Ensure Adequate Sleep For Better Health

Most people train hard at the gym, stick to their nutrition plans, and stay pretty active for the day, yet fail to see results at the pace they should be. Why?

Because sound and timed sleep is highly underrated by a majority of us, especially the young population, adolescents, working professionals, etc. Sleep is a necessity for maintaining good physical, mental, and emotional health, as much as quantified nutrition and adequate exercise are.

Major Causes of Sleep Deprivation

1. Long work hours, working in shifts along with commuting time.

2. Nightlife: Continued late-hour social gatherings/celebrations/hangouts, etc., set reduced sleep hours as default in most individuals.

3. Technology and gadgets: Getting stuck to technology and gadgets during bedtime is a building block laid towards poor health.

4. “If you snooze, you lose” – the unsaid stress!

While most of us believe that our sleep time is absolutely fine and adequate as long as there is no problem in our everyday chores or causes any negative outcome; it actually doesn’t hold true in terms of our body and system.

Human Sleeping Pattern

An Adequate sleep time for adults ranges from 6 – 8 hours.

The human sleeping pattern is cyclic in nature, comprising Rapid Eye Movement (REM) and Non-Rapid Eye Movement (NREM) followed by a wake, more often with 8 alternating cycles in one quality sleep. In most simple words, NREM is the cycle characterized by deep sleep (Slow wave sleep), while REM is towards dreams, wakefulness, and an active mind. Each REM cycle generally lasts for 90-110 minutes on average.

Sleep-Wake Regulation

Sleep–wake regulation of our body happens through two processes: A homeostatic process and a circadian process (Circadian Rhythm / Biological Clock). Together they work towards inducing sleep or wakefulness.

The homeostatic system works towards getting sleep when signaled by the body, basically indicating a must-have rest period. After reaching a certain threshold, sleep becomes inevitable, and below a certain threshold, wakefulness is signaled.

A sleep-deprived individual gets into a sleep debt (lack of sleep accumulated across many hours/days) eventually, and hence, homeostatic pressure signals the body for rest.

Each individual has a circadian rhythm; our body’s biological clock for 24 hours is located in the hypothalamic supra-chiasmatic nucleus (SCN), which sets as per our routine and comes naturally to each of us.

Our body signals a wake-up call, hunger, tiredness, or sleep as per this rhythm/internal clock. Our circadian rhythm is synced well with our body’s homeostatic process and works in line with it, signaling a rest or wake-up call. In case of a deviation from a fixed routine, our body’s internal clock gets disturbed, and the system responds to fight the change.

Sleep Disorders

It has been said that humans can survive without food for a longer time than surviving without sleep!

Continued sleep deprivation can result in many disorders – to state a few below;

1. Narcolepsy: A neurological disorder that affects the control of sleep and wake-up. Major symptoms include excessive daytime sleepiness in scattered intervals across the say.

2. Sleep Apnoea: The respiratory airway becomes blocked repeatedly during sleep, reducing or completely stopping the airflow.

3. Insomnia: Sleep disorder is where a person finds it tough to fall asleep or stay asleep else both. Waking up many times during the night, finding it difficult to sleep again, and tiredness upon waking are the major symptoms. Insomnia is a growing disorder in many people. Lifestyle patterns, stress, and anxiety levels are the major causes of insomnia.

4. Restless Limb Syndrome: It is a nervous system disorder causing an urge to move limbs (hands and legs – majorly legs). It usually interferes with sleep and worsens sleeping hours. Hence, it is considered as a sleep disorder.

These disorders can be cured with time through lifestyle changes and by improving sleep quality. Extreme or prolonged episodes of such disorders also demand medication.

Measures to Ensure an Adequate Sleep

1. The more stable and consistent our circadian rhythm is, the better our sleep is. Hence, sticking to a fixed routine helps get quality sleep.

2. Block your Clock: Sticking to a fixed sleep and wake-up time helps. With exception to occasions and contingencies, setting the clock for going to bed helps.

3. Avoiding Caffeine, Alcohol and Nicotine, Smoke towards sleeping hours is highly recommended.

Caffeine can stay in the system for hours, affecting the next day’s performance. It is easier to tame the mind and go off to sleep after having a cup of coffee; however, it is not possible to stop the system’s churning once caffeine enters the system and generates stimulus.

b. Alcohol might generate a sedative effect while it is consumed; however, later, it metabolizes during sleeping hours, thereby affecting the quality of sleep.

4. Eat right: Every individual is aware of his system and how it responds. For example, if eating a high protein or fat diet at night causes reflux, then it is wise to time the meals according to what best suits the body by shifting protein and fats at least 3 hours before sleeping or else keeping it lesser towards sleeping hours. However, the dietary intake and timing of meals are also dependent on the fitness goal the individual is chasing.

5. Free your mind: Psychological stressors and troubles should be side-lined while going to sleep. The switch to thinking cap and stress about the next day has to be turned off.

6. Meditation: A short meditation before going to sleep cools down the mind and brings positivity. This improves sleep quality.

➢ It is interesting to know that when we are fast asleep, our mind and body aren’t. All our systems function in order to rejuvenate a tired body, perform essential cellular and tissue repairs, and restore us completely for the upcoming day.

➢ It is even more interesting to know how lack of sleep / poor sleeping patterns can affect the body, hamper health, and prolong/delay our fitness goals. The repercussions of poor and untimed sleep are a must-know for fitness enthusiasts!

References:

https://academic.oup.com/sleep/article/35/6/727/2709360

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0092867400819650

http://jcsm.aasm.org/ViewAbstract.aspx?pid=30048

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMHT0025458/

https://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/guide/narcolepsy#1

https://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/guide/insomnia-symptoms-and-causes#1

https://www.webmd.com/brain/restless-legs-syndrome/restless-legs-syndrome-rls#1

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3963479/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4642416/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12184167

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5768894/