In our approach to health and fitness we focus on three key factors, movement, nutrition, and recovery. We have already talked about movement and nutrition and we will return to both of those soon, but this week we are talking about recovery and more specifically, sleep.
How much are you getting and what is the quality of the sleep you are getting? If you are like most teenagers, 5 hours seems to be the norm and it is looked upon like a merit badge if you can function on less. But the truth is the price you are paying for this is high and the time that is saved by cutting sleep is often paid back in the form of disease. Several studies have shown how quickly sleep deprivation effects just about every bodily system and can contribute to stress, inflammation, cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. Other studies have shown the symptoms of sleep deprivation mirror those of ADD/ADHD and can lead to a misdiagnosis in teens.
Most people know this and somehow on their cost/benefit analysis still think it's worth it. Let me add one more component that may sway the scale. Lack of sleep has a strong link to an individuals ability to lose body fat. More specifically ongoing sleep deprivation has been linked to increased body fat retention and obesity. I found the following scale in an article on the web site Mercola.
The recommended amount of sleep per night is seven to nine hours; however, most Americans average somewhere around six. Researchers found that the further away one is from getting the recommended hours of sleep, the higher their risk of obesity is.
Lack of Sleep and the Obesity Connection
Less than four hours: 73 percent risk
Five hours of sleep: 50 percent risk
Six hours of sleep: 23 percent risk
A quick google search will provide you with study after study showing that lack of sleep leads to insulin resistance, decreased leptin levels (leptin is a blood protein that suppresses the appetite and helps the brain sense when you are full) and increased cortisol levels (an ugly stress hormone that among other bad things increases blood sugar). All of these processes combine to lock fat into your cells and prevent you from shedding fat and using it as an energy source.
What can you do about it? Treat sleep the same way you treat your diet. It is almost as important. Set a time to get into bed that will allow for, at the very least, 7 hours of sleep, preferably more. Make your bedroom a cool dark sanctuary. There should be only one thing going on in your bed, sleep. Watching TV, in bed, is a huge hindrance to deep sleep. Get all electrical and lighted devices away from your bed. When the lights are off, you should not be able to see your hand in front of your face. Try to standardize your schedule. If you have to get up at 5am during the week, try to make your wake-up time during the weekend not stray too far from that. Sleeping in late on the weekends will reset your circadian rhythms and have you playing catch up till Wednesday of the next week. The last few tips most of you probably already know. No coffee or any caffeinated drinks late in the day. Alcohol really screws with the sleep cycle, and again late night TV stimulates the brain and makes it harder to get to sleep.
It's a long post with a lot to think about, but for your blog this week I want you to answer 2 questions.
1. On average, how much sleep are you currently getting?
2. What are circadian rhythms?
On average, I get about 7 hours of sleep.
ReplyDeleteCircadian rhythms are physical, mental, and behavioral changes that follow a roughly 24-hour cycle, responding primarily to light and darkness in an organism’s environment.
1. i get about 7 hours of sleep
ReplyDelete2.i guess its kind of your mental sleep schedule
DAVID NEBB
1. About 8 hours
ReplyDelete2. Circadian rhythms are essentially the cycle of activity within the body, like when certain chemicals are released and when the body is most active
-Ann Chen
* 7.5-8.5 hrs
ReplyDelete* i sleep late but wake up late on weekends
...if i slept @ 10 pm i wake up @ 8... so
i get 10 hrs of sleep on the weekends.
Sam Cheng
Alex Kern -
ReplyDelete1. I get 8-9 hours of sleep a night on weekdays. 10-11 on the weekends.
2. Circadian rhythms are biological rhythms that resembles a internal "clock," that influences when, how much, and how well people sleep.
A circadian rhythm is a roughly 24-hour cycle in the biochemical, physiological or behavioral processes of living entities, including plants, animals, fungi and cyanobacteria
ReplyDeletesam cheng
I get about 8-9 hours of sleep
ReplyDeleteCircadian rythms are like an internal clock that influences when and how well a person can sleep.
i usually get 7/8 hours of sleep on weekdays and about 10 hours on the weekends
ReplyDeleteCircadian rhythms are biological temporal rhythms which act as an "internal clock" which
follow a 24-hour cycle and responds primarily to the amount of light in an organism's enviornment.
-Katharine Kong
Hiba Mohiuddin
ReplyDeleteI usually get 6 hours of sleep
Cardian rhythms is a physical or mental cycle lasting twenty-four hours.
1.On school days, i get about 8-9 hrs of sleep and on other days i get around 9-11 hrs of sleep
ReplyDelete2. Circadian rhythyms are cyclic and persistent patterns of behavior, physical changes, and mental characteristics, exhibited by most life on Earth.
loryn chen
I get about 7-8 hours of sleep.
ReplyDeleteCircadian rythms are like an internal clock that influences when and how well a person can sleep.
1.On the weekdays I usually get 7 hours of sleep.
ReplyDelete2.Circadian rhythms act as internal clocks and are a continuous cycle that measures physical, behavioral, and mental changes in a persons body.
1. School Days: 6-7 hours, others: 10-12 hours
ReplyDelete2. Circadian rhythms are patterns of behavior that corresponds to the time of day.
Andy Pham
1.about 7 hours a day
ReplyDelete2.A circadian rhythm is a roughly 24-hour cycle in the biochemical, physiological or behavioral processes of living entities, including plants, animals, fungi and cyanobacteria
David Chan
ReplyDeleteabout 6-7 hours
a Circadian rhythym is a roughly 24 hour mental and physical cycle in living beings
On average, I get about 4-5 hours of sleep a night.
ReplyDeleteCircadian rhythms are your body's pattern of sleep, i.e. your bodys natural orientation for a 24-hour waking-sleep cycle.
Keyan Javadi-
ReplyDelete1. I usually sleep about 8 to 9 hours
2. These circadian rhythms include the internal "clock," which influences when, how much, and how well people sleep.
i usually get aboout 8 hours of sleep
ReplyDeletea circadian rythms is the 24 hour cycle in the phsicological process of the human body
Anirudh Sridhar
1. I get around 6 hours of sleep each night
ReplyDelete2. The circadian rhythms are cycles that are very essential to everyday life and control measure what goes on in your body.
-On weekdays i get 8-9 hours of sleep
ReplyDelete-On weekends, about 8-10 hours depending on when i wake up.
-Circadian rythms is your sleeping pattern your body has naturaly adapted to
Stefan Oganesoff
1. I get 5-9 hours of sleep a night on weekdays. 2-4on the weekends.
ReplyDelete2. Its like a mental thing
On weekdays i get 5-7 hours of sleep
ReplyDelete-On weekends, about 2-4 hours depending on when i wake up.
I think its like mental
-fabian
~On weekdays I get about 7 hours of sleep
ReplyDelete~Weekends from areound (friday-saterday) 11:45 to around 9 sometime
~It's mental. example u take a nap in the middle of the day your body would make you stay up late at night, and the next day you fall asleep again. So it's mental.
~Nancy Cheng