It is not a secret that getting a good night’s sleep helps us to feel our best. When we are well rested, we have more physical energy to be productive and alert. We are also more emotionally resilient to handle what life throws at us. It is also much easier to stay motivated to reach our health goals and to do things like preparing nutritious meals and going for walk. Who doesn’t love a great night of sleep!
Of course, the benefits of a good night sleep go far beyond how you feel the next day and how productive you can be. For those recovering from an illness or injury, getting good quality sleep is essential because of the enormous impact that sleep has on the body’s ability to heal since your immune system can function at it’s best. Getting that blissful restorative sleep can be quite elusive and we sometimes doesn’t just happen naturally as we would like. However, like any lifestyle change, improving the quality of the sleep you are currently getting is something that you can impact by making some habit changes and trying some new things.
Focusing on getting high quality sleep is well worth the effort because, as you’ll see, scientific evidence shows time and time again that quality sleep is a key ingredient in creating our best physical and mental health. When you are getting your well-deserved shut eye, your body is hard at work. While you might feel like your body is shutting down, it is actually working hard to preform many important tasks that are essential to healing, such as digestion, detoxification and cellular repair Quality sleep supports your immune system and helps your body fight infection and reduce chronic stress and inflammation.
While these benefits are important to maintain good health, they are absolutely essential when recovering from an illness. Getting insufficient sleep can also contribute to overeating and weight gain. When you are short on sleep, your hunger hormones – known as ghrelin – go up while levels of the hormon leptin, which signals when you are full, goes down. Many who improve their sleep find that it is much easier to lose weight since when these hormones naturally find balance. 50-70 million Americans suffer from sleep disorders such as insomnia, sleep apnea and restless leg syndrome. Solving persistent sleep issues is possible but can take some detective work to find the root cause. If you think you have a sleep disorder it is important that you seek help and speak with your doctor to help understand and address the root cause of what is preventing you from getting quality sleep. While getting a good night’s sleep might not seem to be a big deal, given the enormous impact has on your health, improving the quality and quantity of your sleep just might be one of the best things you can do for your health.
At Med Matrix we specialize in personalized health care to address the root causing of desease. If you want to take control of your sleep from a cellular matrix approach reach out to Med Matrix for a free functional medicine consult. (207)707-6213
