Sleep your Way to Good Health

You know I always thought that I should be able to get by on 6 hours of sleep, why should I need more; I am not a child. But this site here gave me some very interesting information about sleep and debunked some of the misconceptions that I harbored about sleep:

You need less sleep as you get older: Not true: all adults need between 7 and 9 hours of sleep everyday and a deficit can be a contributing factor to high blood pressure, diabetes and even weight gain! You need this basic quota of sleep for optimum performance health and safety.

In fact a surprising study found that there is a connection between childhood obesity and amount of sleep the children got. It was found that sleeping an extra hour a night reduced the chance of being overweight from 36 percent to 30 percent in young children, and from 34 percent to 30 percent in older children.

Adults don’t need afternoon naps: I thought I was weird in that I need a 15 to 20 minute nap in the afternoon that I wake up from completely refreshed and recharged. But it turns out that an afternoon nap not only is beneficial but can actually improve one’s memory, because sleep and specifically naps can help memory consolidation. Therefore the concept of a power nap I guess. That also validates my study methods during important exams: I used to study for say 3 to 4 hours and then nap for half an hour. It really seemed to work!

Exercise and sleep: I find that if I have had a sedentary day, I get the restless legs syndrome when I sleep at night, and if I have had my usual brisk walk for half an hour and had my usual active day, I sleep quite promptly and like a baby! I also finish dinner at least three hours before bed time as recommended. I suppose I have good habits and therefore no sleep problems. If you do however, check out these tips for getting a good night’s rest.

Snoring is annoying, but not a problem: Not true! So the next time you get a snorer as a co passenger in bus/train/plane, wake them up and tell them to get help because it isn’t just something that is annoying to others, it may be caused by sleep apnea and may be potentially dangerous.