The Importance of Quality Sleep at Night

Moving from six hours to seven hours of sleep at night can make a huge difference to your life. Living a stress-less life and avoiding some serious health challenges.

The year 2018 has seen a surge in research studies that are all showing that an extra hour’s sleep can save your life.

Adults should sleep 7 or more hours per night on a regular basis to promote optimal health.

The Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine reported that less than 7 hours of sleep at night on a regular basis is associated with adverse health outcomes.

This includes weight gain and obesity, diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and stroke, depression, and increased risk of death.

It is also associated with impaired immune function, increased pain, impaired performance, increased errors, and greater risk of accidents.

The 5 Key Reasons to Prioritise 7 Hours of Sleep at Night

1. Boost your life expectancy as research at Warwick University in the UK. Sleeping less than 6 hours a night will reduce it by 12%.

2. Reduce sugar cravings, a UK study found happened when participants increased the amount of sleep. They got each night reduced their added sugar intake by as much as 10 grams. The next day, they compared the amount of sugar they consumed at the beginning of the study and it was reduced.

3. Decrease your risk of breast cancer by getting more sleep at night, UK University researchers tell us. The brain makes melatonin only at night and it regulates our sleep cycles.

It has been speculated that a lack of melatonin will put women at higher risk of suffering from breast cancer.

4. Protect your grey matter was the finding by Washington University researchers. A prolonged lack of sleep at night can cause the brain to produce excess amounts of amyloid beta protein. It’s responsible for the development of Alzheimer’s Disease.

5. Improve your heart health. According to study, poor sleep can worsen the risk factors for heart disease. Find out what you can do to improve both the quality of your sleep and how much sleep you get.

“I have to remind myself, just like my patients, to make sleep a priority,” says Johns Hopkins neurologist and sleep specialist, Rachel E. Salas, M.D. It’s so easy to say, “I’ll just catch up on some work for a bit or watch TV.”

The Discipline of Having a Sleep Routine at Night

She finds that the simple act of telling herself that sleep is important helps her choose it over other temptations. The key for her is being consistent about when she sleeps at night.

“I used to think I could make up for sleep on the weekends, but doing that negatively impacts sleep quality,” she says. Now she tries to have a consistent bedtime and waking time seven days a week.