How important is sleep to health?

The importance of sleep on health

Just like hydration, sleep has a real impact on health. Indeed, sleep of adequate duration and quality improves the general state of mental and physical health.

Role of sleep on health

Sleep is one of the only restorative functions allowing the body to regain its energy. It is essential for the body because it helps to maintain and regulate several vital functions. Another important point, good sleep is necessary for the development and restoration of immunity.

During sleep (specifically the phase of REM sleep), all the information and emotions accumulated during the day are sorted by the brain, which helps to consolidate memory and stimulate learning.

Good quality sleep is essential for recovery from psychological fatigue. It helps regulate mood, emotions and behavior. Sleeping well is also effective in better coping with stress.

By promoting recovery from physical fatigue, sleep helps replenish energy stocks and muscle and nerve cells, produce growth hormones and regulate blood sugar.

On average, 7 to 9 hours of sleep per night are necessary to perform daily activities optimally and increase life expectancy.

Effects of lack of sleep on health

Lack of sleep can have many adverse health effects, both physically and emotionally.

First, it affects cognitive abilities. It can impair attention and vigilance, while reducing the ability to feel, imagine and create.

A lack of sleep also affects mood and emotions, and can promote states of stress, nervousness, irritability and low morale, which can lead, in the most serious cases, to depression.

When the lack of sleep is chronic, it increases the risk of cardiovascular disease due to an overproduction of hormones. These increase blood pressure and bad cholesterol, and alter glucose metabolism, which can lead to type 2 diabetes and even obesity. These comorbidities contribute to an increased risk of stroke, heart attack or coronary artery disease.

In addition, insufficient sleep can lead to weight gain. During rest, the brain is constantly called upon to restore hormonal balance. Sleep deprivation influences metabolic activity by reducing energy expenditure, causing an overproduction of ghrelin (hunger hormone) and a decrease in leptin (satiety hormone). This causes a significant feeling of hunger and promotes cravings for snacking. The reward centers of the brain tend to activate, thus attracting to consume fatty, sweet or salty foods.

Finally, less sleep reduces the immune system. Indeed, if sleep is disturbed, the immune cells cannot fully perform their role within the body. The number and quality of white blood cells, which help fight infections and viruses, may be impaired. The same is true for lymphocytes, which themselves produce antibodies. If you lack sleep, you are more likely to get sick.

Tips for getting back to restful sleep

To sleep well at night, several factors must be taken into account. Here are some simple and effective tips to regain restful sleep and improve your quality of life:

• Sleep at regular times: it is essential to accustom the body to the sleep/wake rhythm by getting up at the same time every day. Overly variable bedtimes and wake-up times can eventually disrupt the internal clock. 

• Do not do sports in the evening: sports activity is essential to stay healthy. However, it is not recommended to take one in the evening because it increases the heart rate, maintains a higher body temperature and wakes up the organism, thus disturbing the biological rhythm.

• Eat a light dinner: a difficult digestion can interfere with sleep, it is better to avoid too hearty dinners before bedtime. Certain foods are to be favored such as slow carbohydrates of the starchy type (pasta, rice); they help the brain to secrete serotonin, the hormone of tranquility and sleepiness.

In addition, it is advisable to eat dinner as soon as possible because digestion increases body temperature.

• Avoid the consumption of stimulating substances: coffee, tea, sodas, alcohol, tobacco and vitamin C may delay falling asleep and make it easier to wake up during the night.

• Get away from screens: because of the blue light they emanate, screens are among the worst enemies of sleep. The latter stimulates the retinal receptors and sends them an arousal signal which disrupts the secretion of melatonin (sleep hormone). This leads to difficulty falling asleep and poor quality sleep. It is preferable to replace them with reading a book or a relaxation activity (meditation for example).

• Take targeted food supplements for sleep: to regain quality sleep, there are natural food supplements rich in soothing plants. Non-addictive and harmless to health, they help regulate sleep, relieve states of stress and insomnia that can be linked.

These dietary supplements are effective alternatives to chemical drug treatments, such as sleeping pills or anxiolytics.

Délicure, a brand of vegan, natural and 100% Made in France food supplements, offers gummies to improve sleep quality (link to the Sleep Gummies product page). Their composition rich in relaxing plants (linden, passion flower and poppy), melatonin (sleep hormone) and vitamins (B5 and B6) promotes relaxation before bedtime, facilitates rapid sleep, and thus helps to fight against insomnia.

Délicure also offers CBD sweets (link to the CBD Sweets product page https://delicure.co/collections/nos-bonbons-cbd) with natural fruit flavors, guaranteed THC-free and made in France.

Increasingly famous in France, CBD (or cannabidiol) is a molecule derived from the hemp plant. It is one of many compounds in cannabis. Unlike THC, CBD does not cause psychotropic effects and is not addictive, so it is not considered a narcotic.

CBD has many soothing properties at the level of the nervous system, it helps to fight effectively against stress; as well as anti-inflammatory properties, it can thus be used in case of mild to moderate pain. CBD is also effective in combating sleep disorders because, by promoting rest and relaxation, it facilitates falling asleep and limits nocturnal awakenings.

Délicure's hard candies, available in four flavors (sugar-free blackcurrant, sugar-free mint, sugar-free apple and honey), are real gourmet and colorful treats that are easy to take with you everywhere to benefit from the relaxing effects of CBD.

Each candy contains 10mg of 99% pure CBD, ideal for precisely choosing the amount of CBD you want to consume.

In the event of significant and repetitive sleep disorders that affect the quality of life, it is recommended to consult a doctor to find a suitable treatment.