7.2 Sleep

How often do you wake up filled with energy, eager to embrace the day? How often do you wake up still tired, with heavy eyes that just don’t want to open? Your answer to these questions has a direct bearing on the quality of your decisions, your ability to use good judgment, the extent to which you can focus in the classroom, and ultimately, your long-term health.

A great night’s sleep begins the minute you wake up. The choices you make throughout the day impact how quickly you fall asleep, whether you sleep soundly, and whether your body can successfully complete the cycle of critical functions that only happen while you sleep.

Sleep is the foundation of amazing health, yet almost 40 percent of adults struggle to get enough sleep. Lack of sleep affects mental and physical performance and can make you more irritable. The diminished energy that results from too little sleep often leads us to make poor decisions about many things, including food. Think about the last time you were really tired. Did you crave pizza, donuts, and fries—or a healthy salad? Studies have shown that people who sleep less are more likely to eat fewer vegetables and consume more fats and refined carbohydrates, like donuts.

With sufficient sleep, it is easier to learn, to remember what you learned, and to have the necessary energy to make the most of your college experience. Without sufficient sleep, it is harder to learn, to remember what you learned, and to have the energy to make the most of your college experience. It’s that simple.

What Happens When We Sleep?

Sleep is a time when our bodies are quite busy repairing and detoxifying. While we sleep, damaged tissue is repaired, toxins are processed and eliminated, hormones essential for growth and appetite control are released and restocked, and energy is restored. Sleep is essential for a healthy immune system. How many colds do you catch a year? How often do you get the flu? If you are often sick, you do not have a healthy immune system, and sleep deprivation may be a key culprit.

A review of hundreds of sleep studies concluded that most adults need around eight hours of sleep to maintain good health. Some people may be able to function quite well on seven, and others may need closer to nine, but as a general rule, most people need a solid eight hours of sleep each night. And when it comes to sleep, both quantity and quality are important. When sleep is cut short, the body doesn’t have time to complete all the phases needed for repair and detoxification.

If you are watching TV until the minute you go to bed and then sleep with the artificial light from smartphones and other devices, your brain is tricked into thinking it is still daylight. In addition, if the TV shows you watch before bed are violent or action-packed, your body will release cortisol (the stress hormone). Anything that creates stress close to bedtime will make it more difficult to fall asleep. A bedtime practice of quiet activities like reading, journaling, listening to music, or meditation will make it much easier to fall asleep.

What Happens If You Don’t Get Enough Sleep?

Lack of sleep has a big impact on your overall state of health and well-being. Studies have linked poor sleep to a variety of health problems. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have identified sleep deprivation as a public health epidemic.

Tips to Improve the Quality of Your Sleep

Now that you are more aware of the ways insufficient sleep harms your body, let’s review some of the things you can do to enhance your sleep:

• Make sleep a priority. It can be challenging in college but try to get on a schedule where you sleep and wake at the same time every day to get your body accustomed to a routine.
• Sleep in a cool, quiet, dark room. Create a sleeping environment that is comfortable and conducive to sleep. If you can control the temperature in your room, keep it cool in the evening.
• Avoid eating late or drinking alcohol or caffeine close to bedtime. A 2013 Scientific Research study concluded that “energy drinks, other caffeinated beverages and alcoholic beverages are risk factors of poor sleep quality.” It is important to finish eating hours before bedtime, so your body is not spending the first few hours of sleep digesting a heavy meal.
• Start to wind down an hour before bed. There are great apps to help with relaxation, stress release, and falling asleep.
• Exercise for 30 minutes a day. One of the biggest benefits of exercise is its effect on sleep. Walking, yoga, swimming, strength training, jumping rope—whatever it is, find an exercise you like, and make sure to move your body every day.
• Improve your diet. Low fiber and high saturated fat and sugar intake are associated with lighter, less restorative sleep with more wake time during the night. Processed food full of chemicals will make your body work extra hard during the night to remove the toxins and leave less time for healing and repair.

Sleep affects how we look, feel, and function on a daily basis and is vital to our health and quality of life. When you get the sleep your body needs, you look more vibrant, feel more vibrant, and have the energy to live your best life.