Sleep many simply be the best defense we have against aging. According to the Harvard Women’s Health Watch, there are six ways that sleep helps our health.
• Learning and memory: Sleep helps the brain commit new information to memory through a process called memory consolidation. In studies, people who’d slept after learning a task did better on tests later.
• Metabolism and weight: Chronic sleep deprivation may cause weight gain by affecting the way our bodies process and store carbohydrates, and by altering levels of hormones that affect our appetite.
• Safety: Sleep debt contributes to a greater tendency to fall asleep during the daytime. These lapses may cause falls and mistakes such as medical errors, air traffic mishaps, and road accidents.
• Mood: Sleep loss may result in irritability, impatience, inability to concentrate, and moodiness. Too little sleep can also leave you too tired to do the things you like to do.
• Cardiovascular health: Serious sleep disorders have been linked to hypertension, increased stress hormone levels, and irregular heartbeat.
• Disease: Sleep deprivation alters immune function, including the activity of the body’s killer cells. Keeping up with sleep may also help fight cancer.
With the hectic schedules that we juggle, sleep should come as a welcome relief. However, many people have trouble relaxing at night. Atlanta psychiatrist Tracey Marks says that technology may be at the root of insomnia by putting our brains on information overload. In a recent article she explained that between emails, cell phone texts, social media and web site surfing, our brains are processing information at an intense and constant level throughout the day. At the end of the day, this constant mental stimulation leaves our minds wound-up to the point where even if physically tired and ready for bed, our mind may still be activated and not ready to shut off.
Dr. Marks suggests three steps to take to relieve mental overload and get a better night’s sleep.
1. Set Limits with emails/texts--Check your emails/texts in batches at certain times during the day rather than letting them stream in endlessly. This gives you a chance to have mental breaks to prevent information overload.
2. Take a break in the middle of the day to reboot--Spend 15 minutes each day to meditate. Meditation lessens anxiety, decreases blood pressure and slows your mind.
3. Carve out an hour before bedtime to wind down. Create a routine that will send a message to your brain that it is time for bed. Turn the lights down in the house one hour before bedtime. Stop using electronics one hour before bed. Put on your pajamas to prepare for bed (which can be your birthday suit). Take a warm bath or foot bath. Spend 30 minutes of quiet time just before your bedtime.
• Learning and memory: Sleep helps the brain commit new information to memory through a process called memory consolidation. In studies, people who’d slept after learning a task did better on tests later.
• Metabolism and weight: Chronic sleep deprivation may cause weight gain by affecting the way our bodies process and store carbohydrates, and by altering levels of hormones that affect our appetite.
• Safety: Sleep debt contributes to a greater tendency to fall asleep during the daytime. These lapses may cause falls and mistakes such as medical errors, air traffic mishaps, and road accidents.
• Mood: Sleep loss may result in irritability, impatience, inability to concentrate, and moodiness. Too little sleep can also leave you too tired to do the things you like to do.
• Cardiovascular health: Serious sleep disorders have been linked to hypertension, increased stress hormone levels, and irregular heartbeat.
• Disease: Sleep deprivation alters immune function, including the activity of the body’s killer cells. Keeping up with sleep may also help fight cancer.
With the hectic schedules that we juggle, sleep should come as a welcome relief. However, many people have trouble relaxing at night. Atlanta psychiatrist Tracey Marks says that technology may be at the root of insomnia by putting our brains on information overload. In a recent article she explained that between emails, cell phone texts, social media and web site surfing, our brains are processing information at an intense and constant level throughout the day. At the end of the day, this constant mental stimulation leaves our minds wound-up to the point where even if physically tired and ready for bed, our mind may still be activated and not ready to shut off.
Dr. Marks suggests three steps to take to relieve mental overload and get a better night’s sleep.
1. Set Limits with emails/texts--Check your emails/texts in batches at certain times during the day rather than letting them stream in endlessly. This gives you a chance to have mental breaks to prevent information overload.
2. Take a break in the middle of the day to reboot--Spend 15 minutes each day to meditate. Meditation lessens anxiety, decreases blood pressure and slows your mind.
3. Carve out an hour before bedtime to wind down. Create a routine that will send a message to your brain that it is time for bed. Turn the lights down in the house one hour before bedtime. Stop using electronics one hour before bed. Put on your pajamas to prepare for bed (which can be your birthday suit). Take a warm bath or foot bath. Spend 30 minutes of quiet time just before your bedtime.
