For a long time nowhere have we been as frugal as when we sleep. Celebrities like Winston Churchill and Nikola Tesla only slept a few hours at night. Thomas Edison – the inventor of the light bulb – thought sleep was a waste of time.
Today, we know that sleep not only contributes to our well-being, but also keeps us physically and mentally healthy. Just like a healthy diet or exercise, sufficient sleep is part of a balanced life.
Why is sleep so important?
For most of them, everyday life is particularly stressful – every day you experience a wide variety of situations, process a lot of information, learn new things and have ideas. You can recover from all these exertions in your sleep. This results in positive effects for the brain and body. Scientists come up with an organic herbal entity, it is delta 8, becoming quite common in Minnesota and other major states in the US. Researchers in the US and Germany claim that it really helps naturally in sleeping, keeping mind calm and body active.
What many do not know: When sleeping, the body does not simply switch itself off. During this time, the brain, for example, remains active and takes over the biological monitoring of numerous functions.
What exactly happens while you sleep
- Your body rebuilds muscles that you used during the day.
- Harmful by-products are broken down in the brain.
- Information is processed and stored permanently.
Recommended length of sleep by age group
Although we sleep almost a third of our lives, many people pay too little attention to this activity. At the same time, many disruptive factors affect our sleep every day: These include, for example, coffee, energy drinks or alcohol. Many don’t even know what it feels like to be well rested and well rested.
The average healthy adult needs between 7 and 9 hours of sleep each night to function at their best. Children and teenagers even more so.
The National Sleep Foundation worked with specialists for over 2 years to revise a meta-study to find out how much sleep we actually need at a given age.
Sleep cycles
While we sleep, we fluctuate between different stages of sleep: light sleep, deep sleep, REM sleep, etc. The average length of a sleep cycle for most people is around 90 minutes (many believe anything between 80-100 minutes is also in Order).
Studies show that not only the length of sleep is decisive for a restful sleep. The number of completed sleep cycles per night is also important. In every sleep cycle we go through several phases that have different brain waves.
If we wake up in the middle of one of these phases, we do not feel as relaxed as if we had completed the phase. So, the optimal sleep duration is always a multiple of these 90 minutes.
For example, 7.5 hours or 9 hours.
Important: The sleep cycles look different in children! The duration is between 50 and 60 minutes.
How much sleep do we need?
The need for sleep varies with age and is also influenced by factors such as lifestyle and individual health. It should be clear to everyone that a newborn baby needs far more sleep than a grown man.
But there are also great differences in the less extreme gradations of age. You will get a helpful overview in the following points.
How much sleep do you need
Thanks to the countless studies on the subject, we now know what the recommended sleep duration looks like. Nevertheless, you should also observe your individual needs. How do you feel after waking up?
There is a big difference between the length of sleep that is just okay for you and the one that allows you to achieve your optimal performance.
To narrow down the problems, try to answer the following questions for yourself:
- Are you productive and happy when you get up?
- Do you depend on caffeine or other pick-me-ups to get through the day?
- Do you often feel sleepy during the day?
- Do you wake up more often at night or does it take forever to fall asleep? Do you experience other sleep problems?
- Do you experience any health issues that could be related to sleeping?
If you are not satisfied with your sleep schedule or feel tired all the time, it can be very helpful to talk to a doctor about it. He can advise you on your problems. Some people just need a few good tips on how to fall asleep.
Factors such as sleep cycles can also be a reason why you do not feel rested despite a perfectly maintained sleep duration.
Signs that you are sleep deprived
In addition to the most important questions to ask yourself about sleep, there are also some signs that you may be sleep deprived.
Often it is not even clear to us that we are sleeping too little. We are already used to feeling somehow tired or drained and believe that this is the normal state.
In addition, most of the signs are very subtle and go unnoticed for a long time. Some examples are:
- You just can’t get out of bed in the morning.
- The snooze button is your best friend.
- During the day you often feel totally tired.
- At the weekend you sleep until midday.
Often times, the first step in improving something is simply realizing that something is wrong. So, if you realize that you haven’t paid enough attention to sleep or that you may even suffer from lack of sleep, the first step has already been taken.
Sleep Quality – What Kind of Sleep?
But when it comes to sleep duration, it is not that simple: After all, what good is enough sleep if the quality is not right?
Not all forms of sleep are created equally well. But what actually distinguishes good sleep from bad and how can sleep quality be defined?
Researchers would determine the quality of sleep based on the following factors:
- How long do you take when it comes to falling asleep?
- How much time do you spend in a certain sleep phase?
- How frequently does your sleep get disturbed?
- How rested do you usually feel the next day?
Each sleep phase in the cycle offers different benefits. Particularly noteworthy are deep sleep and REM sleep. Both fulfill basic factors that detoxify our body and give us recovery.
Deep sleep
When we fall into deep sleep, the EEG Delta shows waves in the brain. Breathing becomes more regular and blood pressure falls – the pulse rate drops by 20 to 30 percent. At this stage it is difficult to wake someone up.
Deep sleep is extremely important for our body to function properly. Now it repairs itself, that is, muscles are built and tissues grow. At the same time, you get new energy for the following day.
If you want to ensure a lot of deep sleep and thus a restful sleep, it is best to avoid alcohol and nicotine.
REM sleep
During REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, we dream. Your brain is working at full speed. It thinks and dreams as your eyes move quickly behind the closed lids.
Your body is also on the highest alert. REM sleep helps you learn and organize your mind.
Is Too Much Sleep Healthy?
Because sleep is so important to many aspects of health, you should make it a priority. Make sure you get enough sleep every night!
But is it also possible to overdo it with sleeping?
For some people, this condition is even a medical disorder: hypersomnia. Patients suffer from terrible fatigue and their low energy levels. Increased sleep is also sometimes associated with mental health problems such as depression.
Many other medical problems are related to excessive sleep, including diabetes, obesity, and headaches.
Conclusion
Getting enough sleep is extremely important and should also play a central role in your life. This not only supports your mental and physical health, but also your emotional resilience.
Depending on what your life is like at the moment, getting enough sleep is not always easy to achieve. However, there is more room for individual needs than you may be aware of.
- The recommended bedtime for an adult is between 7-9 hours.
- It is best to find out independently which is the right sleep duration for you. Observe your rhythm: When do you usually wake up if you don’t set an alarm?
- Also consider the sleep cycles! Research has shown that you need to go through multiple cycles while you sleep, each lasting around 90 minutes.
- Try to stick to this rhythm as often as possible – a good routine won’t come overnight.
Once you have found the right sleep duration for you, you will certainly feel more productive, mentally more productive and emotionally more balanced.
