Sleeping is one of the most important activities in our lives that keeps us, humans, alive and well.
A regular sleeping pattern will not only make you feel better and help you get rid of your ‘Prada’ bags under your eyes, but it will also boost your energy levels providing you with that essential glow for a whole, uninterrupted day of productivity.
A proper sleep is a crucial part of maintaining a healthy lifestyle. It benefits our body, mind, weight, mood and more.
Considering this, a severe sleep deprivation may cause some serious issues in our health condition such as high blood pressure, depression, heart stroke, anxiety, diabetes and many more.
That is exactly why science is strongly advising us to stick to an 8 hour – healthy sleeping routine. However, even though we are already aware, that men and women have a lot of differences in their sleeping patterns, neuroscientists discovered something much more interesting.
According to Dr. Jim Horne, Britain’s leading expert in sleep science, a neuroscientist and an emeritus professor of psychophysiology at Loughborough University, women need 20 minutes more sleep than men.
Why? Our brains usually work harder and faster than men, so we need more time to recharge.
Dr. Horne explains that women who have the ability to multitask their lives (to do everything at once) are extremely flexible and efficient because they use more od their actual brain than men. Because of that, they require a long sleep.
Moreover, they not only suffer from insufficient sleep (18% women compared to 8% men), but a severe sleep deprivation can result in increased anger, hostility and anger in women.
It seems that after all, our much craved, extra “beauty sleep” is a thing, and as women, we need more than 8 hours to feel completely rested.
So, ladies, you go ahead and snooze the hell out of that alarm!
Here are all the health benefits of maintaining a regular sleeping pattern:
1. IMPROVED MEMORY
A regular sleeping pattern has the power to strengthen our skills that were learned when we were awake. Sleep can help our brains memorize things and perform better.
“If you are trying to learn something, whether it’s physical or mental, you learn it to a certain point with practice,” says Dr. David Rapoport, who is an associate professor at NYU Langone Medical Center. “But something happens while you sleep that makes you learn it better.”
2. INCREASED LEVELS OF PRODUCTIVITY AND CREATIVITY
Get a good night’s rest before you go to a lecture or an exam because sleeping is essential for regeneration of the neurons within our cerebral cortex. Each sleep cycle restores and rejuvenates our brain for optimal function.
Scientists say that when we’re asleep our emotional memory gets much stronger, and as a result, we are capable of much more creative and productive performance.
3. BETTER CONCENTRATION
A 2009 study found that 7 or 8-year-old children who got less than 8 hours of sleep, were more likely to behave impulsively, and inattentively.
Dr. David Rapport explained that a lack of sleep can result in ADHD-like symptoms in children.
“We diagnose and measure sleep by measuring electrical changes in the brain,” Dr. Rapoport says. “So not surprisingly how we sleep affects the brain.”
4. HEALTHIER BODY
Sleep is extremely important for our mind and our body. People who tend to go on a diet, need to plan their optimal bedtime in order to gain what they want.
Researchers at Chicago found out that dieters who were well rested lost more fat (56% of their weight) than those who were sleep deprived who mostly lost their muscle mass.
5. DECREASED LEVELS OF STRESS
Getting a longer sleep lowers our stress levels and affects our overall health. A sleep deprivation can be the main cause of many other health conditions. That is why, maintaining a regular 8 hours- sleeping routine is the best medicine you can take.
SOURCE: HTTPS://SLEEPFOUNDATION.ORG/SLEEP-NEWS/DO-WOMEN-NEED-MORE-SLEEP-MEN
