With social media pushing the newest diet trends or the best 10-minute workouts, we tend to forget one of the most important keystones of our health, sleep! Holding sleep to the same standard as we do our diets and workouts should be a requirement! Improving one of these 3 health pillars can positively influence the other two so if you’re having difficulty making a lasting change in diet/exercise, maybe start with sleep instead.
The average adult should be aiming for around 7-7.5 hours which was agreed upon by the AASM (American Academy of Sleep Medicine) and Sleep Research Society. Getting consistent, quality sleep will allow the body to benefit from the following:
Positive Attitude
- Ever notice that waking up tired makes you a bit irritable? Sleeping right can turn that frown upside down and allow you to react to stressors throughout your day with a better disposition. It also improves your memory, and cognitive abilities!
Muscle/Injury Recovery
- Muscles are repaired during our deep sleep stages as different hormones are released that help with the process. Research suggests that athletes need even more sleep and those with good sleep habits tend to perform better.
Keeps us Healthy
- Sleep helps regulate our bodies’ physiological processes. This means that with good sleep habits we can reduce the chance of health conditions like hyper-tension and type 2 diabetes.
Sleep yourself in to a healthy lifestyle and let us know how it goes! Stay tuned for the next post on how to prime your body on a nightly basis for the best sleep you can get!
References:
The Extraordinary Importance of Sleep
The Detrimental Effects of Inadequate Sleep on Health and Public Safety Drive an Explosion of Sleep Research
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6281147/
Sleep, Recovery, and Performance: The New Frontier in High-Performance Athletics
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0733861907001351?via%3Dihub
Sleep deprivation and stressors: evidence for elevated negative affect in response to mild stressors when sleep deprived
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22309720/
Sleep Duration and Hypertension: Analysis of > 700,000 Adults by Age and Sex
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5991947/
Sleep influences on obesity, insulin resistance, and risk of type 2 diabetes
