In the Alphabet of Health, R is for Rest.
Because no matter how hard you try, or how determined or stubborn you might be, or how much time, research and money you invest into your health, if you don’t get enough rest, nothing is going to work for you–physically, emotionally, intellectually, you name it! Not sleeping enough is linked to mood issues, alertness issues, performance issues– you name it! Lack of sleept is also linked to increased car accidents, increased weight, increased heart problems, increased risk for depression and substance abuse, decreased ability to pay attention, remember new information and react to signals.
Often in life, the best prescription will be to sleep more…
But research also says that sleeping nine hours or more increases illnesses, accidents and death…
So, how much sleep does a person really need?
There is evidence that sleeping less than 4 to 5 hours has real physiological and neurobehavioral consequences. But we also know that the human body need for sleep varies greatly from one person to another, even within the same age group. The amount of sleep you need to function at your best may be totally different than someone else for reasons varying from genetic ones to life style to your sleep debt –the accumulated “lost” sleep because of sickness, poor habits etc…
The bottom line sounds pretty corny, yet this is the only conclusive thing that can be said at this point: pay attention to our bodies and the signals it is giving you!
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