How quality sleep can transform your health
There’s no overlooking the importance of sleep. It’s the foundation to optimal health, impacting everything from mental clarity and emotional stability to physical vitality and longevity. Many studies suggest that better sleep may even add years to your life! This doesn’t just relate to the quantity of sleep - the quality of sleep is equally as important.
Matthew Walker, author of Why We Sleep: The New Science of Sleep and Dreams declared that:
“A consistent seven to nine-hour sleep each night is the most effective thing we can do to reset our brain and body health… scientifically and personally.”
Walker believes that quality sleep has the power to transform your entire health, proclaiming that a good night’s sleep should be “prescribed” by doctors as opposed to sleep medication! He outlines the many consequences of not getting enough sleep and how it’s linked to surprising issues you maybe wouldn’t expect, such as weight gain, injuries and disease. Too little sleep makes you want to eat more, despite feeling full. However, when you get enough sleep your body is able to comprehend when you are satisfied and when you are hungry as the hormones are functioning properly. Sleep is therefore key to controlling appetite and weight. This also coincides with athletic performance. Walker goes as far to say that, “sleep is perhaps the greatest legal performance-enhancing 'drug' that few people are taking advantage of.” Good quality sleep for optimal durations can help to improve muscle growth, strength and recovery while preventing injury. Muscle is essential for keeping your body fit, mobile and strong - and we all know that movement makes up a huge part of the mind-body connection, proving vital for physical and mental health.
Then there’s the mental aspect of good sleep. When you receive sufficient sleep, it improves your mental health, providing more clarity, improving memory and reducing the risk of diseases like Alzheimer’s. This happens because when you enter deep sleep, the brain is cleansed of “a sticky, toxic protein linked to Alzheimer’s, known as beta amyloid. Without sufficient sleep, you fail to get that power cleanse.” Walker expands on this by saying that, “with each passing night of insufficient sleep, that Alzheimer’s disease risk escalates, like compounding interest on a loan.” It was also found in a 2021 study, that improving sleep early on in life might limit the risk of developing (or exacerbating) substantive mental health difficulties. This highlights the significant beneficial impact of sleep on mental health and when you can identify the root cause, you can take the necessary steps to overcoming sleep deprivation and preventing symptoms worsening.
Proper sleep also affects immunity - both when you are exposed and the recovery. It’s been shown that those who don’t receive enough quality sleep are more likely to become ill after being exposed to a virus, especially a common cold virus. Not to mention the recovery time after becoming sick. Sleep provides essential support to the immune system, enabling a well-balanced and effective immune function that can defend, adapt and respond optimally. When we don’t have the proper sleep we need, our bodies can fail us and it becomes a vicious circle where we are more vulnerable to illnesses and problems.
To learn more about sleep health, join live or rewatch our Sleep Health 101 online class. On the Ora membership, we also have top tips for improving sleep and resources for sleep preparation. Members have free access to all.