While we are all educated on the importance of a good night’s sleep from a young age, few of us attempt to understand how it impacts on our physical and mental well being. Although regular sleep is certainly capable of lifting your mood and removing the circles from around the eyes, it also has a number of additional benefits that are not immediately obvious. In fact, there are studies to suggest that good quality sleep is exceptionally important to your overall health and performance over a sustained period of time.
A Good Night’s Rest: 3 Surprising Benefits of Sleep
With this in mind, how exactly can a good night’s sleep enhance both your general health and emotional stability? Consider these surprising benefits of sleep:
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Curb Inflammation and Joint Pain: While joint pain may be a painful affliction by itself, it is also linked with the onset of heart disease, a stroke, diabetes and arthritis. In addition to this, research in 2010 suggested that people who get less than six hours of sleep a night have considerably higher blood levels of inflammatory proteins than those who rest more. As a result, getting a good night’s sleep may help to hinder the aging process and protect you against serious health issues. This is hard to ignore, especially if you have been known to suffer from similar symptoms in the past.
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Spur the Creative Thought Process: While it may be commonly accepted that a good night’s sleep helps to improve mental performance, researchers at Harvard University have delved further into this theory. They have subsequently found that a healthy sleep pattern allows the brain to consolidate memories and reorganize them in a more effective manner. This is thought to trigger the creative thought process, and help artists or writers to complete their work to a higher standard.
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The Link Between Sleep and Weight Loss: Historically, the link between a good pattern of sleep and weight loss has been considered to be tenuous at best. Research undertaken at the University of Chicago may have changed this perception, however, after revealing that dieters who were well rested lost more fat than those who were not. While dieters who slept more ensured that 56% of their weight loss was fat, those were deprived of sleep tended to lose more muscle mass. This could take its toll over time, so anyone looking to lose weight would do well to plan for an earlier bed time.
Author Bio: This article was contributed by Lewis on behalf of Odd Mattress. To access competitive deals on some of the most affordably priced mattresses in the UK, visit the firm’s website today.