5 Reasons to get enough sleep at night

Sleep is essential for a person’s health and wellbeing, yet millions of people all over the world do not get enough sleep at night. Every person’s individual sleep needs vary but on average most healthy adults need eight hours of sleep a night. According to sleep experts, stress is the number one cause of short-term sleeping difficulties with common triggers including school/college/job related pressures, a family or marriage problem and a serious illness or death in the family. As these stressful situations dissolve so usually does the sleep problem. However, if short-term sleep problems such as insomnia are not managed efficiently from the beginning, they can persist and occur for long periods of time. Sleeping difficulties can also be caused by drinking alcohol or caffeine in the evening, exercising close to bedtime, following an irregular morning and night-time schedule, and working or doing other mentally intense activities right before or after getting into bed. Sleep experts recommend winding down and relaxing before going to bed at night to ensure that your body and mind get adequate sleep. Below are 5 reasons why it is important to get enough sleep each and every night:

1. Improve immune system

Your body is at work improving your immune system as you sleep. You are more likely to catch colds, flu, and other infections and diseases without a healthy immune system and the weaker your immune system the long it will take you to recover.

2. Increase mood, memory, and concentration

Sleep deprivation means you wake up irritable and cranky in the morning, preventing you from thinking straight which make it difficult for you to make positive decisions. After a well-rested night your concentration and memory increase resulting in a more productive performance as you take on the day’s activities. Too little sleep can also leave you too tired to do the things you like to do.

3. Decrease physical pain

Physical pains such as back and joint have long been associated with lack of sleep. Before you decide to take a pain medication, ask yourself if you are getting enough sleep at night.

4. Eliminating toxins

While you sleep your body is busy eliminating toxins, your liver clears out alcohol and drugs from the bloodstream, your kidneys are able to remove natural waste from the body, your colon is getting rid of undigested waste and lastly, the lymph system removes toxins from all the cells in the body. Your body needs enough sleep to ensure this process is completed.

5. Alter metabolism and weight

Chronic sleep deprivation may cause weight gain by affecting the way our bodies process and store carbohydrates, and by altering levels of hormones that affect our appetite.