Kate Cook’s Wellness Guide – Chapter 6: Tiredness and lack of energy

Introduction

This series is a release of the book chapters from Kate Cook’s Wellness Guide 2016. To buy the book  click here: http://www.infideas.com/books/kate-cooks-wellness-plan/

In this chapter, learn all about the effect of sleep deprivation.

Chapter 6

Injury, poor performance and depression – the results of not getting your sleep quota

You’re tired during the day, irritable, anxious, have difficulty concentrating and are about as alert as a fridge freezer. If you don’t deal with your sleep problem, your health will spiral downwards and your once cheery personality will be replaced by a glum, short-tempered one. Here’s what to expect when you’re deprived of sleep. It could be worse than you think …

Poor memory.

During a good night’s sleep, in the REM stage, the brain busily replenishes the neurotransmitters that organise neural networks vital for remembering, learning, performance and problem solving. If you deprive the brain of sleep, you get less REM sleep. The result? The crossword takes twice as long to finish, you’ll forget the names of close friends and you’ll stare at the tax form for days before even attempting to fill it out. Research also shows that your brain has a kind of ‘night hoover’, which clears up damage while you sleep. It’s essential that we get enough sleep to allow this work to be done.

More car accidents.

According to one study drowsiness or sleep disorders was a factor in about half of all traffic accidents and 36 per cent of fatal accidents. Another study compared the reaction times between people who were sleep deprived and those who’d been drinking alcohol. The result? Pretty poor mental functioning all round. This suggests that driving when tired is as dangerous as driving drunk

Constant colds.

With a tissue pressed to your face at all times, no one’s really seen you properly for weeks – which is probably a good thing considering your dry, flaky red nose, cracked lips and streaming eyes. Recent research demonstrated that the nightly loss of four hours of sleep over ten days in healthy young adults significantly reduced their immune function. The number of white blood cells (responsible for the production of antibodies that fight disease) within the body decreases, as does the activity of the remaining white blood cells.

Old before your time.

Research suggests that missing sleep can actually speed up ageing. Sleeping for only four hours a night for less than a week, reduces the body’s ability to process and store carbohydrates and regulate hormone levels – changes which are similar to those of advanced ageing. Another study found that sleeping under five hours per night lowered the lifespan (although sleeping more than nine hours also did the same).

Makes you fat.

Lack of sleep makes you hungry and more prone to putting on weight – one of the main causes of snoring and sleep apnoea. The key to this is the hormone leptin, which signals when the body needs or does not need more food. Leptin levels rise during sleep and this tells your brain that you’ve eaten enough and don’t need any more calories. When you’re sleep deprived, leptin levels are low, which sends a signal to your brain that you need more calories. Your brain thinks that there’s a shortage of food and that you need to eat more when, in fact, you’ve eaten enough.

High blood pressure.

Blood pressure usually falls during the sleep cycle; however, interrupted sleep can adversely affect this normal decline, leading to hypertension and cardiovascular problems. One study of nurses showed that those who slept five hours or less had a 45 per cent greater risk of developing heart disease than those sleeping eight hours. Those sleeping nine to eleven hours increased their risk by 38 per cent.

Diabetes risk.

Research has also shown that insufficient sleep impairs the body’s ability to use insulin, which can lead to the onset of diabetes.

Risk of Alzheimers and other degenerative diseases.

Research shos that lack of sleep may be a contributory factor. British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher famously slept for only four hours a night but in later years suffered serious mental decline – could the two have been linked? While the scientists are still working on the links between these diseases and poor sleep it’s probably safer to do your utmost to get good quality sleep every night.

You might find chapters 28, 29, 32, 66, 72 and 74 especially helpful.

More information

Kate Cook is a nutrition and wellbeing expert of over 20 years and author of 8 books – to read more please click here: www.katecook.biz

To book a call with Kate, please click this link: https://go.oncehub.com/KateCook

To buy the book  click here: http://www.infideas.com/books/kate-cooks-wellness-plan/

Credit to Infinite Ideas Limited

Previous Clients

Scroll to Top