Why do we need sleep?

Why do we need proper 8 hours of sleep? Is sleep important? What is the right amount of sleep that we need? These are all questions that I thought about. Because, since I graduated University/college, I have had a hard time waking up!

Sleep is not a mystery. We need 7.5 hours to 9 hours of sleep. Our chronotype — whether we are early risers or late night owls is dictated by our genetics!

Hormones are our body’s signals. It controls almost everything in our bodies. So, sleep helps control hormone regulation. Hormone balance occurs mainly in liver. Proper sleep helps with liver detoxing. Our liver starts detoxing around 11PM! Good sleep is linked to increase human growth hormone. If you want to get tall and muscular (who doesn’t..?), then having good night sleep is important.

So in our non REM sleep, which is the first half of sleep cycle, it is important for brain aging. Second half of sleep cycle, that is our REM sleep, it is important for categorizing everything, organizing and consolidating. These two halves happen every 90 minutes. The more of these cycles happen, the better.

If you get less than six hours of sleep, we tend to lack control of blood sugar , weight management, libido goes down and our immune system decreases significantly. Less sleep is also correlated to more protein deposits in your brain, which in turn results in cognitive decline. Our medial prefrontal cortex does not communicate well with our amygdala with less sleep as well. So think of this like pressing on the gas pedal with no brake pedal.

Somethings that help: light your home with Himalayan lights or warm calm lights and avoid going to the supermarket at night. Those white lights are not helping anyone. Make sure you have a routine. That will also help.