Fight colds and flu with sleep
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A growing obsession with sleep is consuming our waking hours. Sleep is as vital for staying alive as food or water.
In addition to its well-recognised benefits for memory consolidation, repair and growth, sleep – or the lack of it – is now thought to have a host of other effects. Too little time in the land of nod messes with your emotions and your ability to make sound decisions. Increasingly, a lack of sleep is implicated in mental health problems including depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, and neurological conditions like Alzheimer’s disease. It affects your appetite, and has been linked to metabolic diseases such as obesity and type 2 diabetes. And now, research has shown that sleep strengthens our immune system to fight viruses and infections.
Our immune system is designed to fight off illnesses and viruses. And one of the best ways to strengthen our immune system is to simply get a good night's sleep. Research has shown that getting the correct amount of good quality sleep each night also enhances the function of T cells, a type of white blood cell that attacks and kills viruses. Furthermore, sleep plays a role in producing cytokines, proteins required by our immune systems to ensure our body's timely response to harmful invaders. Lack of sleep means your body produces fewer cytokines, reducing our immune system’s ability to respond to infections.
Here are three key steps to a better immune system through sleep:
Routine Is Everything
Sleep is regulated by our internal body clocks, called the circadian rhythm. This natural, internal clock regulates our sleep-wake cycle and repeats roughly every 24 hours. It’s easy to have poor routines without the structure of a normal social activities: waking up late, eating poorly, or staying up late to finish the work we didn't have time to do in the day because we were looking after our children or wallowing.
It's so important to have a routine: go to bed at the same time each night, wake up at the same time and have your meals at the same time. It sounds simple, but it will reset your body clock and ensure better sleep.
Napping Isn’t A Bad Thing
To stay healthy we need our recommended seven to eight hours of sleep a night. This helps keep our immune system in fighting shape, and also protect us from other health issues including heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. If your sleep schedule is interrupted, try to make up for the lost rest with naps. Taking two naps that are no longer than 30 minutes each —one in the morning and one in the afternoon—has been shown to help decrease stress and offset the negative effects that sleep deprivation has on the immune system.
Don't Forget The Basics
Despite the ongoing disruptions taking place, remember to stick to the usual basics of good sleep. As well as establishing a good routine, remember to darken down two hours before bed, switching off excess electronics and lights during the night, no caffeine in the evening, drink in moderation. When faced with anxiety or stress it's easy to start drinking too much caffeine, alcohol, eating more than usual or smoking. But these things will disturb your sleep and in turn, lower your immunity.