keep you healthy and well over the course of your lifetime.
Here are 10 of the top ways sleep can improve your life.
Sleep boosts your immune system
Regular, good-quality sleep strengthens your immune system and reduces your risk of catching a cold, the flu or any other nasty bugs that come your way.
Sleep improves your mood
There’s a clear link between how much sleep you get and your mood. Consistently broken sleep, or prolonged lack of sleep, can make you feel low. People who don’t get enough good quality sleep are more likely to experience anxiety and depression.
Sleep sharpens your focus
If you’re struggling to focus or pay attention, it could be because you’re not getting enough shut eye. Sleep helps you concentrate.
Sleep helps to reduce stress
If you’re feeling stressed out, you may find it hard to sleep, which can make you feel even more stressed out, which becomes a vicious cycle.
Sleep helps regulate your appetite
Good-quality sleep helps regulate your appetite and weight. It also helps control your blood sugar levels.
Sleep releases human growth hormones
When you sleep, your body releases human growth hormone. It helps kids grow and, in adults, it helps maintain healthy body tissue and regulates your metabolism. In other words, sleep makes your body more efficient at converting food to energy.
Sleep is like a spring clean for your brain
When you sleep, your brain is busy at work making new memories, reinforcing things you’ve learnt and making new brain cells. Good-quality sleep helps you to feel mentally sharp and well-prepared for mentally challenging tasks.
Sleep is good for your memory
When you don’t get enough sleep, it’s hard to remember things. That’s because when you get good-quality sleep your brain works hard to process memories and categorise them so you can access them easily when you’re awake. If that process doesn’t occur due to poor sleep, you brain will be foggy and forgetful.
Sleep can enhance creativity
A lot of research has gone into the relationship between creativity and sleep. Dreams can inspire you and you may find you have great ideas as you’re falling asleep or waking up. Sometimes if you “sleep on it” a solution to a problem can reveal itself in the morning
Sleep keeps your heart healthy
Getting a good night’s sleep helps keep your heart healthy. People who don’t get enough good-quality sleep are at a higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease – no matter your age, weight or how active you are.