Thursday, March 11, 2010
Sleep
Tell me why is getting a good night sleep so important. Experts say it is for the body to rejuvenate. I totally agree. Getting a good night sleep is sometimes impossible. Is it that the bed is too soft, too hard? Is it the your mind won't stop when it is time to sleep. Or is it that we get too much sleep and when we wake up we just are not tired enough to fall back a sleep. Definitely aging has taken a toll. Having to wake up two or three times because the bladder can't make it all night long? When you are younger (20's) the body doesn't seem to need a lot of sleep. But in your 40's the body is tired but can't sleep when you need to. Any thoughts on this crazy thing called sleep?
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Why a good night sleep is important.
ReplyDeleteWhen you’re tired, it is so much harder to make healthy choices. I’m not sure if this is more about psychology or physiology or a combination of both. However, I know I have experienced it firsthand. When I get a good night’s sleep, sticking to my regular exercise and healthy eating routine is a cinch. But when I’m sleep deprived, I somehow think that chocolate and sugar will make me feel better. The truth is, it never does! It actually makes me feel worse. Much worse, because the blood sugar highs and lows makes me more tired and cranky than before I ate the sweets.
Now for some science. Researchers from several separate studies have found a link between sleep and the hormones that influence our eating behavior. Two specific hormones are involved. Ghrelin is responsible for feelings of hunger. Leptin tells the brain when it’s time to stop. When you’re sleep deprived, your ghrelin levels increase at the same time that your leptin levels decrease. The result is an increased craving for food and not feeling full.
Your body adjusts itself based on your circadian rhythms and the amount of sunlight outside. Without getting too deep into the science, these rhythms and light tell your body to physically recover approximately between the hours of 10pm-2am and to mentally recover approximately between 2am-6am. If you aren’t getting to bed until 12am, you are missing out on 2 crucial hours of physical repair. This can result in all sorts of aches and pains that do not get better, no matter what you try. I know my RA is better since I stopped working night shifts...
and to actually get to bed...
No evening sugar
No afternoon caffeine
Put work away at least 2 hours before bedtime
Turn off the TV 1 hour before bedtime (read a novel, maybe not a scary one...)