5 Reasons You Need Proper Sleep For Greater Health

I am constantly educating to groups and individuals, even to myself on occasion, how vitally important proper rest and repair of our bodies is. It is so absolutely key in achieving the health, body, mental/emotional state and energy we would like out of our lives. I chat about this in my new book The Simplicity Project; here are some of the top reasons you should be getting to bed earlier tonight:

1. Repair & Rejuvenation: Sleep is where our bodies do so much of the inside work of keeping us vital, strong and healthy. According to Ayurvedic medicine, the ideal hours for sleep are between 10 pm and 6 am. Modern research has confirmed the value of this recommendation as certain hormonal fluctuations occur throughout the day and night, working against your biology by staying awake when you should ideally be sleeping or vice versa, interferes with these hormonal fluctuations. According to Dr. Christine Horner. 
2. Hormone Regulation & Antioxidant Production: If you can get to bed by 10pm, your body will have higher natural levels of melatonin, which is not only your sleep hormone, but all a very potent antioxidant. Getting to sleep by 10pm will also encourage the natural spike of melatonin which occurs between midnight and 1am. The antioxidant effects of melatonin on your body will help to decrease the amount of estrogen your body produces, but will also boost your immune system and maintain positive interactions with other hormones.
3. Lose Weight or Maintain Your Healthy Body Weight: It should come as no surprise that our societal shift towards shorter sleep duration has coincided with an increasing trend toward obesity. Recent studies suggest that people who get inadequate sleep are more likely to gain weight. “There’s a direct linkage between the sleep deprivation epidemic and the obesity epidemic,” says Dr. Oz. Insufficient sleep lowers levels of leptin, the hormone that causes you to feel full, while increasing levels of ghrelin, the hormone that makes you feel hungry. Sleep deprivation also influences your food choices, making you crave high-carb and high-sugar foods. This is because sleep loss decreases insulin sensitivity, putting the sleep-deprived at higher risk for developing type 2 Diabetes.
4. Look and Feel Better: Often people who only get 4-5 sleep each night look older than their true age and complain about many physical ailments such as headaches, muscle and joint pain, low energy etc. But a big part of the problem, may be that because they are sleeping for such a short period of time they aren’t producing enough growth hormone, which only gets secreted during our most restorative and deepest sleep. According to many doctors around the world who study sleep and its importance believe that  when we don’t sleep deeply, growth hormone is almost negligible in the system. Plus, as we age the levels of this hormone drop dramatically. You want to keep your growth hormone levels as high as possible because, this is what contributes to greater muscle mass, decreased body fat and better skin. The number one way to do that is sleep.
5. Less Stress. Less Grumpiness. Happier You: The less sleep you have the more stressed you feel, the harder it is to handle any challenging events, especially surprise ones or multiples of them. You will tend to be on the grouchier side with a shorter temper, less patience and you will most likely be more prone to blow things way out of proportion and over-react. If you can get yourself into a better, more regular sleep routine, not only will your mood improve but you will almost immediately feel the difference and the bonus is…so will everyone else around you!

• Zzzzzz…I don’t know about you but I am definitely ready to head to bed and count some sheep!
• PS. Be sure to sleep in a dark room with no electronics plugged in nearby
• PPS . Also be sure to sleep in as little clothing as possible to help regulate and control your body’s internal thermostat and lull your thyroid into a blissful slumber too!
• PPPS. Before you nod off, close your eyes and smile. Then tell yourself 3 things you are so grateful for today and one fabulous thing you are looking forward to for tomorrow:)

 Sweet Dreams to you all

Jenn xoxo

To purchase my new book The Simplicity Project ~ A Simple No-Nonsense Guide to Losing Weight & Changing Your Body Forever visit Amazon by clicking this link below

http://www.amazon.ca/Simplicity-Project-Jenn-Pike/dp/099175302X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1364239141&sr=8-1