The Importance of Good Sleep For Optimal Health

The importance of good sleep for optimal health is far more than most people know. It’s about more than just feeling “rested”. Many functions critical to health happen while you sleep.

But not all sleep is the same. Sleep, under the influence of sleep aids, alcohol, marijuana, and even caffeine, is not the same as natural sleep. During natural sleep you go through different sleep cycles in which different processes are happening within your brain and body. Under the influence of the above, your sleep cycles are altered or eliminated and to the point that you are robbed of the full benefit of the opportunity.

Lack of adequate quality sleep predisposes you to Alzheimer’s, heart disease, insulin resistance, weight gain, inflammation, hormonal imbalances, accidents, and infection.

It also helps short term memories get stored as long term memories.

A normal person should, ideally sleep 7.5-9 hours per night. Some people brag about how little sleep they need–but this is folly! Two very famous people who used to brag about how little sleep they needed–Ronald Regan and Margaret Thatcher–both tragically died of complications related to Alzheimer’s.

Getting OPTIMAL sleep should be every bit as important to your health and wellness plans as diet and exercise. If not you are completely missing the point of health–which is to be healthy–not just look like you are healthy on the surface!

For those who have trouble getting to sleep and staying asleep, I’ll be doing a series of videos on the topic.

Watch the video to learn a little about how it harms your body beyond just being tired.

Poor quality sleep affects:

Blood sugar

Weight gain

Hormone regulation

Clearing amyloid proteins from your brain, a pre-cursor to Alzheimer’s

Memory – Converting short term memory into long term memory

It’s also critical to get enough water to stay hydrated.

(Just don’t drink it too close to bedtime or you’ll have to get up to pee.)

Want some support around sleep and health?

Sign up for a free Health Strategy Consultation with me.