4 Reasons Sleep Is The Weakest Link
When you're not getting enough sleep, or the sleep you're getting is of poor quality, you're likely to feel some immediate effects. Grogginess, clumsiness, and just generally feeling blah are some of the first effects you're likely to experience. What few people realize, however, is that there are bigger problems that lack of sleep can introduce into your life.
Memory Issues
When you aren't getting enough sleep, your brain isn't able to process information the same way that it can when it's well rested. So your brain can't grab the facts that it needs, when it needs them. You may find that you have to have several nights of poor sleep in order to start having memory trouble, but others find that even one night of interrupted sleep is enough to cause problems.
Decreased Alertness
According to the Centers for Disease Control, driving after too little sleep is equivalent to having a blood alcohol level of .05 percent or more. As the time without sleep increases, the equivalent blood alcohol level rises exponentially. What this means is that even a small amount of sleep can affect your reflexes and your ability to remain alert. Driving after extreme sleep deprivation is not a good idea, but many people don't understand the danger.
Strained Relationships
If you're not sleeping well at night, chances are that your partner is all too aware of the fact and is experiencing sleep troubles along with you. When your sleep problems affect your partner as well, your relationship may become a bit strained. Also, as you each deal with less sleep than you want and need, your tempers are likely to get shorter. That adds to the strain, potentially adding further problems along with lack of sleep.
Weight Gain
Getting too little sleep can affect your waistline, as if it weren't affecting enough other areas of your life. Not enough sleep interferes with hormone levels in your body, specifically ghrelin, which is responsible for turning on and off the hunger reflex. Improper amounts of sleep also throw leptin levels out of whack. Leptin is the hormone that lets your body know that it's time to stop eating because you're full. With all of those hormones and reflexes out of alignment, you're likely to gain weight without realizing how it's happening.
If you're ready to get better sleep, contact a Serta iComfort expert today like Sleep-N-Aire. You'll find out firsthand what you've been missing by getting far less sleep than you need.