In a fast-paced connected world, it can be hard to switch off and get a restful night’s sleep. Sleep is often neglected in the modern world to achieve more time in the day. You may think you sleep for long enough, but I want you to ask yourself one question. Do you think you have good quality sleep?
The quality of sleep matters just as much as the quantity of sleep. The National Institute of Health (NIH) concluded that sleep quality is a more important indicator for psychological and overall health than sleep quantity (Kohyama, 2021).
Poor sleep was found to be associated with psychological conditions such as major depressive order, bipolar disorder and generalised anxiety disorder (Kohyama, 2021).
This blog is going to highlight the importance of sleep and why it should be your number one priority going forward, rather than just telling you to get 7 or more hours per night. Sleep is highly important for both physical and mental health. Sleep is an essential foundation that influences energy levels, brain function and your mood. Ensuring you have a good night’s rest can improve your overall quality of life. So set your target to be based of the number of sleep cycles achieved rather than the hours.
Why does sleep matter?
Restoration and Repair
- Your body can detoxify, rebalance and replenish hormones, repair any damage cells and tissues, process nutrients and repair (Weinberg, 2023)
- The growth hormone, which is released during sleep is key to the restorative process, which helps to reduce the risk of injury.
- Sleep also helps with immune function; without good quality sleep you jeopardise the body’s ability to recover meaning you can be more susceptible to illness.
Boosting Energy and Endurance
- Sleep helps to replenish glycogen stores, repair damaged muscles and reduce any inflammation in the body.
- All of the above can allow you have better endurance, strength and recovery.
- Increased sleep duration and improved sleep quality in athletes can be associated with improved performance (Wastson, 2017).
Regulate Appetite and Metabolism
- Inadequate sleep can increase levels of ghrelin (which is the hunger hormone) and reduce leptin (which is the hormone that indicates satiety) (Spiegel et al., 2009).
- Thus, leading to potential overeating, having poor quality sleep can be associated with an increased risk of diabetes (Spiegel et al., 2009).
Different Types of sleep
- Stage 1 and Stage 2 – Light sleep
- This is the stage where you more into sleep. Your body will relax and thus your heart rate and respiratory rate will slow.
- Your body temperature will drop, and your muscles will relax further. Your brain waves also slow down and eye movements will cease.
- Stage 3 – Deep sleep
- Deep sleep is where physical repair occurs as the body works to heal itself. This is also where memory consolidation occurs.
- REM Sleep – Rapid Eye Movement
- REM is where most of your dream happens, its has a role in cognitive function, mood regulation and memory retention.
Methods of tracking sleep
Tracking your sleep using technology can be really helpful for understanding your quality of sleep and how much time you are spending in each of the different types and stages of sleep. These devices also have feature that track your heart rate, temperature and oxygen levels whilst you sleep, which can detect any potential health conditions.
- Fitness and smart watches e.g. Garmin and Apple Watch’s https://www.garmin.com/en-GB/
- Fitness and smart rings e.g. Oura Rings https://ouraring.com/?srsltid=AfmBOoqN69s8ekw9fVdpvqsw6FhhAUIw2rgYzYjpdhX4UVsrKg8_Kr
Top Tips for Improving Sleep
Establish a Sleep Schedule
- Try and go to sleep and wake up at the same time each day even on the weekends. Consistency reinforced your body’s natural sleep-wake cycle.
Create a Relaxing Bedtime Routine
- Do calming habits before bed such as reading, meditation or mindfulness. This helps signal to your brain to wind down.
Limit Screen Time for an Hour Before Bed
- Your phone, laptop and tablets all emit blue light which can interfere with your body’s production of melatonin, the hormone that regulates sleep.
Be Mindful of Caffeine and Alcohol
- Caffeine can disrupt your sleep patterns if consumed later in the day. Post lunchtime switched to decaffeinated alternatives with coffee and tea can help to reduce its disruptiveness. Similarly, alcohol can reduce your sleep quality and disrupt the later stages of sleep.
- It is also beneficial to wait between 30-60 minutes after waking up. This because of cortisol, the body’s natural “wake-up” hormone, is at its highest shortly after you wake up. Cortisol helps you feel awake and alert, so drinking coffee right after waking may interfere with your body’s natural wake-up process and diminish the effectiveness of caffeine.
Have a comfortable Mattress
- Mattresses help with spinal alignment and support, pressure relief and temperature regulation. Mattresses have a life span of up to 10 years. These days there are many different types of mattresses such as memory foam and innerspring, ensure you evaluate and test all the different options available.
Conclusion
Overall, quality of sleep is more important than quantity of sleep. Having a good quality night’s sleep will help your recovery from physical activity, help to boost your energy and endurance as well as help to regulate your hunger. Tracking your sleep using a piece of technology can be helpful for determining your quality of sleep. It is also important you create an environment that will help to give you a good high quality nights sleep.
References:
- Kohyama, J., 2021. Which is more important for health: sleep quantity or sleep quality?. Children, 8(7), p.542.
- Spiegel, K., Tasali, E., Leproult, R. and Van Cauter, E., 2009. Effects of poor and short sleep on glucose metabolism and obesity risk. Nature Reviews Endocrinology, 5(5), pp.253-261.
- Watson, A.M., 2017. Sleep and athletic performance. Current sports medicine reports, 16(6), pp.413-418.
- Weinberg, J.L., 2023. The science of sleep: Functional medicine for restorative sleep. Science
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