Sleep is a 24-hour process. Sleep acts to entrain (synchronize) various physiological functions. These functions and your daytime behavior, in turn, influence your sleep
The figure below summarizes the relationship of sleep to various physiological functions.
As is apparent from the figure, sleep involves many functions within the body. Indeed, a complete understanding of any physiological system requires knowing how sleep effects and is affected by these physical systems.
This figure emphasizes the key role that sleep plays in health and disease and als0 how medical and behavioral disorders influence sleep.
The Consequences of Poor Sleep
As seen in the figure above, since sleep is a key element in good health, there are many health consequences to poor sleep. The list is long and growing, as research uncovers the dynamic processes involved in poor sleep. Below are examples:
- Lapses in attention and memory occur
- Increase in sleepiness, fatigue, tiredness, confusion
- Neglect of nonessential activities
Increase in susceptability to disease states, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, heart problems, obesity, depression, and cognitive decline.
So, poor sleep will impact weight loss/gain, intellectual functioning, energy level and motivation and a host of other behavioral, psyhcological, and physical disorders.
Sleep is not a passive state. It is intrinsically related to physiological processes tied to waking. Thus, interruption of sleep (poor sleep) encourages poor health and increases the risk of disease states.
What Is Good Sleep?
Since sleep is so intrinsic to good health, then you can ask the question, “what is good sleep?”
There are many factors that are involved in good sleep:
Sleep quantity. That is, how long you sleep is very important. Sleeping too little or too much can lead to health problems. For example, if you sleep less than 5 hours per night, you are two times as likely to develop diabetes. If you sleep more than 8 hrs per night, you are three times as likely to develop diabetes. So, sleeping toll little or too much can compromise your health.
Sleep Quality. CBD for sleep is prepared from various products and each one of them might have some effect on the various bodies differently. You should be able to identify if it is beneficial for you to consume or not. It is advised that one should start the consumption after knowing the pros and cons of the product only. It’s not only how long you sleep, but the quality of your sleep that is important to good health. For example, if your sleep does not include the deeper stages of sleep and REM sleep, then you will not experience the benefits to good health that sleep will bring. In addition, it’s not just time in bed (TIB) but total sleep time (TST) that’s important. TIB/TST gives you your sleep efficiency (SE) ratio or percentage. Good sleepers have a SE ratio in the 90s.
The Timing of Sleep. You have a “biological clock” in your brain (the suprachiasmatic nucleus) that governs your circadian rhtyhms. Good sleep shows a circadian rhythm (see Biological Rhythms and Sleep). If your rhythm is disrupted, this can result in poor sleep.
Individual Differences in the Need for Sleep. Some people are naturall short sleepers or long sleepers. Just as some people are “morning types” vs “evening types”. So, how much sleep do YOU need? You need enough sleep to feel refreshed and energized the next day.
In conclusion, health and sleep are intertwined. If either your health or your sleep is problematic, it will influence the other. On a more positive note, getting good sleep can be helpful in overcoming many of the health complaints that you and allow you to “Sleep Your Way to Good Health”!
