The Relationship Between Sleep and Energy
Do you find that there are days your body feels energized and other days your body feels so sluggish you can’t imagine how you will make it through the day? Maybe your body feels great, but you are having a difficult time focusing on a task and feel your mind wandering. A Harvard Health Publishing article discusses how there is a direct relationship between sleep and the energy level you are feeling the next day. Read on to find out more.
The article, “How Sleep Boosts Your Energy”, explains the differences between REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, also known as dreaming sleep, and non-REM or quiet sleep. Both forms of sleep can greatly affect the energy of the body and mind, despite the fact that they are as different as night and day.
REM sleep is believed to restore your mind. This stage of sleep helps to clear out irrelevant information in your brain and helps you focus on tasks at hand. Studies from Harvard Medical School show REM sleep helps to facilitate learning and memory. Students were taught a new task and, following a night’s sleep, those who were well rested improved their scores compared to the students prevented from having REM sleep, who showed no improvements. There is also evidence that there is a correlation to REM sleep and the preservation of memory and cognitive ability as one ages.
Where REM sleep restores your mind, non-REM sleep is believed to restore the body. Non-REM sleep involves three stages, and the last stage, known as deep sleep or slow wave sleep, is the main time the body restores itself. This stage of sleep is believed to be the link between the brain and the body restoring its energy. This is the sleep stage where muscle repair and tissue regrowth can happen. Researchers found that non-REM sleep is also believed to be linked to the immune system and the ability to fight off infection. A person who is lacking adequate non-REM sleep will pass through REM sleep (lighter sleep) quickly to spend more time in a deeper state of sleep. This suggests that non-REM sleep is essential to a body performing in a functioning manner.
If you have been struggling with your energy level, take note of how you’re sleeping. It may be that your REM and non-REM sleep patterns are to blame. Please reach out to our location in Auburn & Silverdale, WA if you have any questions about the importance of quality sleep and your energy level. We are always happy to help!
