Change that to the end of a very long week, and that was me last night. I took a hot shower and crawled between the sheets and then proceeded to sleep for the next 11 hours straight. Ahh, pure heaven. It’s no secret that I love my bed and I highly value getting enough sleep. I see it as a vital part of good self-care. Eat well, exercise, mediate, and sleep enough.
We live in a culture that embraces sleeplessness. If you aren’t sleep deprived you aren’t living. Sleep is crucial to our overall health and wellness. Lack of sleep can lead to long-term health implications.
We are always reading about successful people who sleep very little. And it’s true that an infinitesimal percentage of the world (like about 1% of the global population) sit among the sleep elite—which means they are highly functioning on minimal sleep. And it’s nice to think that we are indeed among that elite. Who doesn’t want to wear that crown?
After all De Vinci painted the Mona Lisa on two hours of sleep a day broken into 15-minute increments. Thomas Edison claimed sleep was a waste of time.
However, Einstein slept a reported 10 hours a day. Not a luxury that we can all afford, but I’d say he was doing all right. 😉
Muscle-building, fat-burning and athletic performance are all diminished by sleep deprivation. Newborn babies sleep somewhere in the neighborhood of 18 hours per day but they’re not being lazy. They’re taking advantage of the wonders of growth hormone (GH). Babies are in a constant rebuilding phase as they grow and a cascade of hormones is governing this process. Without the proper amount of rest, they would not be able to secrete the right amount of GH, a critical hormone in building up tissues that peaks as you sleep.
So it makes sense that if you want to recover and grow, you also need to sleep to secrete enough GH. Sleep is the the most anabolic thing you can do for your muscles and if you’re not getting enough, you’re just not growing as fast as you can.
Better, more efficient fat-burning can be had by Sleeping more hours. Studies show that people who get less than six hours of sleep have poor insulin resistance. If you cannot control insulin, you will have a tough time losing fat, not to mention a much higher risk of developing Type II diabetes.
Lack of sleep also enhances your body’s production of the catabolic stress hormone cortisol. Cortisol increases as you become more sleep deprived, which intern can alter thyroid stimulating hormone, your key metabolic regulator. To reduce cortisol, you need to relax and sleep. Too much cortisol has been shown to increase belly fat.
GH is also influential on your body’s ability to fight fat and, adequate sleep is imperative for gaining the full benefits of this wonder hormone.
Lack of sleep can also affect your hunger hormone, ghrelin, which can cause you to overeat. Insulin secretion and the ability to respond to insulin can decrease up to 30 percent. The better sleep you get, the better your growth hormone secretion, the less likely you are to store fat as you sleep.
“Let her sleep for when she wakes she will move mountains.”
-William Shakespeare.
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