How important is sleep? In our go, go, go world, many of us give up sleep in order to accomplish everything that’s on our to-do list. When we have more to do, we simply stay up later and get up earlier in order to accomplish it. Some of us skip sleep entirely, pulling all-nighters one or more nights of the week.
Though lack of sleep may not seem to have much more of an impact than making us feel more tired the next day, not getting enough zzzs can actually lead to a lot more serious problems. If you are trying to improve your health or fitness — or to lose weight — not getting enough sleep can seriously undermine your efforts. Here are just a few ways that the amount of sleep you get (or don’t) can impact your health:
Hormonal Imbalances
All of this can lead to significant weight problems — even obesity in the long run. If you want to lose weight (or just maintain a healthy weight), getting enough sleep is just as important as exercising and eating a healthy diet.
Increased Incidence of Depression
Reduced Immune Function
Lack of sleep suppresses your immune system, increasing your likelihood of developing minor illnesses and infections that could lead to more serious ones. Sleep deprivation reduces your white blood cell count and increases inflammation in your body, both of which make your immune system less effective. Lack of sleep can even make some medications or vaccines that you receive less effective.
Increased Prevalence of Disease
Sleep is a significant part of a whole-health plan. Exercise and a healthy diet are two components. However, if you want to achieve true health and fitness, and maintain a healthy weight, you must make sure you are getting at least 8 hours of sleep a night, every night.
Do you get as much sleep as you need to? Tell us how much you sleep a night and how it affects you in the comments!