Effects of Poor Sleep
Even though sleep is extremely detrimental to our wellbeing, we tend to place it on the lower end of our priorities. Sleep deprivation can not only make you feel tired, but it can also affect your overall physical and mental health over time. But, how exactly?
Keep reading to find out how sleep deprivation can affect your body.
Weight Gain
Sleep deprivation is linked to obesity. When a person gets insufficient sleep, their hormones become imbalanced. Lower levels of leptin are produced, which is the hormone that suppresses appetite. While leptin is reduced, ghrelin increases, which is the peptide hormone that stimulates appetite [1].
One night of insufficient sleep may not cause a drastic difference. However, years of sleep deprivation will cause this hormone imbalance, contributing to weight gain, poor eating decisions, and even slowing down your metabolism [2].
Lack of Focus
After a night of restless sleep, you will feel drowsy and fatigued. While feeling excessively tired throughout the day, you may experience a lack of focus, impaired memory, and even microsleeps.
A lack of sleep can cause you to feel sleepy throughout the day, craving sleep for as long as you’re awake. As a result, your body is constantly looking for sleep, which can lead to microsleeps. Microsleep is when your body dozes off for a couple of seconds, which can be extremely dangerous- you could fall asleep briefly at work, or even fall asleep behind the wheel [3]. Sleep is not only important for you and your body, but sometimes also for the safety of others.
Increased Risk of Sickness
Losing sleep can make it easier for your body to get sick, worsening your immune system and making it up to three times more likely to catch a cold [3,4]. Not only could you be at risk for the common cold, but sleep deprivation can also lead to an increased risk of the following [4]:
- Colorectal cancer
- Heart disease
- High blood pressure
- Type 2 diabetes (3x more likely)
Quality of Life
By not getting enough sleep during the night, you are more likely to find time to make up for it during the day. As a result, you are more likely to miss out on daily activities such as social events, time with family and friends, or even time for your own hobbies.
Sleep deprivation can often lead to anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, and other mental health conditions [5]. A lack of time for our social needs often leads to sadness and more sleep deprivation, beginning a cycle of endless dissatisfaction. So not only does sleep deprivation negatively impact our bodies physically, but mentally as well.
By this point, we’ve established that sleep is an extremely important part of our lives that we take for granted. So how do we fix our sleep schedules and get a better night’s sleep? Here’s a short list of ways you can start improving your sleep:
Create a Peaceful Night Routine
To get your body ready for sleep, it is recommended to create a relaxing night routine. For instance, your routine could consist of a warm bath, a skincare routine, reading, or journaling. Perform an activity that brings you joy and calm, while staying away from electronic devices.
Yes, you read that correctly. In our digital world, it is a difficult task to put our electronics down for more than a couple of hours. However, it is important to keep away from electronics for at least thirty minutes before going to bed. Electronics emit blue light, which our brain perceives as sunlight, therefore fooling the brain into staying awake for a longer amount of time [6].
Upgrade Your Bedding
Your bed sheets could be contributing to your quality of sleep. For instance, the wrong sheet material can cause night sweats, skin sensitivity, and even allergies. Cosy House’s Luxury Bamboo Bed Sheets are made with extra-plush bamboo viscose blend, helping you achieve the cosiest night of uninterrupted sleep.
Their bamboo viscose blend is hypoallergenic, resisting common non-living allergens and wrinkles, benefiting those with sensitive skin and noses. Additionally, they stay cooler than cotton, carrying thermal-regulating properties that help you avoid night sweats. Sleep through the night and wake up refreshed!
Upgrade Your Pillow
There is just about nothing more uncomfortable than sleeping with a warm pillow. The answer? Cosy House’s Luxury Bamboo Pillow. Made with bamboo viscose blend, this pillow has all the same effects and benefits as the bamboo viscose sheets listed above, while providing cloud-like confort for your head.
Not only is the Luxury Bamboo Pillow hypoallergenic and breathable, but it is also designed to provide extra comfort and support to the head and neck. Its bamboo viscose blend allows the pillow to remain cool throughout the night, resisting common non-living allergens and odors.
Ready to try it for yourself? Check it out here!
It’s easy to cast aside our need to sleep, but it is not so easy to recover from sleep deprivation. Sufficient sleep is absolutely necessary for our physical health, mental health, and overall wellbeing, as well as that of others. Maybe instead of finishing that show you’re binging, consider getting an extra hour of sleep tonight– we promise technology will still be there tomorrow.
We've gone ahead & enclosed a 10% off coupon below for you to use if you'd like to take the plunge and try out our sheets for yourself! To shop our collection & get 10% OFF Use the code 'BLOG10' at checkout.
Sources
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Extent and health consequences of chronic sleep loss ... - NCBI bookshelf. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK19961/
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Sharma, S., & Kavuru, M. (2010). Sleep and metabolism: An overview. International journal of endocrinology. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2929498.
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Sleep deprivation: Causes, symptoms, & treatment. Sleep Foundation. (2022, March 18). Retrieved from https://www.sleepfoundation.org/sleep-deprivation
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The effects of sleep deprivation. Johns Hopkins Medicine. (2021, October 21). Retrieved from https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/
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Suni, E. (2022, April 15). Mental health and sleep. Sleep Foundation. Retrieved from https://www.sleepfoundation.org/mental-health
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Suni, E. (2022, March 11). Sleep quality: How to determine if you're getting poor sleep. Sleep Foundation. Retrieved from https://www.sleepfoundation.org/
