What do these major health issues have in common?
They all
can come from a lack of sleep.
While talking about sleep may sound boring – enough to put
you to sleep - getting enough of it is crucial to good health.
When someone tells me, “All I need is 4-5 hours and I’m good”
I’m not impressed. In fact it annoys me, because they think I should be
impressed with how late they stay up and still do a day’s work.
I don’t think they’re cool; I think they’re acting stupid,
maybe because of a lack of sleep.
Here’s what happens when you don’t get enough sleep:
Lose Your Sex Drive – I thought this first one would get
your attention fast.
Sleep specialists report that those who aren’t getting the
recommended hours of restful sleep a night say they have a lower libido and men
show a drop in testosterone. So before reaching for some testosterone building
pills, maybe you could use more hours snoozing in bed.
Health Problems Start or Get Worse – Not enough sleep
increases your chances for heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke and
diabetes.
Researchers found that those who reported less than the recommended
hours of sleep had more of these health problems.
The body repairs itself and
regenerates while sleeping. Plus, when we don’t get enough rest and we force our
bodies to function anyway, we put undo stress upon it. This can lead to poor
eating habits, lack of proper exercise, etc., which all can lead to poor
health.
You Get Stupid – Lack of sleep really makes you dumb. I don’t
say that to be mean, it’s true.
Sleep plays a critical role in thinking,
learning and retaining what you learn. You can’t concentrate, problem solve or
reason effectively without sleep. Also, since sleep allows time for our brains
to categorize our thoughts and experiences, if you don’t get enough sleep you
won’t be able to remember what you learned or experienced.
You Have Accidents – Sleepy drivers on the road are a leading
cause of automobile accidents.
When you are sleep deprived your reactions to an
emergency situation unfolding in split seconds on the highway are about as slow
as a person who is drunk.
Lack of sleep is also responsible for many job
related accidents. Many workers when being honest admitted they screwed up or
got hurt because they just were so tired and weren’t thinking clearly.
You Get Fat – When you don’t sleep enough you tend to
overeat and not exercise. We touched on this above, but research backs it up.
Studies
show that when you lack getting the recommended amount of sleep you are 30% more likely to
become obese.
Think about it, don’t you reach for the junk food when you’re
tired and cranky?
You Look Older – Getting your “beauty sleep” isn’t just a
saying, it’s true.
If you don’t get enough sleep your skin, especially on your
face tells the world.
Lack of sleep is stressful to the body producing the
stress hormone cortisol. Cortisol breaks down collagen and collagen helps give
skin its elasticity.
Your slumped over, dragging body that’s exhausted also
makes you look older.
Depression Creeps In – When you constantly short change
yourself on sleep you can get depressed. If you are already battling
depression, a lack of sleep can make it much worse. Taking care of yourself is
important to beating stress and making sure you are getting enough sleep will
help your mood tremendously.
So don’t try and impress me with your attitude of I don’t
need sleep, because I’m not buying it.
It also makes me very upset when I see children not getting
enough sleep on a regular basis.
Children’s brains and bodies are growing so
fast, their sleep is so very important to their development.
Instilling good
sleeping habits is very important and crucial to children’s health.
So how much sleep is enough?
For the average adult it is 8-9 hours. That’s sleep hours,
not laying in bed hours.
For older adults or those who have serious health issues it
is closer to the 10 hour mark. Think about it…if your body is fighting a major
health issue it needs more nutrients and more restorative sleep to fight that
battle every day.
For children it depends upon their age:
1-4 Weeks Old: 15 - 16 hours per day
1-4 Months Old: 14 - 15 hours per day
4-12 Months Old: 14 - 15 hours per day
1-3 Years Old: 12 - 14 hours per day
Naps play an important role in getting these hours all in. Unfortunately around three years old children tend to not want to nap because they're afraid they might miss something!
That is why early bed times are very important. Instilling these habits now will make it much easier on them as they get older and attend school.
3-6 Years Old: 10 - 12 hours per day
7-12 Years Old: 10 - 11 hours per day – this is the age
where I see many children not getting enough. Make sure they have an early
enough bed time based on when they have to get up for school that gives them 10
hours of sleep. Stand firm even when they whine!
12-18 Years Old: 8 - 9 hours per day – though we all know
teenagers will sleep much more than that if they can.
Let them sleep as they
may need it.
Many teens go through major growth periods at this time and
will require much more sleep than normal. Just don’t confuse laziness with needing
more sleep. If they are sleeping all day because they are staying up late
texting friends, then it’s time to set some limits.
Instilling good sleeping habits now will serve them well and
help keep them healthy in the future.
Many people may be saying right now, “Well that sounds good,
but I suffer with insomnia. That’s why I’m not getting enough sleep”.
Insomnia affects many people and there are just as many
causes. They can range from stress, poor diet, lack of exercise, medications
taken to chemical imbalances in the brain.
I urge you to seek out methods to help with insomnia
starting with natural methods first.
While medications can help some with short
term insomnia, they are not meant to be used long term and I have never met
anyone who said it continued to work for them past a certain point.
What was
causing the insomnia in the first place just continued and the medications
eventually stopped working or worse, they couldn’t get any sleep without them,
but the side effects made life unbearable – causing a terrible spiral downwards
in their health.
It's important to get to the root of the problem - find out why you are not sleeping before choosing to medicate.
We have worked with individuals and have helped them find
more natural ways to get more sleep. For most people it was just a matter of
making some lifestyle changes that weren’t too hard.
If you are interested in learning natural ways on how to get
a better night’s sleep review the articles below and contact us for a free personal consultation. We may be able to help
you find what works for you.
Supplements that help promote restful sleep are:
Passion flower, chamomile & valerian – found in Gentle
Sleep Complex
Calcium & Magnesium together – found in Chewable
Cal Mag Plus
Certain herbs – found in Stress
Relief Complex
However, if you take certain medications you cannot take some herbs. Please contact us to see if these products are safe to take with the medications you are currently taking.
Contact us to learn more about finding natural ways
to promote restful sleep.
Sweet dreams!
To Be Healthy
* These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
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