Why the F is Sleep so Important
Simply put, sleep deprivation can lead to early death. That is how important sleep is to the human body. Not just that, sleep deprivation over a period of time, less than 7 hours per day, can adversely affect the human body and reduce optimal function and performance.
In this article we will look at some of the adverse affects that accompany sleep deprivation. Before we jump into these issues, keep in mind that sleep deprivation doesn’t necessarily happen sleeping 4-5 hours per night, it could also happen due to poor 7-8 hour sleep as well. The quality of sleep matters a lot. Lets at the adverse affects now.
Mood
Mood can be divided into two types. General and Specific. A person can be generally happy but at specific times show sadness or anger. A poor night of sleep can adversely affect both of our mood types. This happens because we have a very poor control on our emotions when sleep deprived which leads to volatile reactions to daily life situations. Meaning, we can feel more hurt, get sad fairly fast and show anger even at minor things.
Brain
Sleep deprivation negatively affects one’s learning ability and also decreases IQ. One study on school-age children in China showed that sleeping less than 8 hours per night affected intelligence development.
Hunger
Before understanding the link between sleep and hunger let us understand a term known as “Hormones”.
Hormones are substances produced by endocrine glands in a body that have a tremendous effect on bodily processes. They affect growth and development, mood, sexual function, reproduction, and metabolism. They tell our body organs and cells what to do.
Now, there are two hormones that help regulate hunger. They are called “Ghrelin” and “Leptin”.
Ghrelin stimulates appetite (makes us hungry), while Leptin decreases appetite.
Interestingly, sleep deprivation increases the level of Ghrelin and decreases the level of Leptin.
Consider one more fact here, because not enough sleep affects our mood, which affects our decision making ability and it increases Ghrelin, making us more hungry, guess what kind of eating decisions we are going to make throughout the day?
Insulin Resistance
Insulin is a hormone that orders cells from the liver, muscles, and fat in our body to take glucose from the blood and use it for energy. As the cells consume glucose, levels in the blood remain healthy.
Insulin resistance in one of the reasons people develop Type-2 Diabetes. It means that the cells in the person’s body have developed resistance to the insulin and thus are not taking the glucose from blood, which causes high sugar (glucose) levels in the blood. This glucose then has to be stuffed into other organs which leads to more diseases.
A study conducted on nine healthy men and women whose sleep was restricted for only one night (they slept for 4 hours) showed an increase in insulin resistance ‘in the multiple metabolic pathways’ the following day.
The length of sleep prior to the study and the amount of exercise participants had earlier also determined whether the four-hour sleep had more or less negative consequences. Meaning, a healthy individual who usually gets optimal sleep and exercise will have less insulin resistance effect from a poor night of sleep as compared to a sedentary individual.
Another study conducted on seven healthy young people who had restricted sleep over four days aimed to examine how subcutaneous (under skin) fat cells responded to insulin.
After four days researchers discovered that cell metabolism in these participant’s cell’s tissues was slower, and the cells were 30% more insulin resistant. These kind of numbers are seen in obese and /or diabetic people!
Note that. according to the National Sleep Foundation, negative effects of several days of sleep deprivation can be reversed by a couple of nights of proper, uninterrupted sleep.
ACTIONABLE STEPS
Prioritize your sleep. In the next article we will explore some factors that affect sleep quality and how we can manipulate them to improve sleep quality.
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