Sleep—Essential Self-Help Down Time

In health, as with anything, the best place to start is with the basics. No matter what else we do, without attending to these three basic needs—adequate sleep, water and nutrition—we simply can’t be healthy.

We all know the value of drinking plenty of pure water and eating healthy nutritious foods. We also know it's important to get a good night's rest, but only recently have we discovered some surprising side-effects of sleep deprivation.

Many of us don't routinely get the amount of deep sleep we need, and without adequate time to rejuvenate each night, our bodies can't perform at optimal levels. We may feel tired all the time, look haggard, suffer from fuzzy thinking and experience lowered libido. But did you know that lack of sleep can also be a factor in weight gain?
On his television show recently, Dr. Oz explained how not getting enough sleep affects the body's production of chemicals that control appetite and hunger sensations and, consequently, contribute to weight gain.

Leptin, which is produced when we get adequate sleep, is an appetite suppressant and keeps us from feeling hungry. So, not getting enough sleep means there's not enough leptin in the system and we feel hungry all the time.
That's enough to get our attention, but it's only half of this one-two punch. Lack of sleep also causes an increase in another chemical, ghrelin, that tells our brains we're hungry and need to eat, often causing cravings for carbohydrates.

By not getting the sleep we need, we're actually giving ourselves a double shot of chemicals that will drive us to eat more. And we haven't even touched on the effects of metabolism, eating for comfort and energy and other issues associated with sleep deprivation.

If you're interested in the science behind these chemical appetite directors, there are several studies, including a recent one at Stanford, that give details on how this connection was discovered and the areas they are exploring further. Researchers don't know all there is to know about the interactions of these two chemicals and weight by a long shot, but for most of us, they've given us good motivation for doing what we know we need to do anyway—get the good rest we need.

We already knew that getting adequate sleep makes us look and feel better, think and perform better, reduces health issues and helps us live longer. Learning that it also helps control our appetite naturally, is a surprising bonus that might just be the push we needed to get the rest we need. In short, we can distill it all down into two simple math equations:

>7 hours sleep = look and feel bad + fuzzy thinking +gain weight
7+ hours sleep = look and feel good + optimal brain function + natural weight regulation

Now, if you've been getting by on 5 or 6 hours of sleep for years, you may be wondering if everyone really needs 7 hours of sleep. Or, if you do have lights out time for seven or more hours, how do you know if you're getting enough of the right kind of sleep?

Well, the truth is, you know. We all know.

For me, the face in the mirror is the best indicator of whether I am honoring my body's need for good sleep—or not—and it's only a glance away. If I ignore the mirror, the second indicator that shows up to get my attention is brain function—I just don't think as clearly as I normally do. I can feel dizzy, off balance and "spacey," among other things. If I let it go too long, well, let's just say I shouldn't be out roaming the streets alone. And I won't be for long, because the next step for me is that my body just shuts down and I have no choice but to sleep—for a long time.

Recently, when I broke my own cardinal rule of not working between the hours of 3 and 5 a.m.—my important biorhythm time—I knew I had crossed the line. So, before my body did it for me, I had an intervention for myself. I slept for over ten hours, regrouped and put myself on a reasonable schedule.

We all have different needs and different internal clocks, and your optimal sleep time is something you're going to have to figure out for yourself. Do your own research and conduct your own study of how your body responds to various sleep times and durations. Keep a journal of the times, hours and quality of sleep. Record how you feel, level of energy, hunger and so forth, and you should have a pretty good idea of your optimal sleep needs.

Do be mindful of sleeping too much—more than is normal for you— because that can be an indication of a health condition, including depression, which needs to be addressed by a professional.

It also goes without saying that the quality of the sleep is critical. Lying in bed for seven hours but never getting into the deep level sleep you need—due to health conditions such as sleep apnea or situational or emotional reasons—still means you're not getting the sleep you need. If you need to see a doctor or other health professional, see one. If you need to change something about your sleeping place or situation, change it. Adequate sleep is critical to your health and life expectancy.

In The Hardline Self Help Handbook, there's more information on how our wonderful bodies tell us what we need—if we'll listen.

Hear what you're body is telling you, and sleep well!