Sleep. Beautiful sleep. When it comes to your health routine, sleep may be the closest thing there is to a fountain of youth. Your body repairs itself and recovers while you sleep, leading to a long list of benefits for your looks. The key is to get enough shut-eye — 7 to 9 quality hours each night. That seems to be the perfect dose your body needs every night to fend off seasonal cold and flu viruses.
That’s because sleep is the ultimate immune-booster, and the best way to keep yourself cold and flu-free is to put on your pajamas, tuck yourself into bed, and sleep for at least seven to eight solid hours. Then do it again, night after night.
In fact, research shows that people who don’t get enough sleep or get poor quality sleep are more likely to catch a virus after being exposed to it than people who are sleeping like babies for eight hours every night.
But why does a restful night’s sleep mean the difference between being healthy as a horse or sick as a dog this cold and flu season? Well, because your immune system suffers when you don’t sleep.
Sleep and Immunity
When you sleep, your body releases cytokines, immune proteins that help you fight disease. However, when you don’t sleep, your body isn’t releasing as many of these proteins, which means it’s easier for a virus to slip past your immune system and take hold of your body.
Of course, if you’re not sleeping regularly enough, a cold or flu virus is the least of your worries. Unfortunately, you could have more chronic health problems on your hands.
A lack of quality sleep over a long period of time can lead to serious health issues like diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and many more things. That’s because it can severely depress your immune system.
Take the latest study from researchers at the University of Washington Medical Center. These researchers studied 11 pairs of identical twins and found that the twin who slept less than seven hours per night had a lower active immune system than the twin who slept more.
These researchers found that getting less sleep than your body needs every night (like getting five to six hours instead of seven to eight) shuts down parts of your immune system. This part of your immune system sends the white blood cells that protect your body from infections and disease.
Sleep Your Way To A Robust Immune System
The fact that sleep plays such a massive role in your immune system is great news because it’s almost entirely in your control. Moreover, it’s free and poses no side effects. All you need to do is sleep an hour or two earlier every night, and you could be protecting yourself from everything from a cold and flu to many other things.
Disrupted Metabolism
Researchers from Uppsala University discovered that metabolic functions regulated by your skeletal muscle and fat tissue are adversely affected by disrupted sleep and circadian rhythms.
And they went on to prove that lack of sleep results in a tissue-specific change in DNA methylation. In other words, it can change which genes are turned on and off.
And That’s Not All
Lack of sleep can also lead to blood sugar problems such as diabetes. A study out of the University of Chicago Medical Center found that sleep deprivation can disrupt fat metabolism, elevate levels of free fatty acids in your blood, and reduce the ability of insulin to regulate blood sugars.
How Does Poor Sleep Affect Blood Sugar Levels?
Just as diabetes can cause sleep problems, sleep problems also play a role in diabetes. Getting poor sleep or less has been linked to high blood sugar levels in people with prediabetes. However, whether one causes the other or whether more variables are at work is not entirely clear. Researchers believe that sleep restriction may affect blood sugar levels due to its effects on insulin, cortisol, and oxidative stress.
One-quarter of the people with diabetes report sleeping less than six hours, putting them at a higher risk of having elevated blood sugar. In addition to raising blood sugar levels in people who already have diabetes, sleep deprivation also increases the risk of developing insulin resistance in the first place.
Sleep deprivation raises levels of ghrelin, the hunger hormone, and decreases leptin levels, which makes us feel full. To compensate for lower energy levels, people who sleep poorly may be more likely to seek relief in foods that raise blood sugar and put them at risk of obesity, also a risk factor for diabetes.
Adults with type 2 diabetes who experience disturbed sleep or frequent nighttime awakenings may also be less likely to follow other standards for diabetes self-care, such as getting enough exercise and closely monitoring blood glucose levels.
In addition to its immediate effects on blood sugar levels, poor sleep can take a long-term toll on individuals with type 2 diabetes. Those who resort to sleep medication or have trouble staying asleep are more likely to report feeling serious psychological distress. There is also tentative evidence to suggest that people with diabetes who do not get enough sleep may be at a higher risk for cognitive decline later in life.
Better Sleep For Weight and Sugar Management
If you want to keep off unwanted pounds, you must prioritize sleep. Good sleep is vital to maintaining a healthy weight. Get quality rest to decrease cravings, improve your metabolism, and stabilize your blood pressure.
Of course, if you struggle with insomnia, getting more quality sleep may be easier said than done. But there are ways to overcome even the most chronic sleep issues. You can start by:
- Avoiding caffeine and alcohol within four hours of bedtime.
- Practicicing meditation. Meditation helps control the stress that’s at the root of many chronic cases of insomnia.
- Avoiding brightly lit screens (TV, phone, and tablet screens) within two hours of bedtime.
- Taking a natural sleep aid that contains Melatonin. Melatonin is a hormone the pineal gland produces, which regulates the body’s wake/sleep/wake cycle. The hormone is activated by darkness and depressed by light. There is good evidence to support the effectiveness of Melatonin in helping with jet lag insomnia and boosting the immune system. In addition, preliminary findings suggest an exciting potential for helping depression stress and various degenerative effects of the aging process.
To find out what you can do to get a better night’s sleep, get a FREE Consultation with one of our doctors (D.C) here.
