Sleep

Prebiotics Promote Sleep, Soothe Stress and More

Recent research has found that prebiotics promote sleep, suggesting that adding these natural compounds to your diet can help you to get a better night’s sleep.

What Are Prebiotics?

One of the systems that regulates your overall health is the gut microbiome, which is located in your large intestines and serves as a home to trillions of microbes. While some bacteria can be harmful, the microorganisms in your gut microbiome are helpful, assisting your body by regulating digestion, immune system functioning and dozens of other processes throughout the body. While this system functions on its own, you can help it to work optimally by ensuring it has a broad and diverse community of microbes.

This is where prebiotics come into the picture. The microorganisms in your gut microbiome need nourishment to survive, so it’s up to you to eat the right foods that provide this sustenance. The types of foods that feed your gut microbiome contain prebiotics, which help the bacteria in your gut thrive and grow.

Prebiotics are found in the fiber of plant-based foods, which is just one reason eating fruits and vegetables is important to your health. This type of fiber isn’t digested easily, which means it can be passed through your digestive system and into your gut. Once the fiber makes it to your large intestine, the bacteria in the gut microbiome feed on it to get essential nourishment.

It’s more common to hear about probiotics in the media, but probiotics are not the same as prebiotics. While prebiotics help the bacteria in your gut to grow, probiotics introduce new microorganisms into your gut microbiome. This is also important to the health of your gut, but it should be understood that probiotics perform a different function. Additionally, recent research has found that prebiotics may perform other roles in maintaining health.

How Do Prebiotics Promote Sleep?

In order to understand how prebiotics promote sleep and reduce stress, it’s important to understand the connection between the gut microbiome and the brain. These two areas of the body interact in three known ways by affecting how cells in other parts of the body are regulated. For instance, both the brain and the bacteria in the gut affect the immune system’s cells, and this allows these two systems to interact with one another as well.

The brain and gut also share an endocrine system pathway, where they can exchange hormones. This helps hormones, such as dopamine, serotonin, melatonin and cortisol, cross the blood-brain barrier. Finally, the vagus nerve acts as a superhighway that provides direct access between the brain and the gut. This enables the gut to directly influence brain activities, including regulating the release of neurotransmitters that affect sleep patterns.

A study conducted at the University of Colorado in Boulder focused on the link between prebiotics and sleep. The researchers used two groups of male rats, feeding the first group a diet heavy in prebiotic foods. The second group was deprived of prebiotics, but fed a regular diet. During the five-week study, all of the rats were exposed to stimuli intended to produce high stress levels. The researchers found that the rats receiving the prebiotic diet experienced lower stress levels and slept more deeply. They confirmed that the prebiotic-fed rats spent more time in REM sleep, which is vital to mental health.

The researchers found that these benefits were the result of changes to metabolites in the gut, which are a specific type of microbial life. By altering the development of metabolites, prebiotics help them to influence the brain’s response to stress. This process also helps promote more frequent REM sleep.

Ways to Add More Prebiotics to Your Diet

Essentially, prebiotics work together with probiotics to ensure your gut microbiome is as diverse as possible. If you think you may not be getting enough prebiotics and probiotics in your diet, taking a high-quality supplement that’s engineered to provide both prebiotics and probiotics can help. Adding the following foods to your diet will also help keep your gut healthy and the microbiome diverse.

Garlic

The sweet flavor of garlic is the result of a prebiotic called fructooligosaccharides (FOS). About 6 percent of each garlic clove’s fiber is comprised of FOS. Garlic also has antioxidant properties, helping to fight against cancer and other degenerative conditions.

Onions

Garlic and onions belong to the same family, and they contain the same measure of FOS. The prebiotics in onions are also helpful in breaking down fat in the gut, so they may assist with weight loss. Onions help the body produce more nitric oxide, which aids in strengthening the immune system.

Asparagus

As a great source of fiber, asparagus is also an excellent source of prebiotics. Additionally, asparagus has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, making it a helpful food in protecting cellular health and improving heart health.

Bananas

Providing a high content of starch as well as fiber, bananas are a great source of prebiotics. In addition to helping you maintain a healthy gut microbiome, bananas have been shown to be helpful in lowering abdominal bloating.

Oats

Adding more oats to your diet will help you boost the prebiotics in your gut as a result of the large beta-glucan fiber content in each serving. In addition to helping you maintain a thriving gut microbiome, oats will help you lower your LDL (bad) cholesterol, and help to regulate your blood sugar levels.

Apples

Finally, apples are another excellent source of prebiotics. In this case, the pectin in apples, which makes up more than half of the fruit’s fiber, provide the gut with a substantial supply of prebiotics. The polyphenol antioxidants in apples also help protect against cancer, and help to reduce LDL cholesterol.

6 Ways to Get Better Sleep for a Strong Immune System

Apr 27 by Ewcopywriting

Even though research into the link between sleep and the immune system is still in its early phase, we have already learned that there is definitely an important correlation. While sleep will benefit your immune system, stress and other factors can still keep you from getting enough rest. These six proven tips can help you get better sleep.

How Are Sleep And Immunity Related?

Most people know that they’re more likely to get sick when they’re not well rested, but research into this area has uncovered some biological reasons for that link. In one study, researchers compared the immune system’s T cells in well-rested subjects to the T cells of subjects who were prohibited from sleeping. They found fewer T cells present in the blood of well-rested subjects, which led them to believe the resting state provides an opportunity for the T cells to be sent to the lymph nodes. Once there, the T cells are assigned to a specific immune response function to help fight off disease or infection.

Research has also found that people who do get enough rest have a higher quantity of memory T cells, which are cells that have the capability of recognizing illnesses that the individual has had previously. Since the T cells are familiar with specific illnesses, they already know how to fight and eliminate those threats to the individual’s health.

Lack of Sleep Harms Your Health in Other Ways

A lack of quality sleep leads to a number of specific health problems as well. One example is the link between insufficient sleep and an increased risk for obesity. During sleep, the body produces a hormone called leptin, which reduces hunger cravings and helps the body burn stored fat for energy. This is why people who don’t sleep well also tend to overeat and struggle with losing fat.

The risk of obesity goes hand in hand with an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes, because more stored fat inhibits the body’s ability to produce enough insulin to push fat to the cells. Additionally, insufficient sleep causes the body to produce cortisol, a stress hormone. One of the effects that cortisol has on the body is to make the cells more resistant to insulin, which contributes to the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Research has also found that inadequate sleep can increase the risk of heart disease. In one study, a research team examined the heart health of 4,000 subjects with no previous heart conditions. The subjects who were deprived of sleep exhibited a more pronounced build-up of arterial plaque than those who were permitted to get seven hours of quality sleep each night. These results were consistent, regardless of age, gender, smoking and dietary habits.

What Can You Do to Get Better Sleep?

Many researchers believe there are more undiscovered health benefits that result when we get better sleep. While one night of poor sleep may not have a lasting impact on your health, consistently experiencing sleep difficulties will negatively impact you in a variety of ways. These tips for getting better sleep can help you resolve the difficulties you’re having, so you’ll fall asleep faster and sleep through the night.

Reduce Caffeine Intake

People expose themselves to stimulants consistently throughout the day even more so than they may realize. While you may know that caffeine is a stimulant, you may not know that it can take up to six hours to leave your system. Having your last cup of coffee, tea or soda in the early afternoon hours will provide enough time for the stimulant to dissipate so you can get the rest you need.

Shut Down Early

The screens on electronic devices give off a blue light that interferes with the brain’s circadian rhythm, or biological clock. The light tricks the brain into thinking it’s still daytime, so the release of the hormone that cause sleepiness, melatonin, is inhibited. Sleep researchers recommend shutting down computers and mobile devices at least one hour before bedtime. This will give your brain the time it needs to adjust to the transition from day into night.

Check Your Bedding

The comfort of your sleeping quarters cannot be underestimated when it comes to getting enough quality sleep. A poor mattress, scratchy blankets or worn pillows can interfere with your ability to get to sleep and stay asleep. You can cut corners in any other area of your home’s furnishings, but the bedroom is one place where you should pamper yourself. You’ll be amazed by the difference that a new mattress or softer sheets can provide.

Set the Mood

Your environment is just as important as your bedding when it comes to creating a sleep-friendly atmosphere. If you notice excess lighting spilling into your bedroom from a window or from the corridor, it may be helpful to wear a sleep mask. Similarly, wearing earplugs, or noise-canceling earmuffs, to bed can keep noises from waking you in the night.

You may also find that your room is too warm. Researchers have learned that people sleep better in cooler temperatures, so they recommend setting the thermostat at 60 to 65 degrees at night if possible.

Take Time to Relax

It can also be helpful to find a relaxing hobby to engage in just before bed. Once you power down your electronic devices, use that hour to take a relaxing bath or practice yoga. You can listen to soothing music while you engage in these activities to help your mind get into a more relaxed state. If you don’t feel relaxed by practicing yoga, you can engage in another form of exercise, or find a hobby that relaxes you, such as reading a good book. The activities you choose are up to you as long as you find them relaxing.

Take a Melatonin Supplement

If all else fails, it could be helpful to take a high-quality melatonin supplement before bedtime. Studies have shown that supplementing with melatonin can help people with insomnia to fall asleep faster. Taking a pulsatile-release melatonin formula will help you to fall asleep more quickly and promote a restful sleep throughout the night.

Studies Examine How Melatonin Boosts Immunity

Apr 02 by Ewcopywriting

If you have ever had trouble sleeping, you may know that melatonin is the primary ingredient in many sleep supplements. This is because it’s a natural hormone that’s produced in the brain to govern the sleep-wake cycle and other internal body clocks. But melatonin does more than just help you get a refreshing night’s sleep: As we face a global pandemic, new research finds that melatonin boosts immunity and could provide greater protection against infectious diseases.

What is Melatonin?

Our brain and body function on a 24-hour biological clock, known as the circadian rhythm, which regulates our sleeping and waking hours. The circadian rhythm relies on the light of the day and the darkness of night as cues to determine when we should be awake and when we should be asleep.

As the environment gets darker, the brain is triggered to release melatonin, which in turn helps us to feel sleepy. While this is melatonin’s primary role, much research has discovered that it also serves many other important functions in the body.

Melatonin has been utilized in natural sleep supplements for decades, and is also used to treat a number of different medical conditions. For instance, blind individuals frequently experience sleep disorders because the absence of light interferes with the functioning of their circadian rhythm. For the blind, administering melatonin in the evening can help the brain regulate sleeping and waking hours more effectively.

In the same way, melatonin supplements are sometimes prescribed to individuals suffering from shift work disorder. People who work evenings and nights must sleep during the daylight hours, when the brain isn’t producing melatonin. The decreased production of this hormone interferes with the sleep cycle, so a melatonin supplement can help night shift workers to sleep more easily during the day. Recently, new research has found even more ways that melatonin interacts with the body and mind, including how melatonin boosts immunity.

How Melatonin Boosts Immunity

When it comes to maintaining a healthy immune system, foods that contain antioxidants are often recommended because those antioxidants play a crucial role in protecting the body against the damage done by free radicals. Unfortunately, when there is a deficiency of antioxidants in the diet, other substances in the body must take up this protective role. For example, the hormone glutathione is normally responsible for moving energy to the cells, fueling the immune system and regulating how the immune system works. When there is an antioxidant deficiency, however, glutathione is forced to take up the role of fighting free radicals.

As glutathione is used for these extra tasks, the body’s supply gets used up rather quickly. This means there’s less fuel to bolster the immune system and that immunity can grow weaker as a result. Again, the body will compensate; it sends out melatonin to take up the role that glutathione usually performs. Using melatonin for its antioxidant properties gives the body a chance to produce more glutathione, so that these substances can all return to their normal tasks.

Melatonin becomes even more important to our health as we age, because it helps keep the immune system strong. Our immune system relies on T cells to help identify foreign invaders and to send antibodies to fight them, but the number of T cells in the body naturally diminishes over time. This means that as we age, there’s a decreased response of the immune system and the body can’t fight off disease as efficiently. Fortunately, melatonin helps to compensate for this reduction by stimulating the production of more T cells. In doing so, melatonin helps to strengthen the immune system and promotes better responses to disease.

According to research conducted at Jagiellonian University, melatonin can also act as an anti-inflammatory agent. Inflammation can be an acute immune system response to injury or illness, or it can be a chronic condition that requires an ongoing response. In either situation, the immune system’s involvement in inflammation can lead to a weakened immune response to other diseases that may affect the body. It has been shown that melatonin may help to reduce inflammation in instances where it’s not absolutely necessary, so the immune system can be freed up and reserved for more serious conditions such as infectious diseases.

Research has found that melatonin is present in several areas of the body in addition to the brain, including the retina, pineal gland, digestive tract and kidneys. Additionally, scientists have found melatonin receptors in cells throughout the body, providing further evidence that melatonin helps boost immunity. While research continues to focus on the mechanisms involved in how melatonin regulates immune system function, there’s clear evidence that this hormone does help the body fight against disease and infection.

Naturally Boost Your Body’s Melatonin Levels

There are a variety of natural ways to promote healthy melatonin levels in the body. Below are just a few.

Increase Your Exposure to the Sun

The production of melatonin relies on a healthy circadian rhythm, so exposing yourself to more sunlight during the day will help increase the production of melatonin at night. This helps your brain to observe a more pronounced difference between night and day, which will trigger a stronger sleep mode at bedtime.

Stick to a Schedule

Regardless of the hours you work, you should develop a sleep schedule and stick to it all week long. This will help you train your circadian rhythm to adjust to your lifestyle, so melatonin production will coincide with your sleeping hours.

Darken Your Sleeping Quarters

If artificial light comes into your bedroom through a window, that can be enough to disrupt the production of melatonin. You can resolve this problem by either covering your windows with a thick, dark curtain, or by wearing a sleep mask to bed.

Limiting your exposure to artificial light at night and increasing exposure to sunlight during the day are the best ways to boost melatonin production. If you still experience sleeping difficulties, or you’re worried that you’re not producing enough melatonin naturally, talk to your doctor about taking a melatonin supplement. This will help you sleep better and it may boost the strength of your immune system to boot!

Protect Yourself From Viruses: Keep Your Immune System Strong

Mar 25 by Ewcopywriting

As we face the pandemic caused by the spread of the COVID-19 virus, researchers all over the world are looking for ways to treat the condition the virus causes in humans. While some research examines repurposing existing medications for the treatment of the virus, other research suggests that a strong immune system plays a crucial role in mitigating the effects of the virus. While scientists look for a cure, existing research shows you can do much to protect yourself from COVID-19 and other viruses by maintaining a strong and healthy immune system.

Researchers Say You Can Protect Yourself From COVID-19

In one case study, researchers at Australia’s University of Melbourne examined the records of an infected middle-aged woman, who traveled between Wuhan, China and Melbourne. The 47-year-old subject exhibited moderate symptoms of the COVID-19 infection, but was otherwise healthy and did not suffer from other pre-existing conditions.

The author of the study, Katherine Kedzierska, noted that the woman’s recovery was similar to that which would be seen in someone suffering from a typical case of the flu. She added that, although this is a virus that’s new to humans, the woman’s immune system still responded to effectively protect the body at a cellular level. Professor Kedzierska is also hopeful that the studied immune response to the virus may help researchers understand what the body is lacking in cases where the viral infection has fatal results.

Timing may also play a part in the successful recovery of an individual, as the woman in this study sought treatment just four days after the onset of her symptoms. Upon experiencing a sore throat, lethargy, dry cough, fever, shortness of breath and chest pain, she immediately sought medical treatment. Once diagnosed, the patient committed to a period of self-isolation on her 11th day of infection and, by the 13th day, she was free of all symptoms.

Health Implications for Compromised Individuals

The results of the case study mentioned above also corroborate the findings that those suffering from chronic health conditions, such as diabetes, hypertension and heart disease, are at a greater risk for both contracting COVID-19 and requiring hospitalization for treatment. Those suffering from pre-existing health conditions are also more likely to die from the complications caused by the infection.

In other research, 191 subjects from Wuhan were included in a study to evaluate the effects of the COVID-19 infection. Of that group, 54 died and two-thirds of the fatalities occurred where there was a pre-existing health condition that compromised the strength of the immune system. The researchers noted that, among the subjects who died, 26 suffered from hypertension, 17 were diabetics, 13 suffered from heart disease and four had COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease).

In addition to the conditions observed in the study, the researchers warn that any other condition that causes an individual to become immuno-suppressed can put them at greater risk. This includes cancer patients receiving chemotherapy, those diagnosed with HIV and those taking medications that suppress the immune system. This also includes people being treated for rheumatoid arthritis and pregnant women.

How Can You Build Up Your Immune System?

Since treatment options for COVID-19 are still under study, doctors can only try to manage the symptoms, ensure patients are drinking enough fluids and resort to ventilators to aid in respiration. At this point, perhaps the best option is to protect yourself from COVID-19 by strengthening your immune system. These tips can help you bolster your health and build up a stronger immune system that will help you resist and recover from any virus you may be exposed to.

Eat a Healthier Diet

This is the perfect time to ditch your high-carb diet and to limit the amount of sugar you consume. Instead, look for low-carb alternatives and add more fruits and vegetables to each meal. Eating more plant-based foods will provide your body with the antioxidants it needs to fight off disease-causing oxidative stress. Additionally, you’ll be giving your body more fiber, vitamins and minerals.

Spend More Time in the Sun

Exercising will help build up your immune system by strengthening your muscles, tissue and bones. Doing that exercise outdoors will expose you to the sun’s rays and, while too much exposure increases the risk of skin cancer, this is also the best source of vitamin D. Your immune system relies on vitamin D to regulate responses to injury and illness, which is why a vitamin D deficiency has been linked to a greater risk of infection.

Boost the Health of Your Gut Microbiome

Your gut microbiome maintains a thriving community of helpful bacteria, which helps promote a stronger immune system. You can improve the diversity of your gut microbiome by eating more plant-based foods, particularly those containing probiotics. You can find probiotics in fermented foods, such as plain yogurt, sauerkraut, kimchi, kombucha, pickles and cottage cheese.

Get Enough Quality Sleep

When you don’t get enough quality sleep, your body produces a stress hormone called cortisol. This hormone acts to keep you awake, which promotes the release of more cortisol. Since your body relies on sleep to repair your body and reboot itself, that cycle of sleeplessness keeps your body from going through this restorative process. As a result, your immune system becomes suppressed and won’t be able to react as strongly to infections that may develop.

Get More Exercise

As previously mentioned, exercise helps you grow stronger muscles and bones that will protect you against the risks of injury and illness. Additionally, physical activity speeds up the metabolism, so antibodies and white blood cells, which are essential components of the immune system, circulate the body more rapidly. As a result, your immune system will detect infections sooner and respond to them more effectively.

Melatonin for Coronavirus: A Novel Treatment Option

Mar 20 by Ewcopywriting

As the Coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, pandemic spreads across the globe, scientists all over the world are searching for a cure, while at the same time scrambling to create an effective vaccine. Research into the possibility of repurposing existing medications to treat this latest pandemic has uncovered an effective use of melatonin for this very purpose — treating and preventing coronavirus.

The Benefits of Drug Repurposing

COVID-19 has been found to be effectively combated by the immune systems of most healthy people. However, the majority of the fatalities that have resulted from COVID-19 infections to date have occurred in people who are elderly and/or already suffering from significant health conditions such as heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and respiratory infections. While some of the latest research is focusing on creating new medications to prevent or treat the virus, other research is centered on repurposing existing medications that may have a positive effect in preventing the severity and the spread of the virus.

Successfully repurposing existing drugs has an important benefit: it means that they can be made publicly available in a shorter time frame. Existing drugs have also already gone through trials and government approval processes, and thus have already been proven safe for human use. Between the approval process and the time it would take to manufacture a new drug, repurposing an existing drug could save months, or even years.

Can Existing Drugs Be Used to Treat Coronavirus?

A study conducted at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology looked at how certain existing drugs, categorized as BSAAs, or broad-spectrum antiviral agents, would affect the COVID-19 virus. In the study, researchers focused their attention on this category of medication because BSAAs can attack two or more types of viruses simultaneously.

After testing 119 BSAAs, the researchers found that a couple seemed to be particularly effective in combating the COVID-19 virus. Specifically, the team found that chloroquine and remdesivir were effective in inhibiting the spread of the virus in laboratory experiments. Other medications that could potentially treat coronavirus are dalbavancin, emetine, monensin, oritavancin and teicoplanin. While it’s rare to repurpose antibiotics for use in treating viruses, it appears that the properties of these particular drugs could make them effective as antiviral agents as well.

The researchers will continue their research by pursuing the effectiveness of these drugs against COVID-19 in clinical trials. The hope is to show that broad-spectrum antiviral agents have a wide range of uses and can help improve recovery rates in the treatment in a variety of diseases.

Previous Research Supports Melatonin’s Potential

Some of the latest research is also focusing on using melatonin as a possible adjunct treatment for COVID-1 — but this isn’t the first time this hormone has been used in the fight against viral infections. Best known for its role in regulating the sleep-wake cycle and use as a sleep aid, melatonin has also been studied for its potential role in supporting virus treatment for decades.

As far back as 1988, researchers successfully used melatonin to protect laboratory rodents against viral diseases. In studies, the rats were infected with the encephalomyocarditis virus (EMCV), or the Semliki Forest virus (SFV), which are both fatal within a 10-day window. However, daily doses of melatonin resulted in delayed and reduced symptoms. Additionally, instances of death were reduced.

Later, the outbreak of the Ebola virus in 2014 through 2016 prompted researchers to revisit the idea of using melatonin to help fight viruses. One consequence of the Ebola virus is to inhibit immune system function. Combined with its effectiveness in modulating inflammation and reducing oxidative stress, melatonin’s ability to protect the immune system made it a promising treatment possibility for the Ebola virus.

Through laboratory research, it was found that melatonin-based adjunct treatments also helped to protect blood vessels, which are also affected by the Ebola virus. The hemorrhagic shock that could result from the damage that the virus has on blood vessels was shown to be prevented in cases where melatonin was administered. Since hemorrhagic shock is a leading cause of death attributed to the Ebola virus, the ability to reduce vascular permeability with melatonin treatments made it a desirable option. While melatonin has never been found to be effective in negating viruses entirely, it has been shown to be effective in reducing the severity of symptoms that a viral infection may cause.

Researchers Examine Using Melatonin for Coronavirus

Research into the use of melatonin as an antiviral treatment has continued to the present day, when researchers are now focusing on repurposing melatonin for the treatment of COVID-19. This is because COVID-19, like any viral infection, increases the level of oxidative stress in the body. Left unchecked, oxidative stress can cause organ damage, but melatonin’s antioxidant properties can help combats the free radicals that cause this damage.

Administering melatonin along with other treatments may help keep a viral infection, such as COVID-19, under control, so it won’t become a life-threatening condition. In the meantime, melatonin will also protect the body as the immune system grows stronger and is able to combat the virus more effectively. Specifically, melatonin targets the same protein coding genes that the human coronavirus targets, helping to reduce the likelihood that the virus will infect those genes. Melatonin also works as an anti-inflammatory agent, which helps reduce the effects that an infected gene will produce.

Currently, research into the effects that melatonin and repurposed drugs have on the COVID-19 is in the early stages. While laboratory research has produced promising results, clinical trials are needed to confirm that these repurposed medications will have the same effects on living organisms. In the meantime, people are urged to continue practicing the safety guidelines for avoiding infection. These include washing your hands frequently, keeping a distance of at least six feet from others and self-quarantining inside your home as much as possible.

March 13th is World Sleep Day: What’s the Significance?

Mar 13 by Ewcopywriting

March 13th is World Sleep Day. On this day, the World Sleep Society is issuing a worldwide call to action regarding the importance of getting quality sleep each night. Read below to learn how you can achieve a more restful night.

How Does Getting Sufficient Sleep Improve Your Quality of Life?

It’s common to hear that getting a full seven to eight hours of sleep per night is good for us, but many people don’t know what good all of that rest actually does. The fact is, while we’re resting, our bodies are hard at work performing a broad range of functions. Here’s just a short list of things that happen as a result of getting enough quality sleep each night.

Improved Heart Health

Research has found that people are more likely to suffer heart attacks and strokes in the early hours of the day, and that those who don’t get enough sleep are more likely to develop hypertension and high cholesterol.

Optimal Cellular Health

The growth of tumors and cancer is more common in those who work graveyard shifts and sleep during the day. Scientists believe this has something to do with disruption of the circadian rhythm, which regulates sleepiness and wakefulness. By trying to sleep during daylight hours, or with a light turned on, your biological clock is disrupted and that may also affect the body’s immune system.

Reduced Stress

Failing to get enough sleep starts a cycle that can be very difficult to break. When you don’t get enough sleep, your body produces higher levels of stress hormones. Among the adverse effects these hormones have on the body is interfering with the sleep cycle. Higher levels of stress hormones make it more difficult to sleep soundly, which causes more stress hormones to be produced.

Reduce Inflammation

The stress hormones produced through the lack of quality sleep also cause inflammation throughout the body. While the immune system uses inflammation to help treat injuries and infections, prolonged, or chronic, inflammation is harmful. It increases the risks of heart disease, cancer and diabetes. Some scientists believe it also plays a part in causing the physical deterioration we experience as we age.

Improved Cognitive Health

Quality sleep also helps the brain rest and rejuvenate itself. This is why we wake up feeling more refreshed after a good night’s sleep. Specifically, a full night of rest improves memory recall, concentration and mental clarity. This occurs because the resting state provides time for the brain to link memories with sensory input and emotions, making it easier for you to learn new things.

Helping the Body to Help Itself

As you sleep, the body repairs the damage done throughout the day by harmful environmental factors and toxins you have ingested. Even healthy activities, such as physical exercise, cause damage and stress to the body’s muscles and tissue.

During sleep, the muscles, tissue, and organs are repaired and strengthened. This is also the time at which two hormones beneficial to weight loss, ghrelin and leptin, are released into the blood. In depriving yourself of enough sleep, these processes are halted, which is why it’s common for overweight and obese people to also suffer from sleep disorders.

World Sleep Day: Tips For Getting Better Quality Sleep

World Sleep Society established World Sleep Day® 13 years ago, because they wanted to remind us all of the importance of sleep. In addition to recognizing the value that a good night’s sleep provides, this annual event is also an occasion to share helpful tips for getting good quality sleep.

While getting enough rest doesn’t seem like it should be difficult, a large number of people do struggle with getting a full night’s sleep. These tips can help you get to sleep faster and stay asleep throughout the night.

Ditch the Stimulants

Caffeine is among the top culprits in keeping you from enjoying a deep sleep. Experts recommend stopping your caffeine intake at least six hours before bed, so your body will have time to process the last remnants of the stimulant. Additionally, turn off mobile devices at least one hour before bed. The blue light that these devices emit disrupts the circadian rhythm, which will offset your sleep cycle.

Increase Exposure to Daylight

You can also use the circadian rhythm to your benefit by getting more bright light exposure throughout the day. If you fill your waking hours with bright light, especially natural sunlight, the evening darkness will have a more profound effect on your brain. In one sleep study, participants fell asleep 83 percent faster when they were exposed to an increased level of brightness throughout the day.

Engage in Relaxing Exercises

You can also improve your sleep quality by developing a bedtime ritual that emphasizes relaxation. This can involve reading a book, taking a warm bath or meditating by candlelight. Some people find it helpful to listen to soft music just before bed, as well. You can choose any technique that helps you feel more relaxed, as long as it works for you.

Evaluate Your Sleeping Quarters

Sometimes, the problem with getting quality sleep is in the environment, so take the time to examine your sleeping quarters. Determine if your mattress is firm enough to support you comfortably. You may also need to replace your bedding by choosing sheets and blankets that are softer and more comforting. Heavier curtains and blinds can help eliminate any excess light that gets into your bedroom at night. If ambient noises keep you awake at night, try wearing earplugs or noise-canceling earmuffs.

If you try all of these suggestions and your quality of sleep doesn’t improve, you may need to consult your doctor. A physician can help you determine the cause of your sleep disorder and may prescribe supplements to help you sleep better. Since getting sufficient sleep affects every aspect of your life, suffering with a sleep disorder is not something you should do for long.