Monday 7 June 2010

The big sleep

A friend of mine was really tired a couple of weeks ago and decided to have a really early night. She ended up going to sleep at 8pm and getting 11 hours sleep! She felt so much better that she has decided to have another really early night this week.

It's not surprising my friend felt much better as sleep is vital for good health. Sleep is when your body rests and repairs: your liver detoxifies, your digestive system has a rest, your hair, skin and nails grow, muscle tissues are repaired and even your heart beat slows giving your heart a break. Insufficient sleep leads to low energy levels, poor immunity, increased appetite, increased stress hormone production and poor skin condition.

In an ideal world we'd all be asleep by 10pm every night and wake naturally 8-9 hour later, however with a city job and lifestyle that's pretty much impossible. This is where my friends idea of having a very early night each week comes into it's own as it's much more feasible to have one early night a week on a quiet night and get 9-10hours sleep, than to be in bed by 10pm every night.

It's been demonstrated that you can catch up on missed sleep and whilst it's not a one for one trade (it takes more than one hour to catch up for one hour lost) it's definitely worth doing. So next time you find yourself yawning in front of the telly at 9pm, switch off the box and have an early night.
------------------

No comments:

Post a Comment