Why is sleep so important for the body?

Do you find it difficult to stay awake at meetings or the desk? Is getting up in the morning a chore? If yes, it’s most probably because of a lack of sleep.

Most people know that following a strict diet and regular exercise are integral for a healthy lifestyle. However unfortunately, not many realize that rest is equally important.

Did you know that we naturally spend about a third of our lives sleeping?

And there is an important reason for this.

It gives your body time to rejuvenate. It’s when you rest that your body has the time to flush out all your body toxins, repair damaged tissues, and restore your body energy. It also helps repair the damage inflicted by stress, UV rays, and other similar harmful exposure.

Besides body rejuvenation, rest is essential to the body for the following four reasons.

Keeping you alert

A well rested body gives your mind time to regain focus to face your everyday mental challenges. You also notice a marked increase in your creativity levels.

Improved memory

If you notice that you tend to forget things, it’s probably because of a lack of sleep. Proper rest is instrumental in creating connections between events and feelings, and creates memories.

Fighting infections

Your body immunity depends a lot on your sleep, which is like your body’s natural defense mechanism from foreign entities. You end up feeling weaker and more susceptible to infections and illnesses with insufficient rest. You may even notice that your body takes a longer time to recover from illnesses.

Increased energy levels

You will perform better at work, sports, and everyday life if your body rests properly. It’s because proper rest increases your body energy levels and makes your mind work sharper and better.

That’s why sports enthusiasts make sure they get their good night’s sleep. Their athletic performance naturally increases with better speed, reflexes, and agility when their bodies are properly rested.

What happens if you don’t get proper rest?

First of all, your body loses out on all these excellent benefits mentioned above.

Secondly, and most importantly, you grow vulnerable to various short and long term health problems. Studies prove that people suffering from chronic sleep loss have an increased risk of:

• Getting involved in automobile accidents because of dozing off at the wheel
• Growing obese because your appetite increases when you don’t have enough rest. Insufficient rest also prevents your body from realizing when it’s satisfied, and should stop eating.
• Affecting your ability to conceive because rest has an impact on the body’s fertility regulating hormones.
• Affecting your body’s insulin, that helps keep your body sugar levels in control.
• Suffering from work injuries because of reduced alertness and drowsiness
• Suffering from mental health problems like anxiety and drug or substance abuse
• Reduced body immunity and generally a more mediocre life quality

Don’t worry. Sleep deprivation is a treatable condition. You need to analyze and find out the reason for it. Once you rest well, your body naturally counters all the ill-effects of insufficient rest.