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If a lack of proper sleep has left you feeling groggy and made you reach for the nearest source of caffeine on a regular basis, perhaps the time has come to reevaluate your sleep setup. Improper sleep can make your life way more difficult than necessary and lead to potential health problems.
Long story short, sleep is important to staying healthy. But what are some of the ways that sleep information and mattress information can help you be more healthy?
Is sleep really that essential to starting out your day? Why can’t you stay up till two in the morning on a work night? Is my mattress affecting my sleep, and should I be comparing other mattress brands?
At Furniture Fair, we’ve heard many people lament their lack of good, sound sleep while testing out our bedMATCH rest test to see if a new mattress could help.
We have been selling better sleep for over 55 years, and we pride ourselves on being not just a mattress store but a Sleep Center.
We want to share some important information on how sleep affects your health and why investing in a good night’s sleep can help make your days better.
Here are six facts about sleeping that you can use to help determine if your sleep schedule may need improvement.
Did you know that consistent sleep can help keep your weight at healthy levels? Our ability to maintain a healthy weight is largely regulated by two hormones which include leptin and ghrelin.
These two hormones operate in opposition so that leptin is the hormone that tells the brain you have had enough to eat, whereas ghrelin is the hunger hormone that stimulates appetite.
Unfortunately, sleep deprivation throws off the careful balance between hunger and a feeling of fullness.
According to research, short sleep (4 hours or less) is associated on average with an 300 extra calories in weight fluctuation. If you sleep longer, you are much more likely to maintain a consistent weight.
Consequently, consistent healthy sleep duration (7 to 8 hours for most adults) is essential for maintaining a healthy weight.
While a few extra calories may not seem like much at the time, consistent lack of sleep can make your body weight fluctuate in unhealthy ways.
Sleep was viewed for many years in medicine as a highly passive state. However, research suggests that sleeping is actually a highly active state that offers tremendous benefits to our waking lives.
Sleep spindles, or electrical sparks that take place in stage 2 sleep, stimulate the cortex to preserve recently acquired information and facilitate the transfer from short to long-term memory. This leads us to believe that that sleep is an integral part of our ability to remember.
Lack of proper sleep means less time for your brain to recover and help process memories. If you are having trouble sleeping for the recommended amount of time, your brain could be suffering from your lack of rest.
Sleep is a cornerstone of peak athletic performance. According to research, athletes who are incentivized to spend more time sleeping realize tangible improvements to their performance.
Well-rested athletes made improvements to the tune of 10% better free throw percentages among basketball players and 10% faster sprint times.
While exercise and nutrition are critical pillars of health, sleep plays a vital role in preparing the athlete’s brain and body for peak performance.
If you want to stay healthy and improve your body’s condition, proper sleep and exercise are equally important to achieving your goals.
Vivid dreams occur during REM sleep. REM (Rapid Eye Movement) Sleep is the point in your sleep cycle when your body dreams the most vividly.
The role of dreams has long fascinated humans and numerous theories exist. New research indicates that dreams are a complicated, evolved mechanism for the emotional processing of memories.
Dreams are generated or transmitted in the visual cortex, specifically in the right inferior lingual gyrus.
This part of the brain is associated with visual processing, emotion, and visual memories. By helping us process emotions, dreams help us wake up ready to face the day.
Are sleep and happiness related? A recent study seems to suggest that they are. The study found that a regular sleep pattern contributes to the happiness and well-being of college students.
Higher sleep regularity is related to higher morning and evening happiness, healthiness, and calmness. When students transitioned from an irregular sleep pattern to a regular one, there was an observed improvement in well-being.
Peaks in our logical reasoning, muscle strength, and reaction time are all dictated by the Suprachiasmatic Nucleus, or SCN, our master internal clock.
The SCN generates a near 24-hour rhythm and adapts phasic physiological activities to environmental cycles – such as light and dark.
As light travels through the optic nerve, it goes to the SCN, informing the mind and body of how to behave.
Based on sunlight, there is a peak in logical reasoning between 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. and a peak in muscle strength between 4 and 6 p.m. At dusk, the SCN signals the pineal gland to release melatonin, a hormone that tells the body darkness has arrived.
Artificial light can disrupt this system, especially when exposed to it at night and up close on electronic screens. The bluer and brighter the light, the more likely it is to suppress melatonin release and shift our sleep cycle.
Those who lessen exposure to artificial light and night experience fewer delays in sleep at night – keeping the SCN intact to natural environmental cues for sleep and waking.
If you are having trouble getting the full amount of sleep needed for a good day, your sleep setup may be to blame. If you are sleeping on an old, lumpy mattress, or a mattress that isn’t right for you, sleep might be a bit harder to achieve easily.
New mattresses carry a wide range of features and benefits, and the best way to find the right mattress for your needs is to learn as much as possible about the types of mattresses available on the market today, including innerspring, memory foam, and hybrid mattresses.
Here are a few ways that the best mattress and sleep setup for your needs and budget could improve your rest and may help lead to some of the health benefits listed above.
Remember to consider all parts of your sleep setup including the base, bed, and even the mattress protector.
You might think it’s that old football injury acting up again, but the truth is you could be sleeping on a worn-out mattress.
When mattresses are no longer viable for proper support, your body won’t be a happy camper. Improper support can lead to joint pains in your shoulders and hips and can also result in lower back and neck pains.
Replacing an old cheap mattress with one that is matched to your sleep style and your firmness level preference will help reduce and hopefully eliminate any joint pains keeping you up into the wee hours of the morning.
Sleeping on a cheap or even expensive mattress that no longer supports your body can make falling asleep more difficult. The longer you spend trying to get to sleep, the less consistent rest you will get.
Sleeping on a mattress that does not support your hips and spine properly can lead to all sorts of uncomfortable aches and pains. Pressure relief on a new mattress can help keep you rested and ready to start your day.
While you may have spent quite a lot of your life sleeping, you may not have spent much time thinking about how you sleep.
The truth is that mattresses are not all built the same way, and particular mattresses can be better or worse for your body depending on how they support you.
Most people sleep in three major positions, back, side, and stomach. For more information on the types of sleep styles and the mattresses available for each style, check out our blog on preferred sleep positions.
Keep your sleep style in mind when shopping for a new mattress and find one that is best for your needs. Side sleepers will need different types of support than stomach sleepers.
Better sleep could be closer than you realize. Don’t let an old, or ill fitting mattress keep you from the benefits of a full night’s sleep.
A hot sleeper is someone whose body feels hotter during the night leading to unpleasant sleep or frequent waking up due to being uncomfortable. Sleeping hotter can be due to several different reasons such as trapped heat, sleep environment, and more.
If you have an older memory foam mattress or live in a particularly hot climate, your body may trap heat in your bed, making you hot and uncomfortable.
Thankfully, many modern mattresses feature cooling technology built right into the mattress for a cooler night's sleep.
Don’t waste those precious eight hours of sleep, trying to get cool enough to sleep. Find out if a cooling mattress can help you get your full eight hours of rest.
Now that you know why sleep is important, you can take a look at your own sleep setup and find out if a change in habit or a new mattress may help make your sleep experience better and more fulfilling to your needs.
Keep in mind that proper sleep can help with weight, memory, athletics, emotions, and resetting your master clock. Remember that your sleep setup can directly impact the amount and quality of sleep you get in a night.
If you are looking to enhance your bedroom with a new mattress or new furniture, consider Furniture Fair. We have been in business for over 50 years, and we have a wide variety of mattresses, adjustable bases, box springs, and even sleeper sofas.
Visit us online for mattress reviews and ratings from every brand we carry. We have over 11 locations throughout the Cincinnati, Dayton, and Louisville areas, and we offer a wide variety of delivery options, including curbside delivery!
Visit us today and find out more about the better sleep options available for you.
