Sleep, sleep sleep. It’s something that we all crave yet struggle to get. We’ve spoken about ways of getting a better night’s sleep before, and it’s probably worth checking that post out if you are someone that struggles to sleep at night!
Still, why do we need to sleep? On a basic level, we know that it’s a way for us to recharge and get ready for the next day. If we didn’t sleep, our bodies just would not be able to function. We get that, but what are some of the other reasons you need to start getting more Zzz’s? What happens when you’re sleep-deprived? You’ll not be very happy to know that a variety of problems will come your way…
You’ll start gaining weight from no sleep
Who’d have thought that not sleeping will lead to gaining weight? You might’ve heard this claim before, and it sometimes gets followed by an explanation that staying up late gives you more time to snack. While that can be true, it doesn’t really account for people that go to bed at a reasonable time yet stay up watching TV or playing on their phones. Instead, there’s a more scientific reason behind a good night’s rest and weight gain.
You see, we all have hormones throughout our bodies that act as chemical messengers. They send signals and messages to your brain, which then sends signals to other parts of your body. For example, melatonin is the main sleep hormone. When it gets dark outside, your body naturally starts producing melatonin to make you feel sleepy. Funnily enough, this is one reason why staring at screens or being in a brightly lit room can stop you from getting a good night’s rest at night.
Anyway, when it comes to weight gain and sleep, a lack of sleep will mean you start producing less of a hormone called leptin. This is the hormone that tells you to stop eating. At the same time, you start producing more ghrelin, which is the hormone that tells you that you’re hungry. So, a lack of sleep means you have more ghrelin and less leptin, which leads to you feeling super hungry throughout the day, meaning you’re likely to eat more food and gain weight. Ensuring you sleep 8 hours a night can help you get your hormones under control, stopping you from gaining weight.
You’ll start looking a lot older
A lack of sleep will also play a role in how you look. When you don’t get a good night’s rest, you start seeing a few common problems. Mainly, the skin around your eyes starts hollowing out and developing creases. You get nasty undereye bags that make you look far older than you actually are. This can make you feel incredibly self-conscious as you feel like you always look, well, tired!
Now, there are ways for you to reverse the effects that sleep has on your face. However, you will never truly see results unless you tackle the source of the problem: your lack of sleep. It’s all well and good paying for an under eye filler, but it’s a waste of money if you continue to only get 4 hours of sleep a night. More sleep means your skin is in a much healthier state, you won’t get wrinkles, and your eyes won’t be hollow and dark.
Your memory will be worse
While you sleep, your brain does all sorts of work behind the scenes. It helps you remember all of the information you consumed in a day. This is why we wake up and remember what happened yesterday. I won’t go too deeply into this as the brain is, quite frankly, a crazy piece of anatomy. It’s like a supercomputer and is far too complicated for the average human to understand!
The short explanation is that a lack of sleep will negatively impact your brain’s ability to form connections to help you remember information. As a result, you are likely to suffer from short and long-term memory loss. It won’t happen overnight, sure. But, it will happen if you continuously don’t get enough sleep every single night.
By all means, there are loads of other reasons you need to start getting more sleep. Sleep deprivation has a negative impact on multiple different aspects of your body. Some other problems it can cause are mood swings, weakened immunity, and high blood pressure. Basically, you need to get a better night’s rest! Drill this into your head and think about all the things mentioned today. If you don’t get a good night’s rest every night, you might succumb to the problems above.
