Page 63 - Harnett Life Summer 2018

Adequate Sleep is Needed

to be Healthy

By Ryan Beck D.C. QNCP

Summer is finally here and kids are on vacation from school. commit new information to memory in a process called con-
This means that they can sleep in as late as they want. I had to solidation. Lack of sleep also affects our ability to recall infor-
wake my children up every morning this year to go to school, mation that is already stored in our brains.
but now they seem to think that they need to get up early to
watch cartoons. They do not realize that just means they have Now parents, this is especially important for you. Children
to go to bed earlier. I get up (almost) every weekday to go learn new information every single day. Research has shown
to the gym at around 4:45 AM, which is a struggle for me. time after time that children who get appropriate levels of
This means that by around 8:30 PM I am falling asleep on the sleep do better in school, have less behavioral issues and are
couch, right after I put the kids to bed. less likely to be injured. But I am not just talking about learn-
ing their school lessons either. Young children are learning lan-
We live in a society that is chronically sleep deprived. There is guage, reasoning, and social interaction that all require con-
always one more thing to do before going to bed such as work, nections to be made in the brain that are facilitated by sleep.
study, or even something fun. This is a major problem since
sleep is such an important bodily function that affects us in so Research has also proven many other benefits of sleep. Chron-
many ways. Most of us need around eight hours of sleep each ic sleep deprivation may lead to weight gain by affecting the
night. Some may need more or less, but this is a good amount way our bodies metabolize carbohydrates. It is also a safety
of time to try for. concern. You may not think that feeling a little tired in the
middle of the day would be dangerous, but it can lead to auto
Sleep is one of the most vital functions that our bodies per- accidents, medical errors, or air traffic mishaps. And finally,
form. It ranks right up there with breathing and digestion. Sci- missing too much sleep may actually play a role in you get-
entists have not been able to pinpoint the exact reason that ting ill. When we do not get enough sleep our immune system
we need sleep. However, many studies have shown that it is function is altered. This may mean that your body is not able
necessary for our minds and bodies to function properly. Sleep to fight off an infection.
serves many functions and benefits us in multiple ways.
Now you know how important sleep is and how your body
One of the most important ways that sleep benefits us is that needs it to be healthy. So turn off the TV, put down the paper-
it is linked to improved learning and memory. It was once work and try to get to bed a little earlier. You will feel better
thought that sleep was an “inactive” state where our bodies in the morning and be ready to face another challenging day.
simply rested after a long day of being awake. It is now known Now if I could just get my kids to understand all of that, we
that certain parts of our brain are much more active when we would be in business.
are sleeping than when we are awake. Our brains need sleep to

Page 63 Harnett Life ~ Summer 2018