Let’s take a look under the hood! What bodily functions does Healthy Sleep support?

Most of us are aware that we need a good night’s sleep to be bright and functional the next day, for whatever we may have planned… But I ask you this; do you know what organs, systems and bodily functions receive support from our nightly rest and what they do for us? Continue to find out!

Image: Sciencealert.com, 2020. Why Your Body Loves Sleep. [image] Available at: https://www.sciencealert.com/this-is-what-your-body-is-busy-doing-while-you-re-asleep

Brain

Our brain function is perhaps the most obvious receiver of sleep support in our body. It ensures we remain responsive, attentive, efficient and physically and mentally healthy. It also controls automated tasks in our body, like breathing and cardiac rhythm.

Heart

When we sleep, our heart distributes important nutrients through our blood stream, repairs blood vessels, lowers blood pressure and reduces levels of stress and inflammation throughout the body.

Lungs

Sleep helps to heal respiratory tissue and open our airways, varying our oxygen intake. As oxygen is taken into our body at different rates, it is distributed to the areas that need it most for brain function and cell repair,

Gut and Bowel

Aside from allowing us uninterrupted time to spend focussing on proper digestion, extraction and distribution of nutrients through the body, a proper sleep regulates our appetite hormones. If these are unregulated, we are far more likely to eat unhealthy foods during the day.

Image: Oura.com, 2020. Deep Sleep. [image] Available at: https://blog.ouraring.com/sleep-stages/

Endocrine System

I know what you’re thinking; what is my Endocrine System? This is our collection of glands that work to distribute important hormones throughout our bodies. Most of these glands perform their hardest during our sleep; if we disrupt the cycle or don’t get enough hours in, they spend the next day trying to catch up!

Muscles, Skin and Bones

Your muscle tissue, skin cells and skeletal structure are heavily reliant on our time asleep each night to rebuild and repair their cells. If they don’t get it, we lose muscle mass, our skin can be prone to acne and other inflammatory conditions, and our bones can become brittle.

Have we managed to convince you to strive for a healthy amount of uninterrupted sleep every night?

I hope you enjoyed reading about the different functions that rely on sleep to support us during the day! Join us next time for more information on maintaining a healthy sleep cycle.