So Sleep!

I have this article from awake magazine that I like to share. We all know that sleep is important but really, how important is it? Just read on..

'Current studies show that the average North American now gets between seven and seven and a half hours of sleep a night. How important is sleep? While asleep, you go through phases of sleep called REM every 60 to 90 minutes throughout the night. During these phases, the brain is most active, and researchers believe that it is performing some kind of self-repair. Some experts says that when the sleep cycle is interrupted and sleep is lost, it has cumulative effect on the body. Brain function is affected, which results in inefficiency and a host of other physical ailments.
Substances such as caffeine can for the short term block the chemical compound that signals the need for sleep. Yet, our brain has a mechanism to cause sleep to occur when our body has not had enough. According to a magazine, 'no matter what you happen to be doing, your sleep-deprived brain will periodically go into the first stage of sleep for anywhere between 10 seconds and just over a minute at a time.' Imagine driving a car at 30miles an hour and experience a 10 second microsleep. During that time, you would have traveled more than the length of a football field. Additionally, sacrificing needed sleep can weaken your immune system, for it is during sleep that the body produces T cells that fight against pathogens. During sleep our body also produces hormone leptin, which helps to regulate appetite. Indeed, the body needs sleep as much as it needs proper exercise and nutrition.