The Secrets of Sleep and Health

Humans are blessed with diverse skills and abilities; while some of us can juggle and run lightning fast, others can tie words into beautiful stories or sing elegant harmonies. But there is one thing that all humans have in common: the need for sleep. Like gravity, sleep is a fundamental element to life on Earth. No human being can survive without sleep. While the entire concept of sleep still has an element of mystery to it, scientists understand sleep better than ever before, especially in relation to its impact on human health.

Sleep is the Key to Youthfulness

Consistently good sleep is connected to a number of metabolic processes that all generate youth-related benefits. Not only does sleep promote lipolysis, which helps the body lose fat, but it also increases muscle mass through the creation of new muscle cells and increases protein synthesis to maintain optimal operations of all internal organs. When all of these processes can occur, the body will look and feel younger and healthier over time.

Sleep to Improve Your Mood

We all know that many sleepless nights will never improve mood, but do you realize just how much your lack of sleep is harming your attitude and mental wellness? Without quality sleep, you are less able to constructively handle stressful events and will even end up with “negative affective reactivity,” a habit that creates constant negativity to life events. If that wasn’t bad enough, poor sleep reduces the amount of serotonin your brain can produce, and altered serotonin activity is linked to aggressive, angry behavior, clinical depression, fibromyalgia, and anxiety disorders.

Sleep to Ward off Illness

Since sleep is your body’s chance to repair itself from the day, poor sleep will likely lead to a weak immune system. Studies show that the body’s glucose tolerance suffers significantly during periods of long-term sleep loss, meaning that chronic sleep loss can contribute to the onset of diabetes. The immune system itself also can’t perform its job effectively without quality sleep every night, which means you’re more prone to cancer with irregular sleep.

There’s no denying it; sleep is one of the most critical elements of continued health.