Knowing the health reasons behind why we sleep help us to function better!

A good night’s sleep is essential for a person to be sharp and alert and able to carry out normal, everyday functions. Do you sometimes have “brain fog” if you don’t get enough rest? Or, do you find that it’s difficult to concentrate if you’re just way too tired? Sleep is highly important to us as humans. Understanding the reasons why do we sleep help us to avoid the negative effects in our moods, our attitudes and our actions.

Inviting the mood for experiencing a good night’s sleep starts early in the evening, much earlier than you would expect. Preparing for your nightly slumber starts before you begin any nightly rituals like showering, warm milk or light yoga or meditation. 

Busy Lifestyles

With today’s busy and hectic lifestyles, sometimes being up up 16-18 hours or more is very common. There is so much to be done with work, family and other responsibilities including extra-curricular activities. And, it’s often tempting to try and get it all done in a day’s time. You may have even wondered at times, why do we sleep when there’s so much to do and little time to do it?

Is sleep really necessary? Do we really benefit then from having six to eight hours of sleep? Scientists and researchers have theorized on three seemingly logical reasons as to why do we sleep and how that sleep (or the lack of) affects our bodies.

1. Information for the Brain

During periods of extended sleep, the brain reviews and consolidates blocks of information that it gathered while we were awake. It takes this information and processes it so that we can utilize it when are awake in cognitive settings and in social settings as well. This function helps you to recall previously learned information, numbers, events and people. Lack of sleep greatly diminishes this recall function and inhibits the brains ability to find information.

2. Cell Generation

The brain benefits the most from proper sleep habits. Sleep fuels cell generation and skills adaptation which help us become “sharp” and “alert” when we are awake. Being alert helps us tremendously in all settings, especially academically and professionally. A good example is the encouragement to get a “good night’s sleep” before important presentations or tests that require optimal thinking skills. This is a major benefit of why do we sleep and the benefits it brings. 

3. Waste Removal

The brain refuels and flushes out waste while we are asleep. Much like the human body flushes waste, the brain does the same as well since it is an organ also. Drinking plenty of water and giving the body plenty of clean, healthy “brain food” are other mantras that you have undoubtedly heard from nutritionists, physicians and health industry professionals, 

Do these theories bear any semblance then of what real, applicable reasons can be for the advantages of sleep? Surely we can all agree with one if not all of these theories when it comes to identifying some of the ill effects we may experience without having had proper rest. These theories can help us better understand why do we sleep and how critical it is to our bodies functioning properly.