How Does Sleep Impact Your Health & Wellbeing?
Newborn babies find it easy. Toddlers sometimes find it daunting. Teenagers are convinced they don't need it. Adults want it but frequently don't have the time for it. Seniors have time for it but often can't achieve it. Yet it's a simple fact that whatever your age, getting a good night's sleep is one of the best ways of staying happy and healthy.
Coaching health and wellness for over 10 years has given me insight into what are the key topics that require immediate focus to achieve a significant shift in your overall health. Sleep is definitely up there in the top 3.
Over this next campaign we will be breaking down the science of sleep and how it relates to the broader topic of wellness. Our next articles, social media content and E-book will be designed to:
Guide you through practical implementation of changes to improve sleep quality.
Raise your awareness on the impact of sleep on health and wellness.
Educate you on some sleep science and why it matters.
Provide you with tools to improve your day to day performance.
At the end of this campaign we will be releasing an E-book with an easy to follow step by step guide to help you focus on key aspects of your routine, identify what your sleep chronotype is, and what immediate steps you can take to improve your sleep patterns and ensure you are resting and recovering from your days activities optimally.
How does sleep work?
Our bodies function on many different time cycles (seasonal, monthly, weekly, daily). Sleep is one of the biological functions of the body that is determined by a circadian rhythm. Circadian rhythms are endogenous biological cycles that happen in a 24 hour / daily window.
Our sleep wake cycle is influenced by synchronised internal changes including fluctuations in body temperature, blood pressure, hormones. These circadian rhythms can be influenced by external factors like sunlight and temperature.
Humans are diurnal creatures which means that our biological functions have evolved for us to live during the day and sleep during the night. Therefore, daylight and darkness have an impact on many of our body’s functions. For example, when our bodies perceive that the sun is setting and it’s getting darker we begin to increase the production of a hormone called Melatonin. This hormone helps regulate our internal body clock cycle of sleep and wakefulness.
In the mornings when we perceive sunlight, this stimulus begins the reduction of Melatonin and increases our cortisol levels (stress hormone) preparing us for daytime activity by powering up the sympathetic nervous system. Throughout the day our cortisol levels decrease.
Even during our sleep, we enter different cycles of rest & recovery: light sleep, deep sleep and REM (Rapid Eye Movement).
What’s important to emphasise, is that our bodies have a rhythm and should be in sync with more than what we realise. There are many functions happening without any effort, but there are many external factors that may disrupt our natural biological cycles. Understanding these cycles in itself is a huge step in improving your health.
Have you noticed how some of us wake up early energised and jump out of bed ready for any activity, while others need 5 alarms and three cups of coffee to start their work day? This is because each person has a different sleep chronotype. Chronotype is your own body’s expression of the circadian rhythm. Like anything else, it’s a very individual aspect of your health and should be taken into consideration when planning your day.
What is your chronotype?
According to sleep expert Dr.Michael Breus, your unique wiring (aka sleep chronotype) determines your most energetic times of day.
While you likely already know whether you’re a morning person or a night owl, Breus takes circadian rhythms one step further with four classifications called sleep chronotypes, which will help you figure out the best time of day to make an important decision, work out, and do anything better.
Based on morning and evening preferences, he identified four different chronotypes, or circadian rhythm personalities, and then associated each one with an animal whose sleep-wake habits best mirrored them.
When Breus switched up his patients’ daily routines to accommodate their sleep chronotype, their productivity soared and several sleep issues resolved.
Bear
Most people fall into the bear chronotype category. Bears’ sleep-wake patterns follow the sun, and they have no difficulty sleeping. Bears are most ready for intense tasks smack in the middle of the morning, and they feel a dip in the mid-afternoon.
Overall, bears have steady energy and get things done. They can maintain productivity all day as long as they don’t try to push past the mid-afternoon recharge period. Bears tend to be friendly people-people.
Lion
Lions wake up early. These are the go-getters, the leaders, the type-A movers and shakers. They might not reach for a cup of coffee until a little before lunch, and their most productive hours have already passed by that time. Because of their action-packed mornings, they tend to fizzle out in the evening and turn in early.
Wolf
Wolves are on the nocturnal end of the spectrum. They get a later start to their day and ride the productivity wave while the rest of the world winds down. Interestingly, wolves have two peak periods: from noon to 2 pm and again just as most of the working world is clocking out.
Wolves tend to be makers — writers, artists, coders. The creative areas of the wolf’s brain light up when the sun goes down. More often than not, wolf types tend toward introversion and crave their alone time.
The wolf chronotype schedules later meetings and invites you to dinner just past the restaurant’s dinner rush.
Dolphin
Dolphins may or may not have a regular sleep routine. As light sleepers, they frequently wake throughout the night and often do not sleep enough. Dolphins struggle to fall asleep, ruminating over the day’s events.
Dolphins’ extreme intelligence and tendency toward perfectionism probably explain why they spend so much time chewing over the day. They do their best work from mid-morning through early afternoon.
Your circadian rhythm works best when you have regular sleep habits, like going to bed at night and waking up in the morning around the same times from day to day (including weekends). When things get in the way, night shifts, jet lag, daylight savings time, or a compelling sporting event on TV that keeps you up into the early hours of the morning, you can disrupt your circadian rhythm, which makes you feel out of sorts and can make it harder to pay attention .
Why does sleep matter?
If you’ve ever spent a night tossing and turning, you already know how you’ll feel the next day — tired, cranky, and out of sorts. The long term effects of sleep deprivation are real. It drains your mental abilities and puts your physical health at real risk. Science has linked poor sleep with many issues from weight gain to a weakened immune system.
Brain
Your body needs sleep, just as it needs air and food to function at its best. During sleep, your body heals itself and restores its chemical balance. Your brain forges new connections and helps memory retention. Without enough sleep, your brain and body systems won’t function normally. It can also dramatically lower your quality of life.
Sleep deprivation leaves your brain exhausted, so it can’t perform its duties as well. You may also find it more difficult to concentrate or learn new things. The signals your body sends may also come at a delay, decreasing your coordination skills and increasing your risks for accidents.
Sleep deprivation also negatively affects your mental abilities and emotional state. You may feel more impatient or prone to mood swings. It can also compromise decision-making processes and creativity.
You may also end up experiencing micro sleep in the day. During these episodes, you’ll fall asleep for a few seconds or minutes without realising it. Micro sleep is out of your control and can be extremely dangerous if you’re driving. It can also make you more prone to injury due to trips and falls.
Immune system
While you sleep, your immune system produces protective, infection-fighting substances like cytokines. It uses these substances to combat foreign invaders such as bacteria and viruses. Cytokines also help you sleep, giving your immune system more energy to defend your body against illness.
Sleep deprivation prevents your immune system from building up its forces. If you don’t get enough sleep, your body may not be able to fend off invaders. It may also take you longer to recover from illness. Long-term sleep deprivation also increases your risk for chronic illnesses like diabetes and heart disease.
Digestive system
Along with eating too much and not exercising, sleep deprivation is another risk factor for becoming overweight and obesity. Sleep affects the levels of two hormones, Leptin and Ghrelin, which control feelings of hunger and fullness.
Leptin tells your brain that you’ve had enough to eat. Without enough sleep, your brain reduces Leptin and raises Ghrelin, which is an appetite stimulant. The flux of these hormones could explain nighttime snacking or why someone may overeat later in night. A lack of sleep can also contribute to weight gain by making you feel too tired to exercise.
Sleep deprivation also prompts your body to release higher levels of insulin after you eat. Insulin controls your blood sugar level. Higher insulin levels promote fat storage and increase your risk for type 2 diabetes.
Endocrine system
Hormone production is dependent on your sleep. For testosterone production, you need at least three hours of uninterrupted sleep, which is about the time of your first REM episode. Waking up throughout the night could affect hormone production.
This interruption can also affect growth hormone production, especially in children and adolescents. These hormones help build muscle mass and repair cells and tissues. The pituitary gland releases growth hormones continuously, but sleep and exercise also help induce the release of this hormone.
So why are we missing out on sleep?
Is it because people do not value sleep anymore? Consumed chasing the dream lifestyle, working harder and harder year after year, resulting in less hours per day available for sleep?
Is it because people consume too much stimulus both electronic (TV. Phones) and chemicals (Caffeine and other stimulants)?
Is it because we don’t prepare well enough for sleep or know how to?
Let’s start understanding the quality of your sleep and how well are you living based on your circadian rhythms and Chronotype.
Below is a questionnaire inspired by the professional work of Nick Littlehales who has coached professional teams like Manchester United on the most advance techniques for sleep, performance and recovery. The answers to this questionnaire will help you personally to identify which areas of sleep are most important for you. Make a note of them and use this as a reference tool for you to come back when implementing the changes we will suggest on our next articles and Sleep Program.
Keep an eye on our social media activity for more information on sleep techniques.