Sleep for Quality of Life

Not getting adequate rest and not sleeping the amount of hours that our organism demands is one of the factors that most influences the acceleration of aging in human beings. Sleep is the mechanism our body uses to repair itself after working all day long. On many occasions we underestimate the need to get enough sleep and sacrifice our hours of rest to use them for work or entertainment, paying with our own health.

If the lack of sleep alone is extremely negative for the performance of our functions, to this we must add the many collateral damages that it brings to our physical and mental well-being. During the development of this guide we will be addressing some of the most important issues related to sleep and its impact on human health, from its effect as a catalyst of aging.

Importance of sleep

Sleep is not optional for our organism any more than eating or drinking water is. When we do not sleep, our body begins to deteriorate progressively, since it is precisely during sleep that our organism has enough time to repair itself from all the wear and tear it has suffered during the day.

Lack of sleep is related to one of the most impacting factors in the acceleration of aging. Not getting enough sleep contributes to the accumulation of stress and, consequently, to all the health problems that derive from it.

When we start a new working day without having had enough rest, we show symptoms such as lack of concentration, dizziness, memory impairment, difficulty in thinking or making decisions, irritability, discomfort, among others. All these symptoms are the sign that we are taking our body to an extreme that is detrimental to our health, they are signs that show the urgent need for rest.

It happens in the same way when we are hungry or thirsty, where our body asks us for food and water to continue functioning. Ignoring these signals will cause our body to fail to function properly, leading to diseases and conditions that will significantly deteriorate your health.

Sleep is cumulative

One of the elements that we do not take into account when calculating our rest time is the accumulation of sleep. Some people have the false belief that they can spend their week working nights, while getting a few hours of sleep, all to catch up on rest on the weekends. Getting a lot of sleep one day will not fix the damage that has been done during the week.

You have been keeping your body at its peak for five days, preventing it from repairing from the wear and tear of work and enduring the impact of the adverse effects of that wear and tear, all this will not be solved by sleeping twelve hours on Saturday, the damage is already done. Rest must be taken care of every day of your life, do not assume that because you can sleep little means that you are overcoming these biological barriers, as in other aspects, the human body has high resistance capacities, which does not imply that it does not suffer and face irreversible damage.

How many hours should I sleep?

It is generally recommended to rest approximately 8 hours a day. It is also important to ensure the quality of this rest. It is not enough to lie down in bed, if we are not able to fall into a deep and restful sleep, we could face the same effects of staying awake. Before going to sleep, try to put away all types of screens at least one hour before. Do not ingest large amounts of food before going to bed and condition your room so that no annoying lights or noises enter.