Your body needs sleep, just as it needs food and water to function at its best. If you are not getting an average of 7.5 hours of sleep per night than you are compromising your optimal health & wellbeing.
The problem is that so many people in today’s fast paced, high stress world have been living sub-optimally due to sleep deprivation for so long you accept it is as normal because you don’t know the difference!
I have been telling clients for 30 years that sleep or more precisely, lack of sleep has a profound affect on your health & wellbeing, fatloss & weight management, fitness & performance, concentration & productivity, stress management, moods & coping ability and general quality of life!
When you sleep your body rests, repairs, rebuilds, restores, reenergises, replenishes, regenerates and rejuvenates!
Lack of sleep can have a more detrimental affect on your health than your diet, your exercise routine, meditation or drinking water! A review of 16 studies found that sleeping for less than 6 to 8 hours a night increases the risk of early death by about 12%.
So let’s take a deep dive into everything you need to know about how you sleep, what happens in your body when you sleep and most importantly real tips and information to ensure you get enough quality sleep every night to thrive not just survive!
When we sleep well, we wake up feeling refreshed and alert for our daily activities. Sleep affects how we look, feel and perform on a daily basis, and can have a major impact on our overall quality of life.
To get the most out of our sleep, both quantity and quality are important.
If sleep is cut short, the body doesn’t have time to complete all of the phases needed for muscle repair, memory consolidation and release of hormones regulating growth and appetite. Then we wake up less prepared to concentrate, make decisions, or engage fully in work or life activities.
The Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Your Body
The long term effects of sleep deprivation are real. It drains your mental abilities and puts your physical health at real risk. Science has linked poor sleep with a variety of REAL health problems from weight gain to a weakened immune system.
How Sleep Deprivation Affects Specific Body Functions & Systems
Central Nervous System - Good Sleep Can Improve Concentration and Productivity
Your central nervous system is the information highway of your body. Sleep is necessary to keep it functioning properly, but chronic insomnia can disrupt how your body usually sends information.
During sleep, pathways form between nerve cells (neurons) in your brain that help you remember new information you’ve learned. Sleep deprivation leaves your brain exhausted, so it can’t perform its duties as well. You may also find it more difficult to concentrate or learn new things. The signals your body sends may also come at a delay, decreasing your coordination skills and increasing your risks for accidents.
Sleep deprivation negatively affects your mental abilities and emotional state. You may feel more impatient or prone to mood swings. It can also compromise decision-making processes and creativity.
Poor Sleep Is Linked to Depression
Mental health issues, such as depression, are strongly linked to poor sleep quality and sleeping disorders. It has been estimated that 90% of people with depression complain about sleep quality. Those with sleeping disorders like insomnia or obstructive sleep apnoea also report significantly higher rates of depression than those without. Poor sleep is even associated with an increased risk of death by suicide.
Immune System
While you sleep, your immune system produces protective, infection-fighting substances like cytokines. It uses these substances to combat foreign invaders such as bacteria and viruses. Cytokines also help you sleep, giving your immune system more energy to defend your body against illness.
One large two-week study monitored the development of the common cold after giving people nasal drops with the cold virus. They found that those who slept less than seven hours were almost three times more likely to develop a cold than those who slept eight hours or more. It may also take you longer to recover from illness.
Respiratory system
The relationship between sleep and the respiratory system goes both ways. A night time breathing disorder called obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) can interrupt your sleep and lower the quality of your sleep. As you wake up throughout the night, this can cause sleep deprivation, which leaves you more vulnerable to respiratory infections like the common cold & flu. Sleep deprivation can also make existing respiratory diseases worse, such as chronic lung illness.
Digestive system - Poor Sleep Can Make You Fat
Along with eating too much and not exercising, sleep deprivation is another risk factor for becoming overweight and obese. Sleep affects the levels of two hormones, leptin and ghrelin, which control feelings of hunger and fullness.
Leptin tells your brain that you’ve had enough to eat. Without enough sleep, your brain reduces leptin and raises ghrelin, which is an appetite stimulant. The flux of these hormones could explain night-time snacking or why someone may overeat later in night. A lack of sleep can also contribute to weight gain by making you feel too tired to exercise.
In one extensive review study, children and adults with short sleep duration were 89% and 55% more likely to become obese, respectively. More on why lack of sleep can make you fat later.
Sleep Affects Glucose Metabolism and Type 2 Diabetes Risk
Those sleeping less than six hours per night have repeatedly been shown to be at an increased risk of type 2 diabetes. Sleep deprivation prompts your body to release higher levels of insulin after you eat. Insulin controls your blood sugar level. Higher insulin levels promote fat storage and increase your risk for type 2 diabetes.
Cardiovascular System - Poor Sleepers Have a Greater Risk of Heart Disease and Stroke
Sleep affects processes that keep your heart and blood vessels healthy, including your blood sugar & blood pressure and inflammation levels. It also plays a vital role in your body’s ability to heal and repair the blood vessels and heart.
A review of 15 studies found that people who don’t get enough sleep are at far greater risk of heart disease or stroke than those who sleep 7–8 hours per night.
Endocrine system
Hormone production is dependent on your sleep. For testosterone production, you need at least three hours of uninterrupted sleep, which is about the time of your first REM episode. Waking up throughout the night could affect hormone production.
This interruption can also affect growth hormone production especially in children and adolescents. These hormones help build muscle mass and repair cells and tissues. The pituitary gland releases growth hormones continuously, but sleep and exercise also help induce the release of this hormone.
Poor Sleep Is Linked to Increased Inflammation
Sleep can have a major effect on inflammation in your body. In fact, sleep loss is known to activate undesirable markers of inflammation and cell damage. Poor sleep has been strongly linked to long-term inflammation of the digestive tract, in disorders known as inflammatory bowel diseases.
One study observed that sleep-deprived people with Crohn's disease were twice as likely to relapse as patients who slept well.
Sleep Affects Emotions and Social Interactions
Sleep loss reduces your ability to interact socially. Several studies confirmed this using emotional facial recognition tests. One study found that people who had not slept had a reduced ability to recognize expressions of anger and happiness. Researchers believe that poor sleep affects your ability to recognize important social cues and process emotional information.
SLEEP AND FAT LOSS
There is a direct association between how much sleep you get on average and your body fat! Studies have found that people who maintain an unvarying sleep routine have a lower percentage of body fat than those who have irregular sleep hours.
Studies show:
· Getting less than 6.5 hours of sleep and more than 8.5 hours of sleep was linked to higher body fat
· High quality sleep was associated with lower body fat while poor sleep correlated with higher body fat
· Waking and going to sleep at the same time every day (particularly a consistent wake time) was most strongly linked with lower body fat
There are several reasons why sleep duration and quality affects your waistline.
Energy Starved: When we’re tired from lack of sleep and low on energy, our bodies will crave energy dense foods to get us through the day and this usually means we go for unhealthy options. Research has found that sleeping too little prompts people to eat bigger portions and leads to increased cravings for energy-dense, high-carbohydrate foods.1
Snack Overload: The more hours you spend awake the more time you have to snack! If you are staying up late you might find the time to add an extra snack or two to your daily food intake that you wouldn’t have eaten had you been asleep.
Mental Fatigue: Lack of sleep affects your mood, your motivation and your willpower. Skimping on sleep sets your brain up to make bad decisions.1 It dulls activity in the brain’s frontal lobe, the locus of decision-making and impulse control.1 When we are tired we are less likely to make good decisions when it comes to the food we choose to eat, it becomes much more difficult to resist things like chocolate and chips.
Sleepy Hormones: Sleep loss results in changes to the levels of several hormones including leptin, ghrelin, insulin, cortisol, interleukin 6 and growth hormone.2 These hormones work to regulate our appetite, metabolism and satiety (feeling of fullness after eating). Changes in these hormone levels due to a lack of sleep may contribute to increasing our hunger and desire for energy-dense foods.2
Energy Output: If we are feeling tired and lethargic we have less energy for exercise. It becomes that much harder to get off the couch and we may not be bothered to get in the kitchen to cook ourselves a healthy meal, going for the take away option. Not getting enough sleep starts to affect not only your energy intake, but also your energy expenditure.2
Sleep is common to mammals, birds and reptiles and has been conserved through evolution, even though it prevents us from performing other useful tasks, such as eating, reproducing and raising young. It is as important as food for keeping us alive; without it, rats will die within two or three weeks – the same amount of time that it takes to die from starvation.
How To Improve Your Sleep
– 7.5 to 8.5 Hours Is Optimal
Like everything in life getting a good night’s sleep requires some effort and lifestyle changes. You sleep for one third of your life! That is more than any other thing you do! So why do you not make sleep your number one priority to living a happy and successful life. No sacrifice or expense should be more worthwhile than that dedicated to regular quality sleep!
People that sprout how “I live on 5 hours sleep a night” are either fools or in denial! Yes you can train yourself to live on less sleep but the vast majority of us (like 99.9%) are simply compromising quality of life and more than likely longevity of life too by doing so!
From vast research, personal experience and plain common sense here are my top tips to sleep like a bear (whoever said sleep like a baby never had one!).
1) Set up your bedroom environment – Get the basics right!
Improving your sleep may be as simple as making changes to your sleeping environment. Do not underestimate how important the right bedroom setting can be!
a) Good bed and mattress - It amazes me that people will spend thousands on a one week holiday but not invest the time and money into getting a good place to lie down for a third of your life! The right size, firmness, materials, bounce and fit are essential. One that doesn’t creak, one that suits your back & body, one that is a sanctuary! Go out and spend a day testing them all with your partner (it must work for both of you) to get one that works perfectly! I know it is hard to be Goldilocks and get it “just right” but it may be the best money you will ever spend!
Note: Most research points to a medium-firm mattress for best sleep quality!
b) Good pillow – Get a pillow that fits the human body. If you sleep on your side (and you should be) than the pillow that best fits the shoulder-neck-head curve is an orthopaedic contour pillow. Traditional pillows mean you sleep with your neck upright and under strain and at some point almost guarantee a sore neck!
c) Sleep Position – Traditionally, it was believed that back sleepers had a better quality of sleep. However, research has shown that this might not be the best position to sleep in, as it could lead to blocked airways, sleep apnoea and snoring. Although individual preferences play an important role in choosing sleep position, the side position seems to be linked to high-quality sleep.
d) Sleep clothing - The fabric of the clothes you wear to bed can affect how well you sleep. It is crucial you choose comfortable clothing made of fabric that helps you keep a pleasant temperature throughout the night.
Note: I am all for sleeping with no clothes on! Back to nature and no clothing getting caught as you toss and turn!
e) Room Temperature - Your body temperature changes as you fall asleep. Core temperature decreases, while the temperature of your hands and feet increases. Keep the temperature of your room consistently comfortable and cool about 15-21 degrees. A warm bedroom is one of the worst mistakes you can make for good sleep.
f) Light – make sure your room is very dark. Any ambient light or artificial light source can mess with your circadian rhythm (see below) which wants a cool and dark place to tell it to sleep! Also try to get some light from being outside during the day. The body adjusts readiness for sleep dependent on light sources. If you are always inside you confuse this natural cycle.
g) Sound – This may be difficult depending on where you live but investing in sound proofing or double glazed windows may be worth it if you are constantly woken up by outsize noises such as traffic or birds!
Matt’s Tip – Sleep in cool environments. We are mammals. Keep the room cool and add blankets for warmth to keep it cosy and conducive to sleeping.
2) Establish a routine
A consistent sleep schedule is a critical part of developing the ability to sleep soundly. Frequently changing the times you go to bed and wake up confuses your body's biological clock. Your body has its own regulatory system called the circadian rhythm. This internal clock cues your body to feel alert during the day but sleepy at night. Following a regular schedule, even on weekends and holidays, can help you get the rest you need.
As part of your schedule, give yourself 30 minutes to wind down in the evening before getting in bed. This allows your body and mind to relax and prepare for sleep. A relaxing bedtime routine that begins around the same time each evening is your golden ticket. For example, take a warm bath, listen to soothing music, read a book, or do other activities that help you wind down. This will signal to your body that bedtime is coming and help you fall asleep more quickly and easily.
Matt’s Tip – Get up and try again - Forcing yourself to sleep rarely works. If you’re still lying awake after 15 minutes of trying to fall asleep, get out of bed and go through your bedtime relaxation ritual again. Take a bath, read, or listen to soothing music. Then go back to bed when the anxiety of not being able to fall asleep is gone.
No matter how tempted you are, don’t turn on the television, get on your computer, or check your texts or email. Try not to expose yourself to bright light, extreme temperatures, or loud sounds. These stimulating activities will only make it harder for you to get into sleep mode.
3) Exercise during the day
Physical activity is often your best way to guarantee good sleep! It just makes sense right. Not only do you get to exert some energy and burn some calories but you also get the all-important cathartic stress relieving benefits. Physiologically exercise can increase the duration and quality of sleep by boosting the production of serotonin in the brain and decreasing levels of cortisol, the stress hormone.
Moderate-to-vigorous exercise in the morning seems to be the best routine as there have been some links with late night exercise making it difficult to sleep due to the body being ‘amped up’!
Matt’s Tip – I personally do not like exercising after lunch time but it is very individual so just trial and error what results in the best sleep for you!
4) Keep electronics out of your bed
Try to separate your bedroom from other facets of your life that may cause stress, tension, or stimulation. The presence of electronic devices such as laptops and cell phones can make it harder to fall asleep.
The blue light from glowing electronic screens suppresses your body’s production of melatonin, an important hormone for sleep. If you tend to associate your bed with activities other than sleep or sex, that can also make it harder to calm your mind and drift off.
Avoid watching television, using your computer, or checking your phone in bed. You should also avoid working, eating, or even having a heated discussion with your significant other in your sleeping environment. Strengthening the association between your bed and sleep may help you clear your mind at bedtime.
Matt’s Tip – More sex … that always makes you sleepy!
5) Avoid caffeine & alcohol – Tea Please!
What you drink in the hours before bedtime can make or break your ability to fall asleep. Caffeine and alcohol are two common sleep disrupting culprits.
Caffeine is a stimulant that can keep you awake. Caffeine can take six to eight hours to wear off. So avoid drinking caffeinated beverages, such as coffee or soda, in the late afternoon or evening.
Alcohol is a sedative that can make you tired, but it also disrupts the quality of your sleep. It can result in lighter and less restorative stages of sleep, which can leave you feeling groggy the next morning. Avoid drinking alcohol within three hours of bedtime.
Matt’s Tip - Drinking a nice cup of herbal tea such as chamomile tea not only creates a great pre-bed routine but it calms the mind and body preparing it for sleep. Though remember drinking too much of any liquid before bed may lead to bathroom trips during the night, which can also disrupt your sleep.
6) Read Something
Reading is without doubt my personal recommendation when it comes to winding down and inducing a state of sleepiness ready for a good sound night’s sleep!
The Rule - No work related material in bed! Be mindful of your bed being a place only for sleep or pleasure!
The key I have found is to read for pleasure. A great fiction book, a fascinating biography or a book on one of your passions or interests is perfect! Use reading as a way to escape from reality and immerse in something that you love. The primary goal is decrease your stress levels, diminish your worries or concerns and just wind down for the night.
Try to keep it to a traditional paper book. Electronic books emit a kind of light that can reduce melatonin secretion, making it harder for you to fall asleep and causing you to feel tired the next day. Therefore, it is recommended to read from a physical book in order to relax and improve your sleep.
Matt’s Tip – I love to read for 30min before sleep. Though I must admit I break the rule on this one and read from an iPad with the screen blackened with white writing. I personally hate night lights and this way my wife is not bothered by the light either. I actually find this more relaxing too!
7) Practice Yoga, Meditation and Mindfulness
When people are stressed, they tend to have difficulty falling asleep.
Meditation and mindfulness are tools to calm the mind and relax the body. Meditation can enhance melatonin levels and assist the brain in achieving a specific state where sleep is easily achieved. Mindfulness may help you maintain focus on the present and worry less while falling asleep
Yoga encourages the practice of breathing patterns and body movements that release stress and tension.
8) Watch What and When You Eat
It seems that the food you eat before bed may affect your sleep. For example, research has shown that high-carb meals may be detrimental to a good night's rest.
A review of studies concluded that even though a high-carb diet can get you to fall asleep faster, it will not be restful sleep. In fact, several studies agree that a high-carb/low-fat diet significantly decreased the quality of sleep compared to a low-carb/high-fat diet with the same amount of calories for both diets. If you still want to eat a high-carb meal for dinner, you should eat it at least four hours before bed so you have enough time to digest it.
9) Do Not Look at Your Clock
People who wake up in the middle of the night often tend to watch the clock and obsess about the fact that they cannot fall back asleep. "Clock-watching" is common among people suffering from insomnia. This behaviour may cause anxiety about sleeplessness.
If possible, it is best to remove the clock from your room. If you need an alarm in the room, you can turn your clock and avoid watching it when you wake up in the middle of the night.
Matt’s Tip – I use a clock that displays the time on top. The little red digital display doesn’t shine in my eyes and I can’t see the time without sitting up (so I don’t look at it).
10) Avoid Naps during the Day
Due to poor sleep at night, people with insomnia tend to be sleepy during the day. This often leads to daytime napping. This is a double edge sword. While naps of short duration (less than 30 minutes) have been linked to improvements in alertness and wellbeing, there are mixed opinions about the effects of napping on night time sleep.
To find out if naps are affecting your sleep, try either eliminating naps altogether or limiting yourself to a short nap early in the day.
Matt’s Tip – As a trainer in the early years I was often plain exhausted during the day. I use to have a nap if possible but I learnt over time that the 15-20min power nap worked better than longer duration. Enough time to switch off and recharge but not so much that it left me groggy & lethargic.
11) Listen to Relaxing Music
Music can significantly improve quality of sleep. It can even be used to improve chronic sleep disorders like insomnia. Many studies have shown that listening to a soothing meditative music can lead to a more restful and deeper sleep. It is a great tool to add to your bed time routine!
12) Massage & Aromatherapy
I am a huge fan of regular massage. It is the one constant in my life every week. Aromatherapy involves the use of essential oils. Aromatherapy is commonly used by those who have trouble falling asleep, as it may help with relaxation due to the scent of the oils. Obviously you can’t have a massage every day but an essential oil diffuser could be helpful in infusing your room with relaxing scents that encourage sleep such as lavender.
15) Practice Journaling
Some people have difficulty falling asleep because their thoughts keep running in circles. Research has shown that this can produce anxiety and stress, which can generate negative emotions and disturb sleep. Writing down the positive events that happened during the day can create a state of gratitude and happiness, downgrade stressful events and promote more relaxation at bedtime.
Try practicing this technique by setting aside 15 minutes every night to write about your day. It is important to focus not only on the positive events of the day but also on how you feel at the time.
17) Try Sleep-Enhancing Supplements
Certain supplements can help you fall asleep faster. They have been shown to encourage sleep either by boosting the production of sleep-promoting hormones or by calming brain activity.
Supplements that can help you fall asleep include:
· Magnesium helps activate the neurotransmitters responsible for sleep.
· 5 HTP (5-hydroxytryptophan). 5-HTP boosts the production of serotonin, which has been linked to the regulation of sleep.
· Melatonin is a hormone naturally produced by the body, but it can also be taken as a supplement to help regulate your sleep.
· Theanine is an amino acid with sedative properties. Although it has not been shown to induce sleep, it could help with relaxation.
· GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid). GABA is a compound produced in the brain that inhibits certain transmitters and may help the central nervous system relax.
Talk to the practitioner or nutritionist for dosage recommendations.
The Bottom Line
I cannot stress how important good quality sleep is to living a successful, productive & happy life. Chances are you are living sub-optimally due to inadequate sleep. Life can be so much better!
I know that work, home and life is busy and there are many demands on your time. And I don’t have an answer for you to stop your 3 year old coming into your room and waking you or having night mares that gets you up in the middle of the night!
The goal of this article is to simply show you how important quality sleep is to your mental & physical health and to get you to make a greater effort to get that sleep. The information and tips listed above are real and genuine ways to help you sleep better. If you are a poor sleeper than you owe it to yourself to at least do everything you can to make a difference. One of the tips above may be your golden ticket to a beautiful restful, restorative, regenerating sleep. Once you achieve optimal sleep you will understand what you have been missing! And life will be better forever!
By Matt Crowe
Note: Special mention to Health Line and Authority Nutrition for providing much of the research information for this article.
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