Five reasons to get better sleep

In our first article, I will explain to you why you might want to get better sleep. We'll be focusing on the ways and means to achieve that in our next article but for now, lets just find out why we should improve the quality of our sleep.

Why should we get better sleep, you may ask. Why not spend those hours making money by working or pursuing our hobbies? After all, if we feel fine in the day, isn't that being more efficient with our time? Well getting adequate and quality sleep is very important to our well being in many ways.

1. Sleep restores our bodies.
There is much evidence that proper sleep restores and rejuvenates our body. Often we feel rested after a night of quality sleep. There is scientific evidence that sleep can affect the rate that wounds heal. Sleep deprivation can hinder the healing of injuries.

2. Sleep can improve memory.
Getting better sleep may be beneficial to memory. Studies have shown that working memory is affected by the lack of sleep. Working memory is important as it supports high-level mental functions such as reasoning and decision making. In one study, subjects which were well rested performed 38% better than subjects with insufficient sleep in a series of cognitive tests.

3. Sleep strengthens our immune system.
Proper sleep has also been shown to help our immune system fight infections. Sleeping enough increases the amount of white blood cells in our body and can help in warding off illnesses.

4. Much growth occurs during sleep.
Sleep, especially slow-wave sleep, affects growth hormone levels in adult men. In a study of 149 healthy males aged 16 to 83 in the year 2000, it was found that those who had a high percentage of slow-wave sleep also secreted high levels of growth hormones, unlike those with a low percentage of slow-wave sleep.

5. Sleep improves our mood and concentration.
If you're feeling grumpy or uptight, maybe it's time for you to get a night of quality sleep! When one is well rested, his senses will be heightened and his mind clear and refreshed. Getting better sleep will allow you to think clearly and concentrate better on the tasks at hand. It also makes you feel better!

Convinced? Getting better sleep is certainly better for you! In our next article you will learn how to get better sleep. Stay tuned to this blog!