11 Body Health Benefits Of Getting Enough Sleep That Few People May Know About
Sleep is one of the most important activities for the health of the body. For this reason, understanding the importance of sleep is extremely important for maintaining our physical and mental health.
What are the health benefits of getting enough sleep?
The body has a standard percentage of time spent on daily activities, including our sleeping activity. Most people choose to sleep late or stay up late, underestimating the benefits of getting enough sleep. Although you miss often sleepy at night, you may find it difficult to carry out your activities the next day.
The body is also unable to perform various functions properly, which potentially increases the risk of various diseases. So here are some health benefits of getting enough sleep.
1. Strengthens the immune system
The first is to strengthen the immune system. Because when we sleep, the body’s immune system can function optimally with the production of antibodies.
Antibodies are chemical compounds that can help fight bacteria and viruses in the body. In fact, there are several types of antibodies that help boost the immune system to fight disease more effectively.
In addition to boosting the body’s immunity, getting enough sleep can also reduce the risk of inflammation in the body. Thus, the risk of occurrence of various diseases can be minimized.
2. Weight control and appetite
Going to bed earlier allows your body to avoid eating unhealthy foods or snacks like cookies or chips.
A study published in Clinical Nutrition and Metabolic Care found that people who don’t get enough sleep each night have a higher risk of being overweight or obese.
This is likely due to an imbalance of the hormones that regulate hunger and satiety in the body, namely the hormones ghrelin and leptin.
During sleep, leptin levels in the body drop, which stimulates satiety signals to the brain. As sleep duration decreases, the brain decreases levels of the hormone leptin and increases ghrelin, a hormone that stimulates hunger signals to the brain. These hormonal changes can make us want to overeat at night.
Read too: Healthy lifestyle to maintain ideal body weight
3. Improve memory
During the activities we can learn many things or absorb new information. During sleep, the brain organizes all the information it has learned.
Even on the move, the brain actively consolidates memory and trains previously learned skills. The benefits of 7-8 hours of regular sleep can motivate you to experience all stages of sleep to speed up memory processes and creative thinking.
4. Increase focus and productivity
It turns out that getting enough sleep plays an important role in learning and thinking. The benefits of sleep have also been shown to improve problem-solving skills and memory in children and adults.
Despite that they are not notsmall, the cognitive ability may be compromised over time. These include alertness, concentration, reasoning and problem-solving skills.
5. Improved mood (mood)
Obviously, the benefits of getting enough sleep can help improve mood. Resting as needed at night allows us to wake up rested and happier.
6. Maintain Heart Health
The benefits of getting enough sleep can help maintain heart health. Because when we sleep, blood pressure drops so the heart and blood vessels can rest. Also, during sleep, the body will secrete the hormones has a nourishing effect on the heart muscle.
If you often get too little sleep at night, your risk of cardiovascular disease may increase over time. This condition can be a serious problem if you already have a history of heart disease.
7. Stress Relief
The health benefits of rest can also relax the mind and body. When you don’t get enough sleep, your body releases cortisol, the stress hormone.
Stress can cause you to overreact to something and reduce your productivity when studying or working. Sometimes we can also make decisions impulsively or in haste.
8. Regulates Metabolism and Blood Sugar
Another benefit of getting enough sleep is metabolism regulation. When the body is sleep deprived, the risk of metabolic health problems, such as B. blood sugar spikes. Friends who already have a history of diabetes may be at risk.
9. Longer life
Did you know that adequate sleep duration and quality play an important role in prolonging life? It’s true, the less you sleep at night, the higher your risk of premature death.
Additionally, reducing sleep time to 5 hours or less may increase the risk of premature death. That said, the benefits of regular sleep can extend life.
10. Healthy skin
The benefits of a good night’s sleep also affect skin health. Because when we sleep, the body produces new and fresh collagen. Collagen is a protein that keeps skin firm, supple and youthful.
When you don’t get enough sleep, the skin’s collagen and hyaluronic acid become depleted. Indeed, these two ingredients play an important role in making the skin shiny, supple and radiant. When we usually sleep 5 hours or less, the signs of aging, including wrinkles and dark circles under the eyes, appear more quickly.
11. Increase Sexual Arousal
Experts believe that lack of sleep leads to a decrease in libido and at the same time reduces the desire to have sex. This can happen due to drowsiness and loss of energy due to lack of sleep at night.
Here are the rules for getting enough sleep
To get the most out of adequate rest, be sure to get the recommended number of hours of sleep.
Here are the right bedtime rules, according to the National Sleep Foundation, by age group:
Newborn (0-3 months): 14-17 hours a day
Newborns (4-11 months): 12-15 hours a day.
Infants (1-2 years): 11-14 hours a day.
Preschool (3-5 years): 10-13 hours a day.
School age (6-13 years old): 9-11 hours a day.
Young people (18-25 years old): 7-9 hours a day.
Adults (26-64 years): 7-9 hours per day.
Seniors (65 and over): 7 to 8 hours per day.
