Over the years, the understanding of sleep has evolved from being a basic function of our day-to-day activities to an important part of physical and mental health.
The quality and quantity of a person’s sleep influences the body’s ability to:
- Repair and grow tissue
- Build bone and muscle
- Strengthen the immune system
- Strengthen cognitive abilities
A person transitions through the five stages of sleep about every 90 to 110 minutes — as long as his or her sleep isn’t interrupted. The health benefits mentioned above typically occur during the 3rd and 4th stages of sleep, which are called deep sleep.
The average adult needs 7-8 hours of sleep, which means they will fall into the deep sleep cycle about four times a night. If a person’s sleep cycle is continuously interrupted throughout the night, he or she will miss the stages of sleep that are important to health and healing.
So, shut off the lights and noise, and catch some Zzzzz’s for your health!