The Importance of Sleep
This summer, I stayed up all hours of the night only to wake up at 6:30am for an eight hour work day with an hour commute each way. After about a week of this, I found myself dozing off during work and then chugging coffee so I wouldn’t fall asleep at the wheel on my way home. This led to more late nights from the caffeine keeping me up. Before long, I was skipping workouts because I was so tired, my eating habits went down the tube, and my workplace’s vending machine ran out of M&Ms.
To snap myself out of it, I downloaded the SleepBot app. Not only did this stop me from playing on my phone until 3am, it tracked my movement and woke me up during my lightest sleep with a smart alarm so I wasn’t groggy all day. This app also has tips on falling asleep and staying awake, as well as potential health risks from lack of sleep. Read some of the health risks of lack of sleep below!
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With all of these harmful effects of lack of sleep, sleeping the right amount and being consistent with a bed time and bedtime ritual has more health benefits than people realize. Lack of sleep doesn’t just mean being cranky the next day; it can affect hormone levels, metabolism, and weight. Leptin and Ghrelin are two hormones that suppress and simulate appetite, and their levels in your body are altered by sleep. Growth hormones are also influenced by sleep and limited sleep can slow cell regeneration, decrease muscle mass, and lower your metabolism.
There is good news in all of this; getting sufficient sleep can decrease hunger and boost metabolism! A full eight hours can also lower cortisol levels. Too high of a cortisol level produces extra glucose, and when your body has excess glucose, it gets saved as fat.
To help get your sleeping habits under control, download the SleepBot app, and check out these tips for a better night’s sleep!