What are the Health Benefits of Quality Sleep?

A good night's sleep is an integral component of your overall well-being. Health studies show that clocking the recommended seven to eight hours of quality sleep is just as important as eating a healthy diet and exercising. This is because sleep is your body’s time to heal, restore and recharge itself from all the work you put it through during the day. Skimp on it, and the effects are drastic. Sleep deprivation affects every body function, from your mood to your memory to your immune system. Quality sleep leads to more energy, helps you handle stress and improves overall well-being. If these aren’t reasons enough to start investing in your sleep, here are 7 more health benefits of sleep.

1. Live Better and Longer

Too much or too little sleep is associated with a shorter lifespan, although it’s not clear if that is a cause or an effect. In fact, a 2010 study of women ages 50 to 79 showed that more deaths occurred in women who got less than five hours of sleep per night. It should come as no surprise that sleep affects quality of life. Many of the things we tend to overlook on a daily basis are affected by our quality of sleep. There is a strong correlation between your quality of sleep and the quality of your life.

2. Curb Inflammation

While most of us know that inflammation is linked to heart disease, stroke, diabetes, arthritis, and premature aging, we might not know that the correlation extends to our sleep, as well. Scientific experiments have now found that inflammation is at the core of sleep regulation. Research also indicates that people who get less sleep (six or fewer hours a night) have higher blood levels of inflammatory proteins than those who get more.

3. Stronger Immune Function

Want to spend less of your life sick? Put getting high-quality rest at the top of your priorities to keep your immune system in tip top shape. Adequate sleep improves your ability to fight back against colds and other infections, while also making vaccines more effective.

4. Sharpened Attention and Productivity

Chances are you’ve experienced a sleepless night that left you feeling unfocused the next day. It may seem obvious, but getting proper sleep is linked to improved concentration and higher cognitive functioning. When your memory recall isn’t as sharp, you’re more likely to make mistakes at work and less likely to realize or correct them.

5. Improved Memory

   In addition to helping you focus, sleep helps protect and strengthen your memory. Your mind is surprisingly busy while you snooze. Experts suggest that sleep can play an important role in memory consolidation, the process where our brains convert short-term memories into long-term ones. Sleep helps us process and consolidate information that we have acquired during our waking lives. People who are sleep-deprived have a harder time receiving information due to the brain’s overworked neurons. Therefore, the have a tendency to have impaired judgment and lose their ability to access previously-processed information.

6. Maintain a Healthy Weight

Those who get adequate sleep tend to eat fewer calories than those who don't. This is because studies show that sleeplessness cranks up ghrelin production (which boosts appetite) and decreases leptin production (which signals fullness). When you are sleep-deprived, your brain will release chemicals to signal hunger which can lead to eating more, exercising less, and gaining weight. For this reason, poor sleep is strongly linked to weight gain.

7. Boost Your Mood

Recall how you feel whenever you wake up in the morning after a good night's sleep. You likely woke up feeling brighter, had more energy and drive, and were less likely to let little things affect you. Sleeping poorly has the opposite effect. One sleepless night can leave you feeling cranky and irritable the whole next day. You’re also more vulnerable to stress and anxiety. Giving yourself a chance to let your system recharge and restore itself is the best remedy to boost your mood.

Now that we know how crucial getting the right amount of sleep is, the next question one may have is: what can I do to get better sleep? The answer may simply lie in how you rest your head at night. The Mediflow Water Pillow can improve your quality of sleep and help you maximize these health benefits. This unique water-filled pillow provides the responsive support needed for long-lasting, deep sleep, while the comfort layer provides a soft, lofty top layer to help you fall asleep faster.

But don’t just take our word for it. A clinically-proven sleep study by Johns Hopkins University concluded that “...the water-based pillow was consistently associated with statistically significant improvements in overall quality of sleep." Thanks to the Mediflow Water Pillow, good sleep doesn’t have to be a thing you only dream about!