How Many Sheep Do YOU Count Each Night?

Posted on Thursday 01st of August 2019 at 11:00:39 AM

Sleep is critical to health and overall wellbeing. When we sleep, our bodies rest by conserving energy and decreasing blood pressure, heart rate, breathing and body temperature. In the long term, this helps control metabolism and blood glucose levels, boosts the immune system, repairs tissues, stimulates growth and keeps the heart and blood vessels healthy. During certain sleep stages our brains remain active and is an important time for laying down memory and restoring mental functioning. When these critical processes are interrupted, your risk of developing long-term health issues increase. Lack of sleep can have a negative flow on to many areas in your life.

There are two basic types of sleep and it happens in 4 stages. Non-REM sleep consists of three stages starting with the transition from wakefulness to sleep that lasts a few minutes, then a period of light sleep when your heartbeat and breathing slow, and muscles relax even further. During the third stage you enter a period of deep sleep. It occurs in longer periods during the first half of the night and is the sleep that you need to feel refreshed in the morning. Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep occurs about 90 minutes after falling asleep. Your eyes move rapidly from side to side behind closed eyelids and brain wave activity becomes closer to that seen in wakefulness. Your breathing becomes faster and your heart rate and blood pressure increase to near waking levels. Most of your dreaming occurs during REM sleep, and your arms and leg muscles become temporarily paralyzed, which prevents you from acting out your dreams. You cycle through all stages several times during a typical night. REM sleep increases towards morning.

It is important to cycle through all these stages to gain all the benefits of sleep mentioned above. Good sleep is also about regularity. It is best to go to bed and wake at a regular time each day, but we are all too aware of the many potential interrupting factors like stress, worry, shift-work etc.

Naturo Pharm considered the importance of the sleep stages, regular patterns, as well as the impact of various modern day influences on sleep when formulating the Naturo Pharm Sleepmed Relief complex. It can be used by all members of the family and does not have a drowsing effect. Sleepmed Relief supports natural sleeping patterns, while settling an over-active mind and body.

Have you ever noticed that you often get sick during stressful times in your life, say when you have to study for an important exam or when you have a crucial deadline at work? During such times your over stressed body becomes vulnerable to infections & your immune system weakens. This likely is the case because when you are stressed out your body produces the stress hormone Cortisol. When Cortisol is high your immune system produces less white blood cells that are required to fight away infections, & with your bodies natural defences weakened you are susceptible to illness and you fall sick. Weighted Blankets are able to chill out your nervous system by providing an evenly distributed comforting weight over your body which reduces cortisol levels & allows your body to calm down & be in a good position to produce the necessary while blood cells to fight off nasty germs.

Another factor that weakens our immune system & that often goes hand in hand with being too stressed out is not getting enough sleep. During sleep our body produces antibodies and immune system supporting proteins called Cytokines. These are crucial to supporting our bodies battles against infections and therefore it is hardly surprising that when we do not get enough Zzzs our bodies are unable to defend itself against bacteria or viruses it may come into contact with. Weighted Blankets are also able to help your body get the necessary sleep to build its defences. The evenly distributed weight over your body, helps your body produce the beneficial hormones that help you relax and drift off into deep sleep.

Of cause the use of weighted blankets is not a fix all for your immune system. Along with proper rest your body needs the correct vitamins to support its immune system. One vitamins that people are often deficient in is vitamins D. Vitamin D is required for the production of antimicrobial proteins that are necessary for your body to fight off germs. It is difficult to get enough vitamin D via foods and even more difficult to get from the sunshine during winter months. For this reason supplementation of vitamin D is often recommended. Other vitamins that are necessary for your immune system is Vitamin C, Vitamin E, zinc & selenium.

And don’t forget to prioritise sleep in your life! Relax before bed, take a warm bath or read a book. Create a room for sleep and avoid electronic devices for at least an hour before bed. You all deserve a good night’s rest.