This Book skyrockets my sleep quality — A summary on Why We Sleep?
1. Every living creature has a 24-hour cycle known as Circadian Rhythm (circa, meaning around and dian means day). This rhythm connects our body cycle with nature's 24-hour cycle.
2. We have two stages of sleep i.e. NREM (Non-rapid eye movement) and REM (Rapid eye movement). The cerebral wars between the two happen, both win and lose every ninety minutes, ruled first by NREM sleep followed by REM. Most dreams take place during REM sleep.
3. During sleep brain is paralyzed by the body so that the mind can dream safely, that is why whenever we try to do any action during sleep, we fail to do it.
4. Whenever we memorize something, the information is stored temporarily in the Hippocampus, and with thorough practice it is stored in the brain. The hippocampus acts as a temporary memory and helps us to store data. The right amount of sleep delightfully clears out the hippocampus timely. You can say that a night of sleep strengthens the newly learned memories, boosting their retention.
5. In men testosterone has a sharpening effect on the brain’s ability to focus. Men who sleep too little or have very poor-quality sleep have 29 percent lower sperm count than those taking a full and restful night's sleep. Testosterone maintains bone density and plays a causal role in building muscle mass.
Similarly, in women 20 percent drop in follicular releasing hormone is observed, a critical female reproductive element that peaks just prior to ovulation and is necessary for conception and also has a 33 percent higher rate of abnormal menstrual cycle.
Tips to improve sleep quality
1. Say no to Caffeine: Adenosine is a chemical that creates sleep pressure. For example, think of a tank that is empty during the morning and it fills completely by night, this filled tank creates pressure at the bottom surface. Similarly, the brain keeps releasing adenosine throughout the day and increases sleep pressure. However, chemicals that make us feel more alert like caffeine can artificially mute the sleep signal of adenosine. It blocks and effectively inactivates the receptors, acting as a masking agent.
2. Remove LEDs from the bedroom: A new invention blue light-emitting diodes have serious harmful effects. Blue LED lights have twice the harmful impact on nighttime melatonin suppression as the warm yellow light from old incandescent bulbs.
3. Say no to Alcohol: Many people think that alcohol puts us to sleep easily but this is completely wrong. Alcohol prevents neurons from firing their electrical impulse, this weakens the connection between the body and the brain.
When the body metabolizes it, it produces by-products of aldehyde and ketone. They particularly block the brain's ability to generate REM sleep.
4. Lower the temperature: Where you live, try to control the temperature to 65 degrees at the time you intend to go to sleep. According to Walker… your core body temperature needs to decrease by 2–3 degrees Fahrenheit.
Bathing or cleaning your body with cold water before sleeping helps you to reduce body temperature faster. The warm water bath is also helpful because it increases the size of skin pores which helps the body to radiate excess heat from the body through pores.
5. Practise Siesta (nap): Try to take a Short mid-day nap like our ancestors used to take. It will probably improve your creativity and coronary health as well as extend your lifetime.
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