With today’s busy lifestyles, we find ourselves sacrificing sleep to get everything done. What you may not realize is how badly a lack of sleep can impact your health. Sleep is as important as getting the right nutrition and exercising regularly. The results of not doing so are the same. It can lead to heart disease, diabetes, depression, anxiety, and even death.
Sleep and nutrition studies show that you need more than seven hours of sleep every night plus a good balance of vitamins and minerals in your system to have good immunity. If one or the other is lacking, then your body is not able to fight off most viruses that it should be able to. In fact, sleeping less than seven hours for only one night makes you three times more susceptible to getting sick from virus exposure. Making a good night’s sleep a priority in your life can help you to stay healthy.
Losing sleep disrupts your body’s natural rhythm and hormone balance. The hormone imbalance can lead to mental disturbances over time. The most prevalent problems are depression and anxiety disorders. Insomnia is a major cause of depressive moods and disorders, especially in teenagers and young adults. The hormone imbalance caused by lack of sleep can lead to other problems as well.
A sleep deprived hormone imbalance disrupts eating patterns and can lead to weight gain. Excess cortisol and other stress hormones are released when you don’t get enough sleep. These can cause body-wide inflammation and disrupt the hormones that control your appetite. The weight gain and inflammation associated with stress, over-eating, and sleep deprivation are linked directly to other ailments and diseases, like diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure.
Studies have shown that people who complain of insomnia are three times more likely to develop type 2 diabetes, and three and a half times more likely to develop high blood pressure. Sleep deprivation and sleep apnea is directly linked with high cholesterol and high triglyceride levels, which can lead to heart disease, heart attacks, and stroke. People who experience sleep apnea that do not sleep with a breathing machine are five times more likely to die of a heart attack or stroke in their sleep.
Getting a good night’s sleep is a very important factor in your overall health. Speak with your doctor about insomnia or sleep apnea so that you can get these things under control. Supplementing with vitamins can help you to overcome some of the effects of sleep deprivation. Vitamins A, C, and E (remember “ACE”) can help you keep stress levels in check by regulating your body’s use of hormones. Ask your doctor about using other vitamins and supplements to help regulate sleep.
Taking vitamin C supplements can help you to keep up your immunity during times when your sleep isn’t sufficient. It also helps to regulate your cholesterol levels and is necessary for your body to produce collagen and elastin, which are necessary for preventing hardening of the arteries. Using the best vitamin C will help your body to use insulin more effectively and reduce your risk of developing diabetes. It also helps to regulate stress hormones and can be useful in keeping your weight under control.
Talk with your doctor about your sleep patterns, risk factors for certain diseases, and therapeutic dosages of vitamin C supplements and other vitamins that could help you stay healthy.
About the Author: Phil Le Breton is the owner at Wholesale Nutrition. He has a strong interest in helping people achieve greater brain and body health with vitamins and supplements. Wholesale Nutrition has the best vitamin C powder on the market (C-Salts). Visit http://www.nutri.com to buy vitamin C supplements of the highest quality.
