Adequate rest and sleep can affect health, weight, mood, and even our sexual life.
When you were a child, you may have felt resentful and often objected to your parents telling you to take a nap. But as an adult, bedtime can actually be a valuable and most awaited moment. And apparently, sleep is not only able to eliminate drowsiness, but also very good for mental and physical health.
Healthier body
Rest and sleep play an important role in maintaining the health of our bodies. Lack of sleep is thought to increase the risk of kidney disease, heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, irregular heartbeat, increased stress hormones, and diabetes. Did you know that adequate rest and sleep can affect the body's reaction to insulin, the hormone that controls glucose or blood sugar levels? Lack of sleep makes our blood sugar levels higher than normal. As a result, we are more susceptible to diabetes.
Body growth
Rest and sleep also promote healthy growth and development of the body. Good sleep triggers the body to release hormones that support normal growth in children and adolescents. These hormones also help repair cells and tissues, and increase muscle mass in children, teens, and adults. In addition, rest and sleep also play a role in puberty and fertility.
Maintain weight
Did you know that lack of sleep can also increase the risk of obesity in adolescents and other age groups? Sleep affects the body in processing and storing carbohydrates. The trick is to keep the hormones that make us feel hungry (ghrelin) or full (leptin) in balance. If we don't get enough sleep, the hormone ghrelin will go up while the hormone leptin will go down. As a result, we will feel hungry. That's the reason getting enough sleep can be a natural way of slimming down.
Stay active during the day
Adequate and quality rest and sleep keeps us active throughout the day. Lack of sleep for just one or two hours per night has made our bodies feel as if they haven't slept at all for a day or two. People who are sleep deprived tend to be less productive at school or work. They take longer to complete tasks, react more slowly aka 'slow', and make more mistakes.
Guaranteed sex life
According to a small number of participants who took part in a poll conducted by National Sleep Foundation, too tired to make their sex life into a mess. In fact, rest and sleep disorders are thought to be linked to low testosterone levels in men. Adequate rest and sleep can also be one way to thicken sperm.
Avoid accidents or injuries
According to a psychology professor, fatigue due to lack of rest and sleep increases our risk for various injuries, or household accidents. For example, being cut by a knife, falling from a ladder, a vehicle accident (either land, sea, or air). It can even cause tragic accidents on a larger scale such as nuclear reactor leaks, aviation accidents, work accidents, and so on.
Improve mood
Lack of rest and sleep can make us irritable, impatient, difficult to concentrate, moody, stressed, and depressed. Too little sleep can also make us too tired to do the things we want.
Strengthen the immune system
According to a study of 150 people, sleeping seven hours or less than seven hours a day is thought to make our bodies more susceptible to illness.
Sharpen memory
Lack of rest and sleep is thought to make us senile quickly. One study showed that during sleep, the hippocampus brain processes, strengthens, and combines our memories from throughout the day. If you don't get enough sleep, these memories can't be stored properly in the brain and can be lost.
In order for the various benefits of rest and sleep above we can get the maximum, don't forget to sleep according to the recommended number of hours. It is recommended for adults to sleep 7-9 hours a day, adolescents 14-17 years 8-10 hours/day, children aged 6-13 years 9-11 hours/day, and toddlers aged 3-5 years 10-13 hours/day. day.
In addition, allow a 2 year old child to sleep 11-12 hours a night with an additional 1-2 hours nap, a 12 month baby sleep 10 hours a night with a 4 hour nap, and a newborn baby to sleep 14-17 hours a day.