Sleeping the necessary hours and resting is almost as important for our health as having a good diet or practicing physical exercise on a regular basis.

According to the WHO, almost 40% of the world population suffers from insomnia. In Spain, we are not experts in sleeping well, more than 12 million people wake up with the feeling of not having rested properly.

A person does not get enough sleep when it takes more than 15 minutes to fall asleep at night and if, upon waking up in the morning, he falls asleep again after a few minutes. These are clear signs of an inadequate night's rest. So are feelings of exhaustion and daytime sleepiness.

The hours we sleep are useless if they are not of quality. If we remain asleep for 9 hours, but wake up several times during the night, we will not have respected the phases of deep sleep and rest will be impaired.

Lack of sleep causes short-term discomfort such as tiredness, lack of concentration and memory, bad mood and irritability.

But what worries the most are the long-term consequences.

 

What does bad sleep mean in the long term?

Actual lack of sleep can lead to brain problems . Little sleep for several days can kill brain cells. By not resting, our brain is unable to clean the proteins that form the plaques that would cause diseases such as Alzheimer's and dementia, preventing it from protecting us from them.

Not sleeping the necessary hours can cause an increase in blood pressure . The ideal is to have it below 120 mm Hg but due to lack of sleep, systolic blood pressure can rise to 132 mm Hg. This increases the risk of having a heart attack.

The increase in fat in our body is one of the consequences. According to a study by the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the US, sleeping less than five hours a day causes up to 15.5% less leptin in our body, a hormone that makes us feel full and regulates storage of fat, which leads us to eat after hours and increase the % of fat in our body.

People who sleep less than six hours a day are twice as likely to have diabetes , regardless of their age or the type and amount of exercise they do. A good night's sleep can help control blood glucose.

Lack of sleep can cause exhaustion, drowsiness, or increased tension, leading to low libido and less interest in sex .

To improve sleep, you need to figure out what's causing the lack of sleep, whether it's street noise or street lights.

Our SLEEP vitamins are formulated with Melatonin, a sleep-inducing hormone that is responsible for regulating our biological clock, and Vitamin B6, which contributes to the reduction of tiredness and fatigue. They will help you fall asleep faster, have a more restful and deep sleep, wake up rested and refreshed and above all, avoid all these consequences of not resting properly.