WHY SLEEP IS MOST IMPORTANT?
REVERSE AGE BY SLEEPING
How do you feel about jumping into bed after a long and tiring day? I am sure you would look forward to it. Now try to imagine how you feel when you wake up after a dreamless sleep of 8 hours. You don’t feel one bit of the fatigue you felt the night before. You feel energized and motivated. You feel like you have been recharged. You feel fresh and ready to conquer the world. All of this might seem very normal to you because you go through this cycle every day after all.
But what I want to emphasize are the unseen events that occur while you are sleeping that bring about such an incredible change! Because let’s be real; anything that can transform us from being exhausted to the bone to being full of energy in merely a matter of hours has to be something incredible!
An old Irish proverb goes like “A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor’s book.” And it’s very close to the truth. Let’s see how…
WHAT IS RESTORATIVE SLEEP?
The period of sleep where your body heals and detoxifies itself is termed restorative sleep. After a prolonged period of wakefulness, restorative sleep can rebalance the scales and recharge your brain through specific actions upon the nervous system and rest of the body.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
There are at least 5 different stages of sleep that you go through during the night which consist of Non-rapid eye movement sleep (NREM) and Rapid eye movement sleep (REM).
The first 4 stages are can be categorized under NREM sleep. The first stage (N1) is that of drowsiness which lasts for 1-7 mins only. It is very easy to wake up from. The second stage (N2) begins the process of restoration but lasts no longer than 10-25 mins.
Stage 3 (N3) and especially stage 4 (N4) show a pattern of slow waves on EEG and are termed as deep sleep. During this period respiratory and circulatory functions drop to their lowest and muscle tone decreases considerably.¹
This is the period of sleep that is the most restive and restorative and occurs in increasing periods whenever you sleep after a prolonged exhaustive period of wakefulness.
What marks this period of deep sleep, in particular, is the cleansing of toxic substances that takes place within the brain. Researchers at the University of Rochester have described a glymphatic system that is mainly responsible for this. CSF (cerebrospinal fluid) is pumped into the brain tissue spaces and this washes away the waste material. This revelation has been extremely significant in understanding the healing and detoxifying properties of sleep on the brain as previously it was not understood how the brain, which is a closed ecosystem on its own, got rid of the waste.¹
This period lasts from 20-40 mins and its duration decreases gradually as the night progresses. How fresh and rested you feel after waking up coincides directly with how much of this deep sleep you got during the night. And if you feel weary and tired after waking up, that probably means that the sleep you had was not very restorative.
The fifth and final stage that occurs at the end of every 90 minutes cycle is REM sleep. It has its own benefits as it influences learning, memory, and mood. This is also the stage where most of the dreaming takes place.
THE CIRCADIAN RHYTHM
Every process in this world, whether living or non-living, has a cyclic pattern that has to be adhered to. And the human body is no exception. Countless cycles are being followed simultaneously and anything that disturbs these cycles disturbs the normal balance that keeps us healthy.
Just to give you an example, think of the cyclic nature in which our blood cells are continuously replaced in a matter of 120 days. There is a rhythm to this process that is integral to its existence.
The sleep-wake cycle that repeats itself daily is another manifestation of this rhythmic nature of life. And just like the other cycles, it must be adhered to. Think about what happens when you skip a night’s sleep. It is disorienting, to say the least. What if you skip two or three nights in a row? You will start feeling like a vegetable. This goes on to show how strictly we must adhere to our natural circadian rhythms.³
But that’s not all. What’s interesting is the fact that our sleep-wake cycle coincides directly with the normal day and night cycle of Earth. Our brains are naturally inclined to go into a restive state during nighttime and become more alert during the day.³
Unfortunately, the morbidly artificial life that the modern man lives doesn’t allow him to follow the natural path that resonates most closely with his body. But synchronizing our sleep-wake cycle with the natural order of day and night is the first step towards ensuring long periods of restorative sleep.
BENEFITS OF RESTORATIVE SLEEP
Detoxification
Restorative sleep helps the body to get rid of harmful substances in the body. During REM sleep antioxidant mechanisms are activated that help the body to detoxify free radicals that produce profound damage.
Dr. Mathangi conducted an experiment on rats which showed that REM deprivation led to the accumulation of free radicals and an increase in markers of stress.⁴
“FUNCTIONS OF VARIOUS ORGAN SYSTEMS ARE REDUCED AS SHOWN BY THE DECREASE IN BLOOD PRESSURE AND RESPIRATORY RATE DURING SLEEPING. ”
Immune Function
A good night’s sleep improves the ability to fight off infections. Chemicals, that promote immune function, and cells, which are responsible for mediating immunity, are increased.
Interestingly, sleep also enhances immune memory i.e. the ability of the immune system to mount a protective reaction against the previously exposed pathogen.
Dr. Lange in his study proves that individuals who had adequate sleep after Hepatitis A vaccination produced higher amounts of antibodies than sleep-deprived individuals.⁵
Brain Function
Restorative sleep is mentally very relaxing. It gives adequate rest to the brain and improves brain functioning i.e. better cognition, decision-making ability, emotional resilience, etc.
It also promotes the activation of neuronal pathways involved in memory formation and consolidation. It improves chemical imbalances produced in the brain which can prevent various mental disorders.⁶
Bodily Functions
In addition to the brain, sleep also provides respite to the body. Basal metabolism is dropped to minimal levels. The body regains its strength and replenishes the energy resources that were burnt up during periods of wakefulness.
Functions of various organ systems are reduced as shown by the decrease in blood pressure and respiratory rate during sleeping. The levels of growth hormone are increased during the initial stages of sleep, it promotes growth and alters metabolism preparing the body to perform normal activities.³
Healing
The body activates regenerative mechanisms during restorative sleep, which enable the body to repair the damage incurred upon it during the periods of activity. Various chemicals and hormones are produced which promote this process.
They provide a favorable environment for the expression of stem cell genes responsible for tissue regeneration. For example, sleep activates muscle regeneration to relieve soreness of the muscles.⁷
Age Reversal
The damage to the DNA and consequently to the proteins and lipids in the cells can lead to the accumulation of damaged cells, which are responsible for poor functioning and aging of cells. Restorative sleep enables cellular regeneration which ensures the repair of these damaged cells.⁸
Additionally, a study by Mochon Benguigi has shown that a better quality sleep in sufficient quantity leads to the production of an anti-aging protein S-Klotho which protects the cells from harmful effects of aging and ensures youthful longevity.⁹
SUMMING IT ALL UP
As I mentioned, to begin with, what goes on during sleep must be something miraculous for it brings about such a drastic change. The benefits that I mentioned above are just a small piece of what restorative sleep can offer you. Unfortunately, most people ignore how important it can be for general health and wellbeing
It would not be wrong to say that, to stay healthy, sleeping right is just as important as eating right and exercising if not more. Better still, the detoxification and regeneration element of sleep reveals something even more crucial. That restorative sleep might just be the gateway to getting younger and staying that way!
I have written in detail about various techniques for achieving restorative sleep in my book “Lead A Horse To Water”.¹⁰
We at LiveYounger believe in a holistic approach to health. Our goal is to keep you healthy in mind, body, and spirit. And we believe that to be the stepping stone for youth restoration and age reversal!
Bibliography
- A. K. Patel, V. Reddy, and J. F. Araujo, “Physiology, Sleep Stages,” StatPearls, Apr. 2021, Accessed: Jan. 30, 2022. [Online]. Available: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK526132/.
- “Not all sleep is equal when it comes to cleaning the brain — ScienceDaily.” https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/02/190227173111.htm (accessed Jan. 30, 2022).
- W. Huang, K. M. Ramsey, B. Marcheva, and J. Bass, “Circadian rhythms, sleep, and metabolism,” J. Clin. Invest., vol. 121, no. 6, pp. 2133–2141, Jun. 2011, DOI: 10.1172/JCI46043.
- D. C. Mathangi, R. Shyamala, and A. S. Subhashini, “Effect of REM sleep deprivation on the antioxidant status in the brain of Wistar rats,” Ann. Neurosci., vol. 19, no. 4, p. 161, 2012, doi: 10.5214/ANS.0972.7531.190405.
- T. Lange, B. Perras, H. L. Fehm, and J. Born, “Sleep enhances the human antibody response to hepatitis A vaccination,” Psychosom. Med., vol. 65, no. 5, pp. 831–835, Sep. 2003, DOI: 10.1097/01.PSY.0000091382.61178.F1.
- A. R. Eugene and J. Maciak, “The Neuroprotective Aspects of Sleep,” MEDtube Sci., vol. 3, no. 1, p. 35, Mar. 2015, Accessed: Jan. 30, 2022. [Online]. Available: /labs/PMC/articles/PMC4651462/.
- H. Elkhenany, A. AlOkda, A. El-Badawy, and N. El-Badri, “Tissue regeneration: Impact of sleep on stem cell regenerative capacity,” Life Sci., vol. 214, pp. 51–61, Dec. 2018, DOI: 10.1016/J.LFS.2018.10.057.
- C. A. Everson, C. J. Henchen, A. Szabo, and N. Hogg, “Cell Injury and Repair Resulting from Sleep Loss and Sleep Recovery in Laboratory Rats,” Sleep, vol. 37, no. 12, p. 1929, Dec. 2014, DOI: 10.5665/SLEEP.4244.
- E. Paatela, D. Munson, and N. Kikyo, “Circadian Regulation in Tissue Regeneration,” Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2019, Vol. 20, Page 2263, vol. 20, no. 9, p. 2263, May 2019, DOI: 10.3390/IJMS20092263
- N.Sakr, “Lead A Horse To Water”, pp.28-29, 2021.