I have some news for you.
It may come as a shock.
You may need to sit down.
You’re tired…
Because you’re not getting enough sleep.
What????
I know.
It’s hard to understand.
When we get adequate sleep consistently, we are rested.
When we don’t, we become sleep deprived.
This has an effect on EVERY cognitive function that can be measured.
Attention, decision making, sorting, processing, short-term and long-term memory…
ALL of them.
Sleep is crucial for our rational brain, the prefrontal cortex, to function properly.
Sleep deprivation also causes our stress hormone cortisol to sky rocket.
Cortisol increases inflammation in our bodies and disrupts our digestive hormones.
A single sleep-deprived night causes cortisol levels to increase by 100% and insulin sensitivity to decrease by up to 40%.
This means you’re insulin levels will also remain high-
And you’ll be in fat storage mode.
So in a state of sleep deprivation, you will be less capable of making rational decisions, more stressed, more hungry, and storing fat.
Awesome.
Adults need between 7-9 hours of sleep EVERY NIGHT.
There are lots of ways to help encourage a good night’s sleep-
Diet, sunlight, temperature, hydration, limiting screen time, exercise, darkness, meditation…the list goes on and on.
Do what you need to do to figure out what works for you… and do it.
Prioritize your sleep as one of the pillars of your health.
We need adequate sleep in order to rest, rebuild, rejuvenate, and recover.
We don’t need more caffeine…
We need a curfew.
We need to turn off the tv, put down our phones, close our eyes…
And let the magic happen!!
Sleep is important.
It all begins with that thought.
