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CategoriesBrand BuzzThe stats are in: We’re not sleeping enough! (Malaysiakini)
When it comes to being healthy, there is a lot of talk about diet and exercise, but not as much about sleep. What is really the third pillar of our health is often taken for granted, but the truth is our sleep contributes directly and indirectly to all our other functioning including work or study performance, as well as diet and exercise itself.
CategoriesBlogWhile You Were Sleeping
What do you notice when you watch a child sleeping?
On the surface, you see a peaceful and restful child and oh-how beautiful they look. If you look a little longer, soon you will notice movement in the eyes, coupled with some light jerks of the hands and legs. Well, verily, verily I say unto you… it’s normal.
While all voluntary muscular activities are temporarily suspended, your brain is still somewhat active and shift into different STAGES – REM sleep & Non-REM sleep. These sleep stages can be seen with an electroencephalograph (now say it 10 times), in short, it’s just EEG! With these stages, you’ll understand sleep better and perhaps, just perhaps become more conscious of your own sleeping habit.
Here are the sleep stages in a nutshell.
When we sleep, our brains cycle from stage to stage. To understand the stages better, just imagine yourself falling asleep in your apartment located in a very busy city.
NREM Stage 1:
In this stage, you close your eyes but you are conscious of your surroundings. You can still hear the taxis honking and the piercing sound of an ambulance. It feels like you are not sleeping yet. Some may even feel the feeling of falling at this stage.
NREM Stage 2:
Slowly, your body relaxes, your heart rate slows down and body feels a tad warmer. The hustle and bustle of the city begins to quieten down and it does not bother you as much. This stage of light sleep last only about 20 minutes and you are about to enter into deep sleep.
NREM Stage 3 & 4:
These two stages are relatively known as deep sleep. The EEG would show slow waves pattern (only 50% of brain activity). At this stage, your body repairs bones and skin, and stabilizes your hormone levels.
Stage 4 is more intense and it’s also an important stage of sleep because our energy is restored in this stage. If stage 4 is deprived, you wake up in the morning still feeling physically tired.
Stages 1 to 4 sleep cycle is also known as Non-REM sleep. The NREM stages is important for us because our body repairs and regenerates tissues, strengthens our immune system and builds bones and muscles. That explains why everyone needs plenty of sleep as it is essential for growth, health and brain development.
There are notable physical changes in the body while you sleep; for example, your respiration rate becomes more rapid and irregular but shallow, your heart rate increases, and your eyes move in different directions.
REM Stage (Rapid Eye Movement) Stage 5:
Most vivid dreams occur in this stage of REM sleep as a result of the intense brain activity. From being in your room sleeping to suddenly rescuing a princess in the “Sahara Desert”, you engage your whole self in your “action-packed movie”, your body is temporarily paralyzed (called Atonia), this happens to prevent you from physically replicating the action-packed kung-fu movements in your dreams! The REM stage is the combination of heightened brain activity and muscular paralysis; hence, it’s sometimes called the paradoxical sleep! Interesting!
You must know that it sleep does not just progress through the sequence in order. The sleep cycles moves from stage to stage and it looks something like this: stage 1 > 2 > 3 > 4 > 3 > 2 > REM > 2. This sleep cycle happens about 4 to 5 times throughout the night. But when morning comes, most of your sleep consists of stages 1 and 2, or sometimes REM. Ideally, waking up in the early stages of sleep is best, helping you feel refreshed and less groggy in the morning.
Children and infants get most REM sleep, and as you age, the percentage of REM sleep decreases. The REM sleep is particularly important because many theories suggest with the lack of REM sleep, it causes irritability and anxiety as REM sleep aids in the development of our nervous system. Moreover, REM sleep can also help to improve memory.
Rilax is a natural sleep supplement formulated to help you experience a good night’s sleep, so that you wake up refreshed and ready to start your day. Rilax contains two clinically proven, award-winning all-natural ingredients (Alpha S1-Casein Tryptic Hydrolysate and L-Theanine) in a unique formulation that calms and promotes healthy sleep, as well as effective for relieving stress. Rilax your way to a good night’s sleep…
CategoriesBlogHow to Get the Most Out of Your Sleep
There are things in life that we often take for granted. Sleep is at times one of them. As our schedules get busier, one of the first things that we start to ignore is how much time we devote to sleep. Yet a lack of sleep can have grave consequences to your health. For instance, a prolonged lack of sleep is said has the same devastating effects on the body as if you were intoxicated with alcohol, according to the Journal of Applied Sports Science.
However, merely clocking in more hours to sleep doesn’t necessarily mean that you will awaken well rested. It’s not just the quantity, but really, the quality of your sleep. Here are some pointers on how you can get the most out of your sleep time:
Groove to the right rhythm
Find ways to understand your own sleep cycle – it is different from one individual to another. This is also known as your Circadian Cycle. Your sleep patterns are in 25 hour cycles and since we only have 24 hours in a day, it’s really easy to mess up your body rhythms whenever you stay awake too long or sleep at the wrong times. Be aware and keep tabs of your own body rhythms and make sure to get some shut eye when you need it. Maintain regular sleeping and waking times as much as you can help it.
Carve a routine
Establish a small routine that you can do to wind down at the end of each day. Take a warm shower, do a bit of reading or listen to some soothing music. Anything that helps you relax and quieten down will certainly help get you a better night’s sleep.
Set the tone
Establish a small routine that you can do to wind down at the end of each day. Take a warm shower, do a bit of reading or listen to some soothing music. Anything that helps you relax and quieten down will certainly help get you a better night’s sleep.
Watch that diet
Establish a small routine that you can do to wind down at the end of each day. Take a warm shower, do a bit of reading or listen to some soothing music. Anything that helps you relax and quieten down will certainly help get you a better night’s sleep.
Just Rilax
It is hard to get a good night’s sleep if your mind is full of worry or your body is tensed up. Rilax helps you fall asleep and stay asleep so that you wake up refreshed and ready to start a new day. It is safe for consumption by both adults and children above 12 years old and has been proven to be helpful in keeping sleeping disorders at bay. It now comes with added L-Theanine, a green tea extract, in addition to the original formula that contains Alpha S1-Casein Tryptic Hydrolysate, a unique bioactive milk peptide. Both ingredients work synergistically and more effectively to promote relaxation and restful sleep.
Article by Susanna Khoo.
CategoriesBlogLost Sleep Can Never Be Made Up
Staying in bed on the weekends won’t make up for a weeks’ worth of sleep deprivation. A new study finds that going long periods without sleep can lead to a sort of “sleep debt” that cannot simply be undone with extra sleep later.
Such chronic sleep loss may eventually interfere with a person’s performance on tasks that require focus, becoming particularly noticeable at nighttime. This could be due to the effects of your natural sleep-wake cycle, or circadian rhythm.
Your natural tendency to want to be awake during the day may mask signs of sleep debt when it’s light out. But this protective effect may go away as darkness arrives.
Further, just 10 percent of adolescents are getting the optimal hours of sleep each night.
Here’s how parents can help teens get the most possible sleep, despite the demands of school and work:
- Teenagers should stick to a consistent bedtime, preferably before 10 PM
- Keep sleep and wake times as consistent as possible from day to day; maintaining a more regular sleep schedule makes it easier to fall asleep
- Don’t sleep in — strive to wake up no more than two to three hours later on weekends to keep biological clocks on cycle
Sources:
Live Science January 13, 2010
U.S. News & World Report January 15, 2010
Dr. Mercola’s Comments:
According to a 2007 survey of 12 to 16 year-olds, 25 percent fell asleep with the TV, computer, stereo, iPod headphones or other electronic gadgets on. The same survey revealed these teens only received four to seven hours of sleep each night.
Other studies show that adolescents actually have a different circadian rhythm than children or adults. Teenagers experience a temporary resetting of their body clocks which prompts them to fall asleep and wake up later.
The hormone melatonin is produced later at night for teens, which can make it hard for them to fall asleep at an earlier hour. This temporary adjustment in their body clocks is one of the reasons young adults don’t get the amount of sleep they require.
In addition to a shortage of rest, the quality of sleep these kids get can be very poor.
In order to get the highest quality sleep, you need to be in a room that is dark as possible. Even the slightest bit of light can disrupt your body’s circadian rhythm and production of melatonin and serotonin, two hormones vital to your health.
Many people are not aware that exposure to the smallest amount of light at night will cause your body to shut down further.
Artificial Light and Your Wake/Sleep Cycle
The invention of electrical lighting has been both a boon and a bust. The benefits of artificial light are obvious, but what about the drawbacks?
One of them has to do with how long and how well people sleep these days.
When artificial lighting was introduced, it increased the amount of daytime hours and decreased the number of hours of an average night’s sleep down to seven.
Circadian rhythms are no longer able to adjust to a predictable pattern of daytime and darkness, which has created a chronic modern day sleep deficit and potentially devastating health consequences.
The Dangers of Underestimating Your Sleep Requirements
Sleep deprivation is such a chronic condition these days you might not even realize you suffer from it. You might assume, since you rise when the alarm clock rings and feel reasonably alert once you’re up and moving, that the sleep you’re getting is adequate.
If you’ve shorted yourself on hours and your quality of sleep for any length of time, it’s likely your state of sleep deprivation feels normal to you.
Researchers, however, will tell you that a sleep deficit can have serious, far-reaching effects on your health. Among them:
- A single night of sleeping only four to six hours can impact your ability to think clearly the next day.
- Good sleepers and poor sleepers experience about the same number of daily minor stressful events, but good sleepers are less disturbed by them. Poor sleepers experience life events as being more negative than do those who sleep well.
- Sleep deprivation can cause changes in your brain activity similar to those experienced by people with psychiatric disorders.
- Sleep deprivation puts your body into a pre-diabetic state, and makes you feel hungry, even if you’ve already eaten.
- Interrupted sleep can dramatically weaken your immune system
- Tumors grow two to three times faster in laboratory animals with severe sleep dysfunctions.
How Lack of Sleep Damages Your Health
Melatonin is an antioxidant that helps to suppress harmful free radicals in your body and slows the production of estrogen, which can activate cancer. When your circadian rhythm is disrupted, your body may produce less melatonin and therefore may have less ability to fight cancer.
Exposure to light while your body is trying to sleep activates your stress response and weakens your immune system, which is why irregular sleep cycles can lead to stress-related disorders including:
- Constipation
- Stomach ulcers
- Depression
- Heart disease
A disrupted body clock can wreak havoc on your weight. Losing sleep raises levels of two hormones linked with appetite and eating behavior. Sleep deprivation reduces leptin, a hormone that tells your brain you’re satiated, and increases ghrelin, a hormone that triggers hunger.
Lack of sleep can destroy your memory. If your internal clock isn’t functioning properly, it causes the release of too much GABA, the brain inhibiting neurotransmitter. According to the results of the Stanford study, an excess of GABA inhibits the brain in a way that leads to short term memory problems and the inability to retain new information.
Sleep deprivation ages you. Lack of sleep interferes with metabolism and hormone production in a way that is similar to the effects of aging and the early stages of diabetes. Chronic sleep loss may speed the onset or increase the severity of age-related conditions such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, and memory loss.
More Ways to Disrupt Your Body Clock
Artificial lights aren’t the only way you can disturb your circadian rhythm. You can also confuse your body’s sleep/wake cycle by:
- Staying up late
- Working the night shift
- Using a night light
- Switching time zones (jet lag)
- Eating in the middle of the night or too close to bedtime
Many of your major organs and body systems have their own internal clocks. These clocks influence everything from your body temperature to hormone production to your heart rate. When these clocks are out of whack, all kinds of things can happen which impact your daily life and your overall health.
A Debt You Can’t Repay
For most people who don’t sleep well, it has become a pattern and not just an occasional night of restlessness.
A chronic lack of high-quality sleep simply cannot be recovered. You can’t stockpile a supply to use later, nor can you pay your body’s sleep debt back.
You may feel rested and sharper after sleeping in, but the benefit is temporary and can be compared to depositing money in your account then withdrawing it again a day or two later.
Lost sleep is lost forever, and persistent lack of sleep has a cumulative effect when it comes to the
havoc it can wreak on your health.
How to Get the Amount of Sleep Your Body Needs
As a general rule, adults need between six and nine hours of sleep a night. Most adolescents and teens do best with at least nine hours a night.
There are, of course, exceptions – some people can function well on less than six hours and others need more than nine.
Other factors that can affect your sleep requirements include illness, emotional stress, and the time of year (some folks need more sleep during winter months). If you’re pregnant you might require more sleep, especially during your first trimester.
If you feel tired when you first wake up, you probably aren’t getting sufficient sleep. It’s best to observe how you feel immediately upon awakening rather than after you’re up and moving around.
Those first few moments of wakefulness, before your mind fully kicks into gear, are a better measure of how your body is feeling.
Some tips for getting good quality sleep include:
- Avoid before-bed snacks, particularly grains and sugars. This will raise blood sugar and inhibit sleep. Later, when blood sugar drops too low (hypoglycemia), you might wake up and not be able to fall back asleep.
- No TV right before bed. Even better, get the TV out of the bedroom or even out of the house, completely. It is too stimulating to your brain and it will take longer to fall asleep.
- Wear socks to bed. Your feet will often feel cold before the rest of your body. A study has shown that wearing socks reduces night waking.
- Get to bed fairly early. Our systems, particularly our adrenals, do a majority of their recharging or recovering during the hours of 11PM and 1AM.
- Keep the temperature in your bedroom no higher than 70 degrees F. Many people keep their homes and particularly the upstairs bedrooms too hot.
- Eat a high-protein snack several hours before bed. This can provide the L-tryptophan need to produce melatonin and serotonin.
For a comprehensive list of practical solutions for sleep problems, be sure to read my 33 Secrets to a Good Night’s Sleep.
If you have trouble falling or staying asleep because your mind is racing or you’re emotionally overwhelmed, I recommend you use Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) for insomnia.
Quality Sleep is One of the Pillars of Good Health
Sleep is one of your most precious resources. You undervalue its importance to your health, longevity and the quality of your life at your peril.
Just like exercise, the health benefits you receive every night from sleep depend on how long you spend at it and the quality of it.
Just as eating for your nutritional type provides your body with a solid foundation for health, so does good sleep.
And just as processing your emotions and stressful events in a productive way helps you remove the barriers to achieving optimal health and fitness, adequate high quality sleep is also a core building block for a lifetime of wellness.
CategoriesBlogWhy We Need A Good Night’s Sleep
Few people realize that sleep deficit can be a serious threat to their health and well-being. Lack of sleep and not having quality sleep each night can lead to a weakened immune system, bad skin, poor memory, loss of concentration and high blood pressure.
“Sleep comes from the brain, is a product of the brain, and benefits the brain,” says Allan Hobson, famed Harvard Medical School sleep researcher. Indeed, restful sleep is the ultimate rejuvenation elixir and leads to improved physical performance and greater emotional stability.
Ideally, we equate a good night’s rest with total relaxation. But behind closed eyelids, there is a great deal going on. While we sleep, our body’s organs regenerate and repair themselves. It’s also the time when your mind lays down its memories and processes the information gathered during the day.
Sleep is actually a dynamic process with three distinct and necessary cycles. Each night we cycle through these stages of sleep ranging from light sleep to deep sleep and finally, to rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. A complete cycle consists of REM and non REM cycles that alternate every 90 to 110 minutes and is repeated four to six times per night. REM sleep helps in mental consolidation while non REM helps in cell growth, physical repair and rebuilding.
The earlier part of sleep is mostly non-REM. During that period, our pituitary gland releases growth hormones that repair our body. The latter part of sleep is more and more REM type.
To be mentally alert during the day, the latter part of sleep is more important. We may find that upon waking up to an alarm clock after 5-6 hours of sleep, we are mentally irritable throughout the day (lack of REM sleep). And if we have slept for less than 5 hours, our body is in a complete physical mess (lack of non-REM sleep), we are tired throughout the day, moving like a zombie and we tend to fall sick easily.
So get a good night’s sleep, every night. Try Rilax, a natural sleep aid, to improve your sleep quality.
