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Sleep makes you feel better, but its importance goes
way beyond just boosting your mood or banishing under-eye circles.
Adequate sleep is a key part of a healthy lifestyle, and can benefit
your heart, weight, mind, and more. "Sleep used to be kind of ignored,
like parking our car in a garage and picking it up in the morning," says
David Rapoport, MD, director of the NYU Sleep Disorders Program. Not
anymore. Here are some health benefits researchers have discovered about
a good night’s sleep.
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Improve memory
Your mind is surprisingly busy while you snooze. During sleep you can
strengthen memories or "practice" skills learned while you were awake
(it’s a process called consolidation). "If you are trying to learn
something, whether it’s physical or mental, you learn it to a certain
point with practice," says Dr. Rapoport, who is an associate professor
at NYU Langone Medical Center. "But something happens while you sleep
that makes you learn it better." In other words if you’re trying to
learn something new—whether it’s Spanish or a new tennis swing—you’ll
perform better after sleeping. |
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Live longer?
Too much or too little sleep is associated with a shorter
lifespan—although it’s not clear if it’s a cause or effect. (Illnesses
may affect sleep patterns too.) In a 2010 study of women ages 50 to 79,
more deaths occurred in women who got less than five hours or more than
six and a half hours of sleep per night. Sleep also affects quality of
life. "Many things that we take for granted are affected by sleep," says
Raymonde Jean, MD, director of sleep medicine and associate director of
critical care at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center in New York City.
"If you sleep better, you can certainly live better. It’s pretty clear." |
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Spur creativity
Get a good night’s sleep before getting out the easel and paintbrushes
or the pen and paper. In addition to consolidating memories, or making
them stronger, your brain appears to reorganize and restructure them,
which may result in more creativity as well. Researchers at Harvard
University and Boston College found that people seem to strengthen the
emotional components of a memory during sleep, which may help spur the
creative process. |
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Be a winner
If you’re an athlete, there may be one simple way to improve your
performance: sleep. A Stanford University study found that college
football players who tried to sleep at least 10 hours a night for seven
to eight weeks improved their average sprint time and had less daytime
fatigue and more stamina. The results of this study reflect previous
findings seen in tennis players and swimmers. |
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Improve your grades
Children between the ages of 10 and 16 who have sleep disordered
breathing, which includes snoring, sleep apnea, and other types of
interrupted breathing during sleep, are more likely to have problems
with attention and learning, according to a 2010 study in the journal
Sleep. This could lead to "significant functional impairment at school,"
the study authors wrote. In another study, college students who didn’t
get enough sleep had worse grades than those who did. "If you’re trying
to meet a deadline, you’re willing to sacrifice sleep," Dr. Rapoport
says, "but it’s severe and reoccurring sleep deprivation that clearly
impairs learning."
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Sharpen attention
A lack of sleep can result in ADHD-like symptoms in kids, Dr. Rapoport
says. "Kids don’t react the same way to sleep deprivation as adults do,"
he adds. "Whereas adults get sleepy, kids tend to get hyperactive." A
2009 study in the journal Pediatrics found that children ages seven and
eight who got less than about eight hours of sleep a night were more
likely to be hyperactive, inattentive, and impulsive. "We diagnose and
measure sleep by measuring electrical changes in the brain," Dr.
Rapoport says. "So not surprisingly how we sleep affects the brain."
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Have a healthy weight
If you are thinking about going on a diet, you might want to plan an
earlier bedtime too.Researchers at the University of Chicago found that
dieters who were well rested lost more fat—56% of their weight loss—than
those who were sleep deprived, who lost more muscle mass. (They shed
similar amounts of total weight regardless of sleep.) Dieters in the
study also felt more hungry when they got less sleep. "Sleep and
metabolism are controlled by the same sectors of the brain," Dr.
Rapoport says. "When you are sleepy, certain hormones go up in your
blood, and those same hormones drive appetite."
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Lower stress
When it comes to our health stress and sleep are nearly one and the
same—and both can affect cardiovascular health. "Sleep can definitely
reduce levels of stress, and with that people can have better control of
their blood pressure," Dr. Jean says. "It’s also believed that sleep
effects cholesterol levels, which plays a significant role in heart
disease."
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Avoid accidents
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported in 2009 that
being tired accounted for the highest number of fatal single-car
run-off-the-road crashes due to the driver’s performance—even more than
alcohol! "Sleepiness is grossly underrated as a problem by most people,
but the cost to society is enormous," Dr. Rapoport says. "Sleeplessness
affects reaction time and decision making." Insufficient sleep for just
one night can be as detrimental to your driving ability as having an
alcoholic drink. |
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Steer clear of depression
Sleeping well means more to our overall well-being than simply avoiding
irritability. "A lack of sleep can contribute to depression," Dr. Jean
says. "A good night’s sleep can really help a moody person decrease
their anxiety. You get more emotional stability with good sleep." If you
think the long hours put in during the week are the cause of your
anxiety or impatience, Dr. Rapoport warns that sleep cannot necessarily
be made up during the weekend. "If you sleep more on the weekends, you
simply aren’t sleeping enough in the week," he says. "It’s all about
finding a balance.
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