4 Reasons You Should Go to Bed Early Tonight
By Sara Butler
The importance of sleep is truly beginning to be understood, especially in the way it impacts health and wellness. When people don’t get enough sleep each night, they are at a higher risk of developing chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure. If you’re looking for a few more reasons to get a little more shut-eye, here are four reasons you can start with tonight!
It Reduces Stress
Getting enough sleep each night helps your body to deal with stress more effectively. That means it can self-regulate hormones and functions better, such as blood pressure and appetite, when you’ve had enough sleep. It’s been well documented that lack of sleep translates to higher levels of stress hormones in the body, too. Stress hormones that drive up your blood pressure and make you susceptible to stroke and heart attack. Sure, you can practice meditation and exercise to help control stress, but adequate sleep needs to be a part of the plan too.
It Reduces Inflammation
The increased stress hormones triggered by a deficiency of sleep also drive up the levels of inflammation inside of your body. This creates a higher risk for heart-related health conditions, as well as a higher risk for cancer and diabetes. Researchers are beginning to understand the role that inflammation plays in the body and may be behind chronic disease. So, do what you can to mitigate inflammation -- get some sleep!
It Improves Memory
Sleeping and dreaming play an important role in a process called memory consolidation. When you sleep at night, your body rests, but your mind keeps going as it processes the day, creating connections between feelings, memories, sensory input, and events. During deep sleep, these memories and links are made, which is why you need to sleep in order to remember.
It Helps Your Body
During sleep, your body takes the time to fully unwind and relax from the day’s events. It uses the time to restore, rejuvenate, and repair the damage caused by things you’ve encountered over the course of the day. Your cells repair and you wake up feeling refreshed.
Sleep is so important to your overall health and wellness, so strive to get more of it. Start tonight with a hot bath, a good book, a little meditation, and then some deep, rejuvenating sleep!
To learn more about your health, wellness, and fitness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic in Greenwood Village, Colo.