If you want to keep your medical cost low and stay in ideal health, sleep is the best medicine around, and it’s completely free! Recently, sleep specialist and spokesperson for the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, Dr. Shalini Paruthi shared some of the biggest health benefits that sleep brings with the Men’s Journal. Check out what you’ve been missing out on if you haven’t been taking your snooze seriously:
It keeps your heart healthy: There’s no need to pile on the stress hormones that stem from poor sleep quality. Not getting enough snooze has been linked to a list of heart issues, including strokes, heart attacks and high blood pressure.
It prevents you from crashing: Drowsy driving is considered even more risky than drunk driving by many researchers. A slower reaction time and poor concentration occur when you skip sleep, contributing to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety’s findings that sleeping 6-7 hours a night doubles your risk of being in a car accident, while sleeping less than 5 hours of shut-eye quadruples it.
It keeps your weight in check: Sleep is a great way to maintain your weight as it helps you opt for smaller portions, reduce those cravings for high-calorie foods and increases your energy for more physical activity throughout the day.
It keeps your immune system strong: Nobody likes being sick! Tuck in on time for high quality sleep to decrease your sick days each year, make vaccines more effective and beat the occasional cold or flu much quicker.
It helps your athletic ability: Investing in sleep improves your coordination, speed, muscle recovery, and reaction time. One study found that chronic sleep loss can reduce your power and strength the next day.
It keeps your brain from burning out: Proper quality sleep leads to higher cognitive functioning, improved concentration and more creativity. All it takes is one sleepless night for an unfocused with poor memory recall, leading to plenty of mistakes at work.
It can stop headaches: Stress headaches are the worse, but according to Dr. Parathi, getting more sleep to better cope with anxieties and stressors can ease your pain.
It makes you happy: While we all know how cranky we get after a night of poor sleep, it can be easy to forget that sleep makes us feel much more optimistic. You are less likely to snap at the driver who cut you off and cry when the barista at Starbucks gets your order wrong.
It helps you handle pain: It’s easier to tough out physical pain when you are properly equipped with sleep. Numerous studies have confirmed sleep’s ability to increase our pain tolerance and be a strong pain reliever.
It keeps your relationships going strong: A short temper and crabby attitude can lead to more fights with your partner, plus a lack of sleep makes you less likely to have empathy, says Dr. Paruthi.
Make your sleep more efficient each night by remembering to power down at least hour before your bedtime. Put away electronics, take a warm bath, meditate and up your relaxation to make sleep a breeze!
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