There’s More To Beauty Sleep Than Meets The Eye

There’s More To Beauty Sleep Than Meets The Eye

Oluwafemi Agbekorode

While some might think it is merely a catchphrase, beauty sleep is scientifically proven. It is quality sleep that allows your cells to heal and regenerate. Beauty sleep may appear to be nothing more than a means of passing time, but it offers several benefits. When you sleep, you do so much more than lay still doing nothing. The body produces hormones that enhance growth and healing. These hormones stimulate the formation of new cells in the body that aids the healing of any damage done to the skin during the day.

Sleep is essential for our health and well-being, so it is no surprise that we spend a lot of time trying to find ways

to improve our sleep quality. Whether you are a student, a working parent, a blue-collar employee, or a senior citizen, understanding how much sleep you need is important. Getting enough sleep is one of the most vital factors that guarantee a healthy lifestyle—most people tend to underestimate it.

We will take a look at the negative effects of sleep deprivation on general wellness; the importance of getting a beauty sleep, and how you can intensify it. If you’re not making beauty sleep an intrinsic part of your daily routines, you’re surely not doing your skin any good. You should become familiar with why you need it and how you can get it.

What Happens to a Person Deprived of Quality Sleep?

Sleep deprivation is usually a result of a severe lack of sleep or poor sleep quality. It directly impacts our thoughts, feelings, and even productivity. If you have had mood swings, felt depressed, anxious, stressed, paranoid, suicidal, have low libido or trouble concentrating or remembering things, you may be sleep deprived. Do not panic, you are not alone if you fall within this category.

One out of every three adults fails to get the recommended amount of sleep daily. Those who are sleep deprived tend to be unaware of how terrible their sleep patterns are. Poor sleep hygiene, lifestyle choices, work obligations, sleep disorders, and other medical conditions can influence your lack of sleep. While the shortterm effects are more visible, chronic sleep deprivation can increase the risk of physical and mental health problems in the long run. Sleep deprivation has a slew of negative consequences—all of which can have an impact on our work performance, mental health, and even our appearance.

The effects include:

Cognitive Impairment

Sleep deprivation can impair your ability to recall events that happened during the day. It affects your concentration, interfering with your learning process. And, also your ability to make life-changing decisions.

Unhealthy weight gain

Lack of sleep can lead to obesity. A study shows that in the absence of quality sleep, your hypothalamus — a part of the brain that controls hunger and thirst can be affected. If you don’t get the right amount of sleep needed, your ghrelin hormone levels skyrocket; stimulating your appetite so you get the urge to eat more food than usual. At the same time, your leptin hormone levels go down, that is, you might not feel satiated; you just want to keep eating. In other words, the less sleep you get, the more your body craves food.

Skin Damage

Lack of sleep can also lead to lacklustre skin, fine lines, and dark circles under the eyes and accelerate intrinsic ageing, as your skin fails to recover from exposure to the sun - thus resulting in more wrinkles.

Mood Swing

Lack of sleep can cause

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moodiness and irritability and affect your ability to cope with stress or manage difficult emotions. It is also responsible for you feeling worn out, sluggish and unmotivated to be efficient at work, school activities, and even at home.

Teens (14-17 years): 8-10 hours

Younger Adults (18-29 years): 7-9 hours

Adults (30-64 years): 7-9 hours

Older Adults (>65 years): 7-8 hours

How much sleep do you need?

According to the National Sleep Foundation (Suni, 2021), these are the recommended amounts of sleep you should be getting each night:

Newborns (0-3 months): 14-17 hours

Steps to improve the quality of sleep?

Infants (4-11 months): 12-15 hours

Toddlers (1-2 years): 11-14 hours

Preschoolers (3-5 years): 1013 hours

Kids (6-13 years): 9-12 hours

The importance of a good night’s sleep cannot be overstated. Not only does it leave you feeling refreshed and energized but getting your recommended dose of sleep has been proven to increase your lifespan, lower stress levels, reduce the risk of developing chronic diseases, and even boost your cognitive ability. While we can’t always control how much sleep we get, there are a few things we can do to make the most of the time we spend catching some sleep.

Try these tips to wake up feeling refreshed and looking your best.

Keep your sleeping environment dark and cool

Avoid eating heavy meals before bed

Research has shown that a dark ambience is beneficial to your sleeping health. It is best to keep your room as dimly lit as possible, especially with the lights off. This will help your body adjust properly to the fact that it is due for a good sleep.

While eating a light dinner before bed is ideal, experts recommend avoiding eating meals at least 3 hours before going to bed. Eating heavy meals before bed can result in frequent urination, acid reflux and indigestion, which can impact your sleep quality.

Exercise during the day

Exercising in the daytime can help improve your sleep quality and duration at night. This can also help reduce stress and improve your mood, which contributes to better sleep quality.

Keep a consistent sleep schedule

Sleep is a habit, just like anything else. The more consistent you are with your sleep schedule, the easier it will become. Also, it is easier to maintain a healthy lifestyle if you have a consistent sleep schedule.

Stay away from electronics

The bright light from gadgets hurts your sleep quality as it can trick your brain into thinking it is daytime, which can make it more difficult to sleep. Avoid looking at your phone, computer, and other electronic devices just before bedtime.

Breathing Exercises to Help You Relax and Sleep

The 4-7-8 Breathing Exercise: This breathing exercise is great for lowering stress, increasing relaxation, and helping you fall asleep faster. Place your tongue behind your teeth and exhale completely through your mouth while counting to 7. Pause for 4 seconds, and then inhale for a count of 8 through your nose.

The Breathing Bubble

This breathing exercise will help you stay relaxed and calm, which can make it easier to fall asleep. First, place your hand on your stomach and take a deep breath. As you are breathing in, imagine that you’re breathing into a bubble in your stomach. When you’ve finished breathing in, hold that bubble inside of you for 3-5 seconds. Then exhale, pushing the bubble out through your stomach and legs.

In conclusion, sleep is an integral part of our lives. While we may often take it for granted, the importance of sleep cannot be overemphasized. Sleep deprivation can have serious consequences on our physical and mental health. If you think you may be sleep deprived or experience chronic symptoms like Insomnia, it is important to speak to a doctor to get the help you require...