Human beings spend about one third of their lives sleeping. Your body cannot function properly if you don’t get quality sleep. In fact, sleep is a basic need just like food and water. Scientific studies have shown that people who do not sleep adequately are highly likely to experience physical, emotional and psychological problems. Sleep deprivation can also lead to death. In America, sixty percent of adults are not sleeping properly. Most of them are sacrificing their sleep for work. But is it worth it?

Deep sleep defined

You’ve probably heard that adults need to sleep for about seven to eight hours every night for them to perform their duties and responsibilities properly. The quantity is one aspect of sleep. Another crucial aspect is quality. Quality of sleep should always be taken into account.

While resting, the body goes through several stages of the sleep cycle. Deep sleep is one of these stages that helps you feel refreshed in the morning. During deep sleep, the waves in the body and brain slow down dramatically. It is quite difficult to wake from deep sleep. And even if you do wake up, you’ll feel groggy.

Stages of sleep

As essay shark review reports, the sleep cycle has several stages. Sleep is divided into two main categories namely the REM and the non-REM sleep. When you go to bed, you start in non-REM sleep and progress to REM sleep. The cycle goes on throughout the night after every ninety minutes. The final stage of non-REM is deep sleep.

More on non-REM sleep

The first stage of non-REM sleep lasts for a couple of minutes as you shift from being awake to being asleep. During the first stage, the functions of your body such as respiration, eye movement and heartbeat start slowing down. Your muscles relax with a few twitches and the brain waves start slowing down from wakefulness to sleep.

The second stage normally accounts for an average of fifty percent of your entire sleep cycle. This is the stage most people fall into more than any other when sleeping.

During this stage, the functions of the body slow down and relax much more than the first stage. The body temperature drops and eye movements cease. Also, the brain waves slow down drastically however, there are several activities that continue happening.

Deep sleep is only experienced in stages three and four. During these stages, breathing and heartbeat rate go down drastically. The muscles relax completely. The brain waves slow down significantly and it becomes very difficult to awake unless woken up by another person.

REM sleep

The first stage of REM or the fifth stage of non-REM happens for about ninety minutes after stage three and four of non-REM. During this stage, the eyes start moving rapidly from side to side and you start dreaming as the brain activity starts increasing and progressing towards a wakeful state.

The heartbeat also increases as you continue progressing towards the wakeful state. Breathing starts happening faster and at times irregular. Also, the limbs might become paralyzed during this stage.

Importance of deep sleep

During deep sleep, the metabolism of glucose increases in the brain and this improves short term and long term memory and learning in general. Also, during deep sleep, the pituitary gland secretes crucial hormones such as the human growth hormone which leads to the growth and development of the body.

According to ukessays review, deep sleep restores energy lost during the day thus enabling you to be more productive and improve your performance at work or school. During the day, you perform a variety of activities which all require a significant amount of energy. Without deep sleep, your productivity will be impacted negatively.

Deep sleep facilitates cell regeneration which is crucial to the growth and development of your body and improving your health. The health of your cells will determine your overall physical and mental health.

Deep sleep increases the supply of blood to muscles. While performing a range of activities during the day, your muscles will definitely get fatigued. If you engage in regular exercise and strength training, your muscle fibers will be torn apart. The blood carries essential nutrients needed by the muscles to heal and recover. My assignment help review reports that lack of quality sleep leads to overall fatigue.

Lastly, deep sleep boosts the immune system. People with immune systems are likely to suffer from tons of diseases and flus that come on their way. A weak immune system reduces your productivity and performance because sick people cannot concentrate on anything other than the pain in their bodies.

Effects of poor quality sleep

Deep sleep is responsible for several crucial processes in the body and mind. Failing to get quality and quantity sleep can lead to memory lapses. In fact, lack of quality sleep has been linked to several conditions that affect a number of people today. They include Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, heart diseases and even stroke.

Characteristics of poor quality sleep

How do you know if you are sleeping well or not? The first common sign is fatigue. If you wake feeling very tired, it means you are not deep sleeping enough. With the rapid advancement of technology, you can use wearable devices to measure the quality and quantity of sleep. These devices keep track of your body movements at night. While this technology is great, you should not completely rely on it.

If you think something is wrong, grabmyessay reviews recommends consulting your doctor. A number of tests such as breathing rate, heartbeat and brain waves to name a few will reveal what is happening in your body. With such information, your doctor can advise you accordingly.

Getting quality sleep

It’s very important for each one of us to gee deep sleep. You can increase the quality of your sleep by:

• Creating a bedtime schedule – According to studybay review bedtime schedule will help you sleep and wake up at about the same time every day. It is important for your body and mind to adapt to a regular sleeping pattern. Irregular sleeping patterns are the major causes of poor quality sleep.
• Exercising regularly – Exercise is important for your physical and mental well-being. Exercise not only improves your health but also helps you sleep without much struggle. Exercising every day for about thirty minutes will change your life. The best time to work out is early in the morning.
• Drinking enough water – Water is needed by the body to perform several biological processes. It’s important to keep yourself hydrated throughout the day if you want quality sleep. This also means you should avoid consuming substances that will affect your sleep or hydration. Caffeine, nicotine and alcohol will make it difficult for you to get deep sleep.
• Avoiding lights and noises – Your bedroom should be dark and silent for you to get quality sleep. Using your phone or computer in bed will affect your sleep negatively. It’s important to put away all electronic gadgets at least thirty minutes before going to bed.

Conclusion

Deep sleep will improve your performance and effectiveness over the long run while reversing conditions that are caused by sleep deficiency. Sleep deprivation is affecting a significant number of people across the world. If you are one of them, practicing what you’ve read here will change your life completely. Start today by calling Alaska Sleep Clinic! You have nothing to lose.

About the Author:

Kristin Goad is a editor at bid4papers review and writing services. Her favorite topics are productivity and inspiration, but she also enjoys writing about marketing. Currently, she is working as a content marketer at velvetjobs.