You’ll spend one third of your life asleep. And the amount of Zzzs you get affects your every waking moment. Not just how you feel, but your mental capacity, stress levels, blood pressure, weight loss and how easily you tire during a workout.
Preparing yourself for sleep can make an enormous difference to the quality of your rest. Living a high-paced life, being permanently 'on call' and constant rushing can make it hard to switch off. Relying on sleeping tablets to send you off can leave you feeling more fatigued the next day, so that you need a caffeine fix to get you up.
Take responsibility for your sleeping patterns. Invest time in relaxing before bed with aromatherapy, a good book, warm bath or meditation. Making quality sleep a priority can have a positive impact on your general health and wellbeing, as well as your weight loss and physical performance.
The dozing diet
Scientific research has proven that people who regularly miss sleep tend to have less of the appetite-reducing hormone leptin and more of the hormone ghrelin, which stimulates the appetite. Getting your shut-eye can make it easier to stick to your calorie target without feeling hungry through the day.
Sleep deprivation also tends to increase the levels of the steriod cortisol, which the body releases in times of stress. Studies suggest that regularly missing sleep can increase the risk of weight gain and type 2 diabetes, as well as diminishing mood and mental capabilities.
Sleep stages
Sleep occurs in a recurring cycle of around 90 to 110 minutes and is divided into two categories: non-REM and REM sleep.
Non-REM sleep
This category of sleep is split into four stages – from the light sleep of Stage One to the heavy slumber of Stage Four, known as deep sleep. During the first stage, our muscle activity starts to slow and we're half awake and half asleep. Stage four is characterised by rhythmic breathing, lowered blood pressure and limited muscle activity. If we’re awakened during deep sleep we do not adjust immediately and often feel foggy and disoriented for several minutes after waking up.
REM sleep
The first rapid eye movement (REM) period usually begins about 70 to 90 minutes after we fall asleep. We have around three to five REM episodes a night. Although we are not conscious, the brain is very active – often more so than during waking hours. This is the period when most dreams occur. Our eyes dart around (hence the name), our breathing rate and blood pressure rise. However, our bodies are effectively paralysed, said to be nature's way of preventing us from acting out our dreams. After REM sleep, the whole cycle begins again.
Quality slumber
On average we should all be getting around seven and a half hours' sleep a night. But why is it that some people can function perfectly well with five to six hours' sleep, while others need at least eight hours' sleep every night? The answer is because some people have a better ability to enter into a deep sleep – and stay in it for longer – than others.
Physical recovery
In the evenings, our bodies produce a hormone, melatonin, to trigger sleep. This peaks at around 11pm, making this the time we should naturally get tired. So it’s important not to impact on the quality of the first third of your night’s sleep by delaying normal bedtime or sleeping in an environment with distractions.
Getting to bed on time ensures we are in our deepest sleep at around 1am. This is when the release of human growth hormone (HGH) peaks. A protein hormone, HGH promotes the growth, maintenance and repair of muscles and bones. Every tissue in the body is renewed faster during sleep than at any time when awake. So this is vital physical recovery time, and essential for keeping your body fit and healthy.
Time for rest
If non-REM sleep is all about physical recovery then REM sleep is all about mental rest. During REM sleep the brain replenishes its supply of neurotransmitters, including feel-good chemicals, such as serotonin and dopamine, that boost your mood during the day.
Waking from the REM stage is the natural way to come out of the sleep cycle and will result in you feeling more refreshed.