10 Important Facts You Should Know About Sleep
A healthy, restful sleep is important – everyone knows that. But what to do if insomnia disturbs the night’s rest? Here we give you facts about sleep.
If this condition becomes chronic, various health problems can arise as a result. Today we want to share with you 10 important facts about sleep that are interesting and useful to better understand this problem.
Sleeping pills are not always necessary; even small changes in habit and diet can often achieve excellent results.
1. Facts About Sleep: Insomnia makes you fat
With chronic insomnia or sleep disorders, the metabolism slows down and there are also disorders of the lymphatic system.
As a result, the pollutants are not properly discharged and the liver is no longer adequately cleaned. One of the consequences of this is slow weight gain.
A regular sleep routine (between 6 and 8 hours) is not only important to stay healthy and fit, it can also help you lose weight.
2. How long should we sleep?
It is different for everyone. There are people who need 9 hours of sleep to be fit again in the morning, while others only need 6 hours. However, note these data:
- Get at least 6 hours of sleep.
- You need at least 5 hours of continuous sleep to get a good night’s sleep.
- An adult should normally not sleep more than 11 hours (unless the person needs to catch up on sleep). Sleeping more than 11 hours can have the opposite effect and make you even more tired.
3. Insufficient sleep leads to loss of bone mass
Scientific studies have shown an important aspect:
- Osteoporosis is closely related to inadequate sleep or sleep apnea. With apnea, the body receives less oxygen, which then leads to inflammation, which can affect the metabolism. This can also lead to a loss of bone mass.
4. Lack of sleep can cause dementia
Lack of sleep is a risk factor for dementia as it also affects the oxygen supply, which can have a direct impact on brain health. Micro-infarcts can occur, which sooner or later can lead to dementia. This can be very dangerous.
Therefore it is very important to see a doctor in case of apnea.
5. Exercise is important!
A 15-minute walk every day after dinner can help you fall asleep more easily and sleep longer. Try it yourself!
6. A little nap in the afternoon
Often people smile at the Spanish siesta . But did you know that an afternoon nap has nothing to do with laziness?
15-20 minutes of sleep in the afternoon help to catch up on lost sleep, have a relaxing effect and are sufficient to recharge the necessary energy for the rest of the day.
7. Yoga or meditation
From the age of 50, many suffer from increased insomnia. Daily relaxation exercises are appropriate for all ages, but they are even more beneficial from the age of 50.
If you choose to practice yoga, you will find that you can get a much deeper sleep and improve many other aspects of life.
8. In insomnia, our brain is overstimulated
Our brain needs a good night’s sleep in order to perform various functions during this time: During the night, the information received is organized and processed, memories are stored and dreams also help to process what has been experienced.
Body functions – such as cleaning the organism – are also regulated during this time.
If you stay awake, the brain becomes overstimulated and this can lead to headaches, morning fatigue, difficulty concentrating, etc.
9. Bad memory due to insomnia
As mentioned earlier, the brain needs enough sleep to function properly. Otherwise it is more difficult to save data and information and one becomes more forgetful.
Do you forget important appointments or do you no longer remember a conversation you had? Maybe this is due to the quality of your sleep.
10. Brainwashing at night
Amazed? You can roughly imagine what happens in your brain at night:
- At night, the brain cells shrink so that the cerebrospinal fluid can circulate well. The function of this fluid – also called nerve water – is to remove pollutants that were produced by the cells during the day. A very important function that cannot be performed in insomnia and then leads to an accumulation of toxins in the brain.
