Good Sleep to Fuel The Body

If when you wake up from sleep and feel tired, and need more sleep, it is apparent that you are not well rested. It can be a sign of sleep deprivation. Or you may have trouble falling asleep.

Napoleon Bonaparte, the 19th-century French army general was credited to have said that a man needs six hours of sleep, a woman seven hours and a fool eight hours.

Whether this general was speaking specifically regarding his comrades in arm, I do not know. Or whether he pinpoint mankind, in general, is still a question to challenge.

Or he may be setting a standard for himself and I think this can be true to some extent considering the type of person he is.

Sleep is a lovely thing. It is beloved from the North to the South pole. Even the Creator designed sleep for humans and non-humans without any flaw but with holistic therapy value.

How many hours of sleep a person needs can be a matter of personal preference. They are two types of sleep. Rapid eye movement or REM sleep and Non-rapid eye movement or NREM. The purpose of this article concern only rapid eye movement sleep.

It is hard to define and explain what sleep is. It is shredded in mystery. As the function of sleep is not even understood, so is sleep itself. Is it lying on a bed and stop snoring off to rest just for an hour during day time? It takes more than that to get a night of quality sleep. Is it the remaining 1/3 of our life span that occupies our time during the night? When you lay down and the mind and body shut off, your brain seems to be very active. This is to prepare the body for the next level of activity on the same day or the next. It is this active state that we note as sleep.

In other words, sleep that can be induced naturally, apart from the feeling to daytime sleeping needs, whereby one lost some degree of consciousness while asleep cannot be said to be asleep. Day time or night time sleep will occur naturally. But the Harvard Medical School defined it as 'a highly active process which the days' events are processed and energy are restored'. Both quotes would seem to mean that while the body lay idle, the brain takes a survey or tour to restore, lubricate, rejuvenate and recreate the body and mind for the tasks ahead.

When next you wake up from sleep, ask yourself these few questions:

• Am I well rested?
• Am I refreshed?
• And am I will alert and energetic, and can pick up on the go without any drug-related beverages like coffee, tea and commercial made fruit juicy?

Your answers determine how well rejuvenated you are.

Here are some perceived misconception about sleep.

1. 'Sleep is the time for the body in general and the brain, specifically to shut down and rest'. This misconception is easily debunked because of the main sleep concept, the rapid eye movement sleep or REM sleep, the brain seems to be very active 'at any time' when one is not sleeping.
2. 'Getting just one hour less sleep per night than needed will not have any effect on daytime functioning'. In a 24-hour life cycle, your normal sleep time is 8 hours. Losing one hour regulars per day would in a week means you had lost 7 hours of sleep. This 7 hours of sleep, according to sleep experts is a 'sleep debt'. The more the sleep debt or sleep deficit increase daily, the more problem sleepiness increased overnight. This can have a 'powerful effect on daytime performance, thinking, and mood'. In other words, the ability to think properly and respond properly too will be greatly impaired; cardiovascular health and the immune system are compromised. The result will be a 'mental and physical breakdown'.
3. 'The body adjusts quickly to different sleep schedules'. Suppose you are on a night shift and sleep 8 or 9 hours in the day time. Do you think you do not have to sleep again when you go to work in the night on the same day? In other words, if you try to change your biological sleep/wake cycle, it will still function according to a normal day/night schedules. The biological clock premise that a person will function best during the night when sleeping; and active in the day time. If this were to change, the biological clock must be retrained.
4. 'People need less sleep as they grow older'. The more a person grows older, the less sleep it was thought that is needed. No, older persons do not need less sleep, but usually get less of all the sleep need to fuel the body to function well. The ability or desire to get good sleep can increase or decrease with age.
5. A 'good night's sleep' can cure problems with excessive daytime sleepiness. Excessive daytime sleepiness is a sleep disorder like insomnia, obstructive sleep apnea, and restless leg syndrome. Extended sleep is not a cure for other sleep disorders and such sleep issues. It required changes in behavior. Pharmacological and even surgical interventions relieve the symptoms, it has been asserted.

How much sleep does a person need in the night or in a day? Is it 6, 7, 8 or 9 hours or more? Sleep research, it has been noted has not pinpointed the exact amount in a magic box. The actual amount of sleep a person need varies. As individuals vary in their character, emotions, and so on, the exact amount of sleep needed also varied. In spite of what Napoleon said that a person who sleeps for 8 hours is a fool. Such a person according to research, may need 10 hours of sleep to stay in sound health. Otherwise, a disease like unsound mental health, sleepwalking and sleep paralysis are the results.

Some persons unnecessarily deprive themselves of much need sleep, by late-night outings that during day time when sleep starts to strike, they suppressed it with alcohol and other caffeine based beverages. This brings in more sleep problems.

How much sleep does a person actually need? There is a certain amount which experts all agreed upon. This amount is called the basal sleep need. It is not an exact figure. It even varied with all individuals. This is the sleepy one need to fuel the body properly. It can be any figure from 7 to 9.5 hours on scientific principle. At times, I need a basal sleep of 10 hours and that is on weekends. This kept my body in optimal performance. Yours may be 8 or 9 or more than mine. It all depends on your daily activities like work, physical activities, emotion, stress, and so on.

While, very few of the populace 15% can get enough sleep, and well rested on waking up, the majority has at least one or two trouble getting the much needed sleep to keep the mind and body healthy. It can either be insomnia or obstructive sleep apnea, or restless leg syndrome or sleep paralysis. Have you suffered or experienced insomnia for instance? Did you consult a doctor or sleep therapist? Or did you go for herbal treatment? What do you think? You do not take any action, but think the issue can resolve itself? That cannot happen. A bad sleep like insomnia is a disorder and like all sickness has to be treated. Having trouble sleeping or falling asleep is a challenge. Nowadays, having a sleep question has an answer or two.

Problem sleepiness or sleep disorder exists. More than 70 sleep disorders have been recorded. It is high among many persons and results in serious effects like drowsy driving or asleep at the wheel, errors in work or accidents in the workplace. The most commonly marked sleep problems are insomnia or lack of sleep, obstructive sleep apnea and restless leg syndrome.

1. Insomnia: or the lack of sleep is an inability to sleep. It is the most common sleep disorder. It naturally makes a person wake up during the night for no apparent reason unlike waking up for urinating. Going back to sleep again becomes hard for such a person. Stress, emotional discomfort, the side effects of certain medications and herbal drugs and beverages can cause insomnia. Insomnia is identified as both primary and secondary. The latter is a complex factor of two sleep disorders like drugs and mental deficit. Secondary insomnia is more serious than primary insomnia.
2. Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA): This is a breathing issue that arises during sleep. The air passage becomes relaxed and collapse and the intake of air or oxygen is blocked. In other words, you cannot breathe while you are asleep. This makes the oxygen level in the blood flow, while carbon dioxide is increased; and the only option is for the subject is to wake up for breathe or fresh air. OSA can cause other health problems to sufferers and can be life-threatening. Taking the USA as a pointer, OSA affected over 12 million Americans. OSA affects not only men and women, but boys and girls, and even pre-school children. Its many minus effects include morning headache, excessive daytime sleepiness, sleep deprivation, high blood pressure, and heart attack. Another type of sleep apnea is central sleep apnea (CSA). Here the air passage is not blocked, but the brain failed to receive the signal to the muscles to breathe.
3. Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS): persons that are affected by RLS are characteristic by 'unpleasant leg sensations and an almost irresistible urge to move the legs'. The symptoms become worse when sufferers are not active and this greatly interfered with sleep. Exercise and massage are designed to threaten the symptoms. Others are a complete elimination of alcohol and caffeine based beverages from the diets.

How many times can a person sleep in a day apart from the good night's sleep? Sufficient sleep is a health tonic for the body. Six to seven hours has been asserted as 'a recipe for chronic sleep deprivation'. So how many times or how many hours do a person (an adult) sleep in a period of 24 hours to get a sufficient sleep recommendation?

Many factors can help one to sleep well. Factors like exercise, medication, relaxation, and diet.

Insomnia is one of the greatest sleep disorders that affect every person. If you have ever had an emotional disturbance, you should realize it at the beginning of insomnia if you have a problem sleeping. Times are that you cannot even concentrate on the issue at hand. On waking up, you feel a lack of energy.

Insomnia is of two types, acute and chronic insomnia. Acute insomnia occurs as when one received the shocking news of failing an exam. It will later or sooner adjust its self. Chronic insomnia need is of short or long duration. Many persons will not know that they have chronic insomnia over three to six months.

Many symptoms can be manifest by this disorder. Treatment can consist of a combination of diet, relaxation, exercise, and medication, herbal or orthodox. Physiotherapy treatments are also available.

You should see a sleep expert or therapist when you cannot handle even a minor sleep disorder.

1. Physical Activity: Have a moderate exercise in the evening. You can engage in any game of your choice like basketball, lawn tennis, and football. I did this when insomnia poses a problem for me in my grammar school days. Indoor exercise like the jumping jack, mountain climbing, press up, and the plank can be done for 10 to 15 minutes in the evening.
2. A Warm Bath: Have a slightly warm bath if the weather is cool or raining. Under warm weather, a cool bath is all that is the need.
3. Eat a good nourishing meal. Your chop should have all the essential natural food ingredients in a well-balanced proportion, carbohydrates, fats, proteins both animals and plants with plenty of fruits and vegetables including nuts. Read an interesting novel or an informative book during bedtime. This will induce you to sleep well.
4. Meditate and say your prayers depending on your belief in the creator Psm.2:8.
5. Relax your mind and body while in bed. To get a night of good quality sleep, you must learn to relax the mind and body. The quality of your sleep whether 6, 7, 8 or 9 hours will speak the story of health, well rested, vigor, energy, and concentration on the task of the day.

We all need some amount of sleep to refresh mind, body, and soul. Certain needs 7, 8, 9, or 10 hours of sleep. Everyone according to their needs.

1. Wikipedia sleep debt.
2. How much sleep.
3. Understanding the quality and function of sleep.