Why healthy sleep is so important
Why healthy sleep is so important
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Sleep - the most important regenerative tool
Alongside stress and crash diets, lack of sleep is one of the biggest triggers that throw our biorhythmic system out of balance and inhibit weight loss. In all cases, the hunger hormone "ghrelin" increases, while its counterpart "leptin", the satiety hormone, decreases. We therefore not only feel tired, but also a lot hungrier.
Fun Fact:
Lack of sleep & chronic sleep problems actually have a similar effect to alcohol on reaction time, concentration and hazard awareness.
After 22 hours of sleeplessness, you are similarly impaired as someone with 0.5 - 1 per mille in the blood.
On top of this, a lack of sleep often leads to depressive moods, as less serotonin is produced, which can automatically increase the need to eat our happiness hormone in the form of chocolate etc.
No #weightlossjourney without sleep!
While we sleep, our body helps itself to fat cells and goes into full burn mode.
The hormone-specific enzyme "vipase" is responsible for this. However, our fatty tissue only benefits from this when we sleep. As you can see, sleep is simply essential!
Why it often leads to a vicious circle:
Serotonin is the precursor of our sleep hormone "melatonin". Once the serotonin level is low, less melatonin is produced. However, it is not recommended to take melatonin from outside, as this makes our body lazy and reduces its own production.
You can find out how to improve your sleep quality in other ways below.
Tips and rituals that promote and de-stress sleep
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Light! We need time in nature.
For example: Go out for a walk every day after lunch and consciously turn to the sun, even on gray days! This little ritual already has a stress-reducing effect, provides us with vitamin D, which in turn provides serotonin and this can be converted into melatonin in the evening hours.
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Get enough exercise: Our body wants to be challenged. We've all been there: sitting in the office all day, exhausted in the evening, slumped on the couch instead of channeling the pent-up energy into joyful exercise, producing happiness hormones and falling blissfully asleep later. No, instead you lie motionless, watch series, eat pizza and later toss and turn in bed, possibly suffering from "restless legs", as if a thousand ants are nervously running through your legs and calling for more movement.
Sport is important and makes you happy. Find something that you really enjoy and that keeps you happy in the long term.tips and rituals that promote and de-stress sleep
Create rituals:
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For example switch off your cell phone every evening at 8 p.m., practice yoga for 30 minutes, take a bath, meditate, read, etc.
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Don't eat too late: Our body cleanses itself most intensively between 10 pm and 2 am. The prerequisite for this is that digestion of the last meal is no longer running at full speed. A light meal containing protein by 7 p.m. at the latest is very good for us.
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Do not watch horror or action movies, negative news etc. in the evening.
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Temperature in the bedroom no higher than 18 degrees.
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Activate the blue filter or night mode on your cell phone, laptop, etc., because the blue light that we don't perceive as blue makes us more alert.
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Use essential oils via aroma diffuser, fragrance lamp or pillow spray - fragrances such as lavender, vanilla, sandalwood, orange, jasmine, rose, bergamot have a sleep-promoting effect (make sure the dosage is low!)
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Meditation: It has been proven that meditation has countless positive effects on our bodies and helps us to reconnect with ourselves, leave the day behind us and breathe deeply.
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There are countless guided meditations, dream journeys and sleep frequencies on YouTube that can wonderfully lull us to sleep.
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Calming herbal blends and teas made from lavender, valerian, passionflower, camomile, St. John's wort, hops, lemon balm and ashwagandha.
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Create a beautiful sleeping atmosphere: Fragrant bedding, cleanliness, no power strips or other tangled cables under/next to the bed, cozy pajamas, soothing colors, darkness.
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Massage: Feel good to the power of ten! Whether it's a professional masseur or a self-administered oily foot massage before going to bed. There are energy and reflex points on the soles of the feet that we can use to calm the autonomic nervous system.
Lots of great recommendations that make the Sandman look pale. Pick out a few points that you can easily implement and try out a new ritual every two weeks to get to know yourself better on your sleep journey.
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Our author: Anja Petralia
As a freelance author and certified nutrition and health consultant, Anja shares her knowledge on our blog about nutrition, health, gynecology and much more.
Anja worked for several years as a spa and seminar cook at the renowned at the renowned European Academy for Ayurveda
and then cooked in front of the camera for big TV shows.
Anja is a born researcher and loves to critically scrutinize theories and trends critically scrutinize theories and trends and redefine them in a holistic redefine them in a holistic way. Empirical science and the latest trends trends always go hand in hand for her.