How Much Sleep is Needed?

How Much Sleep is Needed?

Sleep is not just the resting of the mind and body. During this time, your body rebuilds the muscles and cleans away harmful wastes from the brain produced throughout the day.

The requirement of sleep vary among different age groups. Every normal adult body needs 7-9 hours of sleep to function at it's best. Children below the age of 12 and teenagers need more than 9 hours of sleep every night. While the children between 3-5 years need upto 12-13 hours of sleep. New borns require 15-17 hours of sleep daily.

A lack of sleep can destroy your whole morning mood and make you cranky. Having a good and proper sleep will give you many health benefits. A good quality sleep will affect your mental and physical health, emotional balance, heart health, immune system and even weight. A good night sleep can deliver you the following benefits too:

• SHARP BRAIN
A proper 7-9 hours of sleep keep your memory sharp. A lack of sleep or an extra sleep may cause your memory to degrade. Sleep keeps the brain healthy by clearing out toxins, called beta-amyloids that naturally builds up throughout the day. A good sleep helps to reset the brain, allow it to heal and to restore mental health.

• ATHLETIC ACHIEVEMENT

For improving your athletic performance, a good and proper sleep is necessary. An athlete should take sleep more than 7-9 hours as they need more calories than a normal person in training. An athlete's body needs sleep to repair itself because a lot of physical activity puts more demand on muscles and tissues.

• LOWERS WEIGHT GAIN

It is studied that short sleep can lead you to obesity. Lack of proper sleep schedule is a great obstacle for people who are struggling to lose their weight. A poor sleep makes your brain to work improperly and you consume more calories than needed. A large number of calories are consumed from the snacks after dinner. If you sleep early, you can avoid those calorie intake.

• REDUCE HEART DISEASES

People having poor sleep schedules are at a higher risk of cardiovascular diseases and coronary heart diseases. People who don't sleep enough are at a risk of high blood pressure and a greater chance of cardiovascular diseases. A poor sleep can hurt your heart by high stress levels, less motivation to be physically active and unhealthy food choices which leads you to short term or all time Insomnia.

• STRONG IMMUNE SYSTEM

A good sleep is essential for your immune system. It improves T-cells, which are immune cells that fight against intracellular pathogens like- flu, HIV and cancer cells. During sleep time, the levels of adrenaline, noradrenaline and prostaglandin are low, which helps T-cells to kill virus infected cells.

• MOOD BOOST

A poor sleep can make you cranky and you feel irritated, short tempered, sad, stressed and mentally exhausted. Once you take a good sleep, there is a dramatic improvement in your mood. A sleepless night will ruin your whole next day and fills negative thoughts and emotions such as depression and anxiety in you. People who are sleep deprived have more negative emotions than positive thoughts.

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