How's Your Sleep?
Written By Lisa Pearson
Sleep is something that we all take for granted but really how good is your sleep? Do you wake up in the night? Do you have trouble getting to sleep or waking up? Are you aware how important sleep is? Think it doesn’t matter? Well a good night’s sleep will give you the following benefits, read them carefully! So if any of the above are important to you then sleep is vitally important, real deep, restful sleep. Now I want to try to explain to you how important sleep really is, so hang on to your hats, it could be a bumpy ride! Sleep is not a luxury, it is absolutely critical to restoration and repair of the body and mind. It is so vital that the US Centre for Disease Control has said that sleep debt is a suspected carcinogen (that means it can produce cancer causing cells if you didn’t know like smoking!). Lack of sleep has been tightly linked to ageing and as we get older we tend to have poorer quality sleep which ages us even quicker. Poor sleep is also shown to reduce insulin sensitivity which is one of the major causes of obesity; it is also the beginnings of type 2 diabetes. Put another way, a day or two of poor sleep can give you the same biology as a diabetic, it is as serious as that. Over exposure to light has the same effect. Inflammation is linked to heart disease, stroke, diabetes, arthritis, and premature aging. Research indicates that people who get less sleep -- six or fewer hours a night -- have higher blood levels of inflammatory proteins than those who get more. If you're an athlete, one simple way to improve your performance is sleep. A Stanford University study found that college football players who tried to sleep at least 10 hours a night for seven to eight weeks improved their average sprint time and had less daytime fatigue and more stamina. "Many things that we take for granted are affected by sleep," says Raymonde Jean, M.D., director of sleep medicine and associate director of critical care at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center in New York City. "If you sleep better, you can certainly live better. It's pretty clear." A lack of sleep can contribute to depression," Dr. Jean says. "A good night's sleep can really help a moody person decrease their anxiety. You get more emotional stability with good sleep." "Sleep can definitely reduce levels of stress, and with that people can have better control of their blood pressure," Dr. Jean says. "It's also believed that sleep effects cholesterol levels, which plays a significant role in heart disease." Lack of sleep can suppress your immune system, which makes you more vulnerable to infections. A study in 2009 found that sleeping for fewer than seven hours a night increased the risk of catching a cold. The team from Carnegie Mellon University found the risk was trebled compared with those who slept for eight hours or more a night. Are you seeing a pattern here? Less sleep = less everything! And finally.. You'll have better sex! The better rested you are, the better sex you'll have, according to researchers. The 2010 Sleep in America poll found about 20-30 per cent of men and women felt their family life and sexual relationships had been affected by their sleepiness. See now that’s the one you’ve been waiting for right! Now you’re sold! When man (and woman) first began to roam the world, sleep was very simple, you went to sleep when the sun went down and woke up when the sun came up. Nowadays it’s very different, we have extended light hours due to the use of electric lighting, we have distractions and disturbances to keep us awake longer than we should be. Things like TV, Computers, mobile phones, I Pads etc. etc. all keep us from going to bed at a reasonable hour. Then, of course we have all the other reasons, children, work, shifts, etc. So how do we go about getting better sleep? Here are a few useful tips: Go to bed EARLY and consistently, aim to get 8-10 hours a night. Try taking 400-600mg of Magnesium 30 minutes before bed. As a muscle relaxant it may help you drift off into a deep sleep. Do not drink caffeine after 4pm, although the effects on the brain only last about an hour, caffeine stays in your system for many hours and can give you disturbed sleep very easily. So, moving forward, I really encourage you to implement the suggestions in this series of blogs. If you have made a list of what is working or not working for your body as we spoken previously then now is the time to start working on the next step to health and fitness which is your sleep. Try it for a month and see how you get on, I predict you will be truly astounded at the results and how you feel! Paul Burgess SAC dip. (cn) SAC Dip. (pt) SAC Dip. (AnAg) Have you ever felt as though your health is just not where it should be? Feel tired all the time? Had health issues that just do not go away? Suffer from IBS or any kind of digestive complaint? Need to lose some weight? Whatever your needs why not speak to Paul Burgess. He is the Clinical Nutritionist who writes all our Bloggs. Not only is he a highly respected nutritionist in his field but also an ambassador for nutritional supplement companies and was awarded ‘Over 40’s Bodybuilder’ by the prestigious Bodybuilding.com website so he really knows his stuff! His mission in the industry is, ‘To help as many people as possible realise the full potential of a healthy body using real food and applying the latest knowledge available’ If you are looking for the best advice in the industry, contact Paul at athletic.fitness@icloud.com or check out his website www.athletic-fitness.co.uk
Weight Loss
Stress Management
Longer life (yes, seriously)
Less wrinkles
Anti-ageing
Better cognitive function
Better sex!
