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SLEEPLESS NIGHTS WON’T JUST MAKE YOU TIRED. THEY CAN NEGATIVELY IMPACT YOUR HEALTH, YOUR HAPPINESS, AND YOUR MOOD. READ ON TO FIND OUT HOW YOU CAN GET THE SLEEP YOU NEED By Maureen Farrar
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good night’s sleep is incredibly important for your health. In fact, sleep is the cornerstone of wellness, and ranks in importance up there with eating well and exercising. According to the National Institutes of Health, getting enough quality sleep at the right times can help protect your mental health, physical health, quality of life, and safety.
WHY SLEEP MATTERS The way you feel while you’re awake depends on what happens while you are sleeping. While we doze, our brains and bodies are hard at work, repairing us after the day, and refueling us for the day ahead. When you’re sleep-deficient, it affects everything from problem solving to your memory and mood and even your health. In his book Change Your Schedule, Change Your Life (Harper Wave, 2018), Dr. Suhas Kshirsagar says, “If you don’t balance your activity with rest, you will deplete your strength, weaken your digestive 46
fire, and ultimately shorten your life span.” HEART HEALTH: Sleep is involved
in healing and repair of your heart and blood vessels. Shortchanging yourself on sleep can lead to an increase in stress hormones such as cortisol, which compels your heart to work harder. Sleep disorders have been linked to an increased risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, and stroke. METABOLISM AND WEIGHT: Sleep
deficiency increases the risk of obesity. Sleep helps you maintain a healthy balance of hormones that make you feel hungry (ghrelin) or full (leptin); when you don’t get enough shut-eye, your ghrelin levels go up and leptin levels go down, making your feel hungrier than when you’re rested. Not sleeping also impacts how your body reacts to insulin, the hormone that controls your blood sugar. When you don’t get enough sleep, your blood sugar
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