How do you feel when you wake in the morning? Refreshed ready to take on the day or groggy and hitting snooze – repeatedly? We all know how we feel when we’re tired. We can feel lethargic, unproductive, grumpy, short-tempered and irritable. Plus it can cause poor judgment as we lack focus and have memory lapses. But moodiness aside, poor sleep can affect your health too. So let’s take a look at the health benefits of sleep as we list the short-term and long-term health consequences below.

Adults need between 6-9 hours sleep every night for optimum health and well-being with the amount we need changing as age too.

With less than 5 hours sleep on a regular basis being linked to a higher mortality rate getting good consistent sleep should really be a priority for us all.

Did you know that three consecutive nights of less than 7 hours sleep has the same effect on the body as missing one full night of sleep.

Sleep really is where the magic happens in our body’s. There are so many health benefits of sleep. It’s where memories from the day are stored and it’s where your body gets busy in repair and rejuvenate mode.

SLEEP DEFICIT

It’s estimated that 1 in 3 of us suffers poor sleep. The quality of our sleep can be affected by anything from our stress levels to menopause hot flushes and night sweats or from many other health complaints such as restless leg syndrome or down to our own bad habits. There quite simply can be many factors affecting the quality of our sleep and the longer we live with poorer sleeping habits the longer it can take for our sleep to improve and get back on track to establishing good quality sleep.

Whilst the occasional bad nights sleep makes you feel tired and foggy the next day it won’t impact your health so much – just likely your mood, energy levels, productivity and food choices. Chronically bad sleep, however, can cause health problems that include increased levels of inflammation, higher blood pressure, decreased blood sugar regulation and insulin resistance, increased levels of the stress hormone cortisol, weight gain and risk of obesity, and cardiovascular disease.

Not forgetting a decrease in life expectancy.

That’s some list, so now you know the negatives let’s take a look at 7 health benefits of sleep, (further information on the NHS website)

7 Health Benefits of Good Sleep

1.   Sleep boosts immunity

If you’re prone to catching every cough and cold there is, then take a look at your sleep. Prolonged lack of sleep can play havoc with the immune system.

And let’s face it, with life as it is our immunity is something we all need to prioritise. Our sleep has a bigger role than we may think when it comes to our ability to fight off bugs and viruses.

Studies have reported the benefits of a good night’s sleep, and research in 2019 found a new way in which sleep benefits our immune system. It found that good quality sleep improves our immunity T cells. T cells are immune cells that fight pathogens and virus infected cells such as flu, herpes, HIV & cancer cells. They contain a sticky type of protein which enables them to attach to and destroy infected cells.

And it’s in relation to this stickiness that affect’s the T cells ability to attach onto and kill the infected cells. It’s the stickiness of our T cells that enables them to get in direct contact with the virus-infected cells and kill them off. When we’re asleep our level of stress hormones adrenaline and noradrenaline are lower –and this makes the stickiness stronger. When the body is producing stress hormones this inhibits the stickiness.

The study compared T cells from participants that had stayed awake all night with those who had slept. It found that the T cells showed higher levels of stickiness in those who had slept all night. These findings indicate that high levels of these stress hormones in those with poor sleep may affect the efficiency of T cells to kill off pathogens.

2. Sleep can prevent weight gain

Ok, you can’t sleep yourself slim but sleeping less can mean you put weight on. Studies have shown that those who sleep less than 7 hours each night gain more weight and have a higher risk of obesity than those who get 7 or more hours.

Less sleep means less leptin – the hormone that tells us when we are full.

Less sleep means increased levels of grehlin – the hunger hormone.

3. Sleep boosts mental wellbeing

We know that just one night’s bad sleep affects our mood the next day, and lack of sleep can increase stress hormones, so when it comes to chronic sleep debt this is compounded and can lead to long-term mood disorders like clinical depression and anxiety.

4. Sleep prevents diabetes

Research indicates that those who sleep less than 5 hours a night have an increased risk of developing diabetes. Missing out on vital deep sleep can cause type 2 diabetes by altering the way in which our body processes glucose.

5. Sleep increases sex drive

Research suggests that both men and women who don’t get enough quality sleep may experience a loss of libido (reduced sex drive) and a reduced interest in sex.

Men who suffer from sleep apnoea – a disorder where breathing difficulties can cause interrupted sleep – also tend to have lower testosterone levels, which can lower libido.

6. Sleep protects against heart disease

Chronic sleep deprivation is associated with an increased heart rate, an increase in blood pressure and higher levels of chemicals linked to inflammation, which may put extra strain on your heart. And it also seems that a good night’s sleep is a protective factor against heart disease too. Research on mice found that the mice with good quality sleep had a connection between the brain, bone marrow, and blood vessels that protects against hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis)

7. Sleep increases fertility

Difficulty conceiving has been claimed as one of the effects of sleep deprivation, affecting both men and women. Research suggests that regular sleep disruptions can cause infertility by reducing the reproductive hormones.

So now you know the health benefits of sleep will you be taking the time to prioritise your sleep? We’ve set out our top 15 tips on how to achieve a good nights sleeping to help. Have a quick read, it might just send you to sleep. You can also find more information on Pretty Pea’s sleep capsules – they can have you back getting a good night’s sleep in no time.

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