By Phil Williams

Receiving regular sleep is crucial for achieving optimal health, both physically and mentally.  Numerous studies support the idea of receiving at least 6-8 hours sleep every night.  The following are five benefits to making sure you get enough sleep.

1.   Lose more weight.  Getting inadequate sleep time may have something to do with your lack of diet success.  According to studies conducted at the University of Chicago, sleep loss interferes with the secretion of cortisol, a hormone that regulates appetite.  If cortisol levels are out of whack, you may still feel hungry even if you’ve had enough to eat.  Researchers also found that carbohydrates metabolize slower when you’re sleep-deprived, causing sugars to linger in the blood and spike insulin production, which increases the storage of body fat and can lead to the development of Type-2 diabetes.

2.   Lengthen your life. Lots of behind-the-scenes healing goes on while you sleep, including the repair of cells damaged by normal wear and tear and the bolstering of the immune system.  Sleep impacts the body’s defense mechanisms; in fact it is believed that lack of sleep increases susceptibility to viral and bacterial pathogens.  A study conducted at the University Of Pittsburgh School Of Medicine found that good sleep habits are directly related to longevity.  In a group of healthy people over age 60 who participated in a study for 13 years, those who took longer than 30 minutes to fall asleep were more than twice as likely to die sooner those who fell asleep faster.  The study’s authors observed that sleep behavior may be an early indicator of existing health problems, which can affect future health if left untreated.

3.   Enhance your memory.  Having trouble remembering the movie you saw last week, or the name of your new neighbor?  You may be able to blame it on lack of sleep, according to a study at the University of California – San Diego.  Researchers found that sleep deprived subjects have different pattern activity than subjects who have the normal eight hours of sleep, and do not perform as well on memory tests. Experts believe that sleep loss interferes with the chemical and neurological processes that “lay down memories” into our brains.

4.   Improve your mood.  It’s probably not news to you that a lack of sleep results in irritability and decreased motivation, but there’s actually a chemical reason for it.  Many of the neurotransmitters, which carry messages to the brain, get sluggish along the way and need to be replenished during sleep.  Subjects in a study at the University of Pennsylvania felt stressed and depressed when deprived of sleep, but when they got adequate rest, their moods significantly improved.

5.   Keep your heart healthy.  A study out of the University of British Columbia found that women who get less than five hours of sleep per night are 39 percent more likely to develop heart disease than women who sleep for eight hours.  Sleep deprivation can raise blood pressure and cause variations in heart rate, which may contribute to heart disease.

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Mission Statement:  Desk Jockey Fitness is a wellness facilitation center, teaching our clients how to feel good—both in body and in mind. Our clients’ successes are based on their strong desire to restore their self-confidence, to improve their body image, and to live productive, pain-free lives. Our clients provide the determination; Desk Jockey Fitness provides the tools in a private, non-judgmental setting. We accomplish measurable results through a holistic mix of functional exercise instruction, nutritional counseling, and lifestyle coaching, a dash of motivation and copious doses of accountability. Looking for a “new you?” It’s time to discover the Desk Jockey difference.

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Charlotte, North Carolina 28226

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