With this in mind, Certified Sleep Coach, Nicky Blakeman outlines below five extra reasons to prioritise your sleep ahead of World Sleep Day.
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Fat loss
When you’re sleep-deprived, your hunger hormones are directly affected which makes you crave unhealthy food high in sugar and salt. A good night’s sleep helps these hormones to function normally so you feel fuller when you eat and less hungry throughout the day. Getting more sleep is a great way to change your appetite and helps you to stay away from unhealthy snacks so you can maintain a healthy weight - no willpower needed!
2. Improved immune system
Another benefit of sleep that isn’t talked about enough is its impact on your immune system. While a lot of focus is quite rightly put on diet, sleep is also essential to supporting your immune system. Sleep is an important period of bodily rest and regularly getting 7-9 hours of sleep per night helps to make sure you’re able to effectively fight off bacteria and viruses. As a former sufferer of insomnia, I have experienced this first hand with recurring throat infections when I wasn’t sleeping which have disappeared since I improved my sleep.
3. Could look more attractive
When you’re sleep deprived, you can be prone to red and swollen eyes, dark circles under the eyes, paler skin and drooping corners of the mouth. Getting more sleep prevents all of these, helping you to look and feel your best. On top of this, your skin repairs and renews when you’re asleep which helps to reduce the signs of ageing so you can stay fresh faced with fewer wrinkles.
4. Feeling motivated to do things you’ve been putting off
Struggling to find the motivation you need? Everything is more effort when you’re sleep deprived. It’s hard enough to complete the essential tasks in your day when you’re exhausted, let alone anything extra. So whether it’s a workout, a side project or some DIY, a healthy sleeping pattern can give you the energy and motivation you need to do that thing you’ve been putting off!
5. Increased Libido
Prioritising shut-eye can help to improve your performance in the bedroom in more ways than one! Sleep and sex both have a major impact on your wellbeing but the relationship between them has often been overlooked. Sleep deprivation has been linked to decreased libido with sleepiness and fatigue negatively impacting your desire,so getting yourself into a healthy sleeping routine is a great way to improve your sex life!
