Links Between Sleep and Wellness
Health consequences from not receiving enough quality hours of sleep: anything less than 7 hours or what’s classified as poor sleep can involve the cardiovascular, endocrine, immune and nervous systems. You should not let your life, no matter how busy it is, interfere with a good night’s sleep. Between 70-100 million North Americans suffer from various chronic sleep disorders, such as sleep apnea, insomnia, etc.
An insufficient amount of sleep can cause hunger hormones to go out of control; several studies have proven that leptin is lowered and ghrelin is raised. This translates into you feeling hungry when you should not be and can lead to excess eating/snacking. This hormonal imbalance can lead to poor food decisions and cause future obesity. Clinical studies have shown that patients with sleep apnea or obstructive breathing problems while sleeping tend to have higher percentages of cholesterol, protein and saturated fat in their diets.
Those with fewer than 7 hours sleep are also more likely to become diabetic, given the poor diet and impaired glucose levels. Heart disease is more likely to strike as well with 5 or fewer hours of sleep. Sleep apnea can also lead to high blood pressure and hypertension. Weight plays a role in many of these conditions, so losing and maintaining a healthy weight is vital to one’s well-being.
These are the worst cases that result from abusing your hours of sleep, but at the very minimum, everyone should be aware of the consequences for well-being and that of our family. A conscious effort must be put forth to avoid other problems as low self esteem, depression, mental distress, even alcohol use which of course can lead to driving drowsy/driving impaired. Behaviour can also be affected by insomnia or sleep related illness, especially in children.
Ultimately, we all should put more thought into our diet, quality sleep routine and exercise. Sometimes lack of sleep can be related to chemical sensitivity, comfort firmness, support with your mattress an so on. It is very important that your sleep environment is set up in a way that will allow for a deep night’s sleep because just going to bed early will not ensure the proper rest needed for rejuvenation. Optimal health is often related with quality sleep and recovery.
At Soma Organic Mattresses, our goal is to help everyone achieve a healthy night’s sleep. For almost 12 years, our founder John D’Amico has worked tirelessly in cultivating a transparent environment aimed at focusing on the needs of our customers to ensure we do everything we can to help our clients achieve a deep and restorative night’s sleep. Eat well. move well, sleep well, live well.
