Gut Renovation by Dr. Roshini Raj

Author:Dr. Roshini Raj
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2022-01-28T00:00:00+00:00

Why You Sleep

Sleep is just as essential to your health as food and water. In fact, your body does a mini-renovation every night when you sleep. You may be snoozing, but your body is very busy as it repairs or removes damaged cells, releases hormones for growth and repair (and also hormones related to hunger and appetite) and builds up energy levels for when you’re awake. In your brain, sleep helps you make long-term memories and process and store new information. Sleep is also key for efficient executive function when you’re awake: you need to be well rested to focus, solve problems, concentrate, make decisions, and regulate your emotions.

Your sleep–wake cycle is governed by two internal biological clocks: your circadian rhythm and your sleep–wake homeostasis. Your circadian rhythms are physical and mental processes that follow a twenty-four-hour cycle responding to light and dark. Sleep homeostasis is the drive to sleep, based on how long you’ve been awake. Over the course of roughly twenty-four hours, these two internal biological clocks interact and tell your body when to sleep and when to be awake—and also control other functions, including body temperature, hormone release, and your metabolism. Sleep–wake homeostasis works in sync with your circadian clock to track how long you’ve been awake and to tell you it’s time for bed. The homeostatic sleep drive builds up and gets stronger every hour you’re awake, until you finally give in and go to bed. Both internal clocks respond to environmental cues, especially light, to make you wake up naturally in the morning. They also both contribute to the natural ebb and flow of your alertness over the course of the day.

Most people have a sleep–wake cycle that syncs nicely with the twenty-four-hour day–night cycle. However, lots of factors can mess up your sleep–wake cycle, including stress, shift work, jet lag, illness, pain, some medications, your sleep environment (a snoring partner, for example), and what you eat and drink in the hours before you go to sleep.

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