How to Reduce Stress, Improve Your Heart and Lose Fat
There’s so much more to do. How often in our lives, have we heard “just get some sleep tonight and everything will look better tomorrow”? The little misfortunes of the day disappear by morning or least become manageable. We say it to children all the time. When we become adults, we say it to ourselves. We may not know why everything seems better after a good night’s sleep, but experience has taught us that it is true.
Sleep helps us learn and improves memory. As you go to sleep, mentally practice tomorrows test questions or practice a triple dive and you will perform better the next day. Visualization before sleep improves memory during sleep of whatever you want to learn. The brain consolidates memories and that makes them stronger. The brain reorganizes memories during sleep, which improve creativity.
Athletes that want to improve their performance should sleep more before an important event. Instead of adding extra hours working out if they sleep ten or more hours each night for a couple of weeks preceding the event, performance is improved. The same is true for students’ school performance. Ten hours of sleep for students improves grades and may add points to their overall I.Q. Students who get satisfactory sleep get better grades because their focus and attention span is sharper.
Getting enough sleep does your body good because inflammation is reduced. That reduces the risk of heart attack, stroke and arthritis. You are less likely to suffer depression if you get your sleep. Sleep lowers stress and cholesterol, which benefits your heart health. It is curious but dieters who did get enough sleep and those who did not lost the same amount of weight. However, sleepers lost more body fat and non-sleepers lost more lean muscle.
Those who get plenty of healthy sleep live longer. That is expected when we understand the brain uses sleep to repair damaged cells, control our metabolism, reduce inflammation and keep our memory sharp. However, we do not just live longer, we live better.
More Resources
This website is provided for general information only, and should not be treated as a substitute for the medical advice of your own doctor or any other health care professional. Live & Sleep is not responsible or liable for any diagnosis made by a user based on the content of this website. Always consult your own GP if you’re in any way concerned about your health.
