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You probably have enough to hear political leaders and businessmen talking all the time that they sleep very little. The problem is that it is not an admirable feature: lack of sleep is very harmful for our body and our brain.
To reach old age in a healthy way, say scientists, need to invest in a good nights sleep
Matthew Walker Professor of Neuroscience and Psychology at the University of Berkeley in the United States, explains why you should stop admiring people who sleep little. Walker is the author of Why We Sleep a book that has the potential to change (and extend) one's life.
Here, he explains everything you need to know about sleep and how to develop healthier lifestyles.
Why sleep is important
The discoveries of science up to now indicate that the shorter the sleep time, the shorter the life. So, if you want to age healthily, you should have a good night's sleep.
In fact, sleeping is so beneficial that Walker began to pressure doctors to prescribe this to their patients.
However, this induction of sleep must occur naturally. Numerous studies have linked sleeping pills to an increased risk of cancer, infection and mortality.
What happens to our body and our mind if we do not sleep?
Many of the diseases we suffer have a significant connection with lack of sleep – for example, Alzheimer's disease, cancer, cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes, depression, depression Anxiety and even suicidal tendencies.
It is that during sleep there is a sort of "revision" of all the important physiological systems of our body and every network or operation of the mind. If you do not get enough sleep, this badessment is impaired and your body will be affected.
After 50 years of scientific research, the question in the minds of scientists is more "what does sleep do for us?" but "what does sleep do for us?"
uses most of the time during the day for activities and compensates with less hours of sleep
Photo: Getty Images / BBC News Brazil
How many hours does it take to sleep to feel good?
You should sleep at least seven to nine hours a day. If you sleep less than seven hours, your immune system and cognitive performance will begin to be affected.
After being awake for 20 hours at a time, you will feel as helpless as if you were drunk – to such an extent that one of the problems of sleep deprivation is that you do not immediately realize the harm that he's causing.
It's as if a drunk driver in a bar was taking the keys to the car and says, "I'm fine, I can drive. But everyone knows that he is unable to take the direction of a vehicle.
We sleep less and less. Why?
If we look at data from the industrialized countries, we notice a clear trend: over the past hundred years, sleep time has decreased.
If we sleep less, it is more difficult to enter the REM (Rapid Eye Movement) stadium, the cycle in which we dream. And any interference in the REM phase is very damaging because it is crucial for our creativity and mental health.
There is a stigma on who sleeps 8 hours or more, but not with babies, because we know that sleep is important to them
Photo: Getty Images / BBC News Brazil
There are many reasons why people sleep less and less according to Walker :
1 – Lack of knowledge: The scientific community knows how crucial it is to sleep well, but until now it has not been able to communicate effectively information to the general public. Most people do not understand why sleep is important.
2 – Pace of Life: In general, we work more hours and we spend more time coming and going to work. We left home very early and returned late at night, and of course we did not want to miss spending time with family and friends. Being with the family, hanging out with friends, watching TV … in the end, we sacrifice hours of sleep.
3 – Attitudes and Beliefs: Sleep is not well seen by society. If you tell someone who sleeps nine, they'll think you're lazy. So we stigmatize sleep, and many people brag about how little they sleep each night. This was not always the case. No one will call a sleeping baby because we know that sleep is essential for its development. But this notion changes when we reach adulthood. Not only do we give up the idea that sleep is necessary, but we also punish people who sleep when they need it.
4 – Lack of natural light: We do not like to run out of light when it's dark. But darkness is needed to release an essential hormone that helps us sleep, called melatonin. Unfortunately, one of the side effects of modernity and its technological advances is that we are constantly under artificial light. This has worsened with the arrival of LED displays, which project a powerful blue light that blocks the production of melatonin.
5 – Temperature: Another unexpected side effect of modernity is that we no longer experience the natural flow of cold and heat during the 24-hour period. We all want warm homes, but we also need fresh air to sleep well. Our brain and our body need to reduce this base temperature, about 1 ° C less, so that we can relax naturally. Most of us put heating at a very high level: if you want to sleep well, program your thermostat at 18ºC at night.
The largest exposure of people to sources of Artificial light, such as screens, hinder the production of the sleep hormone
Photo: Getty Images / BBC News Brazil
Why do not we recover the hours of sleep lost?
Errors have been identified, but can the damage be reversed?
One of the big lies is that if you have not slept well, you can "go back to sleep". You can not. Sleep is not like a bank, in which you can accumulate a debt and then pay it back.
But that's what many people do: they sleep a little during the week and want to recover during the weekend. This is what is called the jet lag social or even sleeping bulimia. What you can do, in fact, is change your habits.
Studies show that people who have slept badly but have changed routine and started to sleep more, avoid degenerative deterioration and Alzheimer's disease for more than ten years, compared to people who have maintained a insufficient sleep.
Why can not we sleep?
Imagine how wonderful it would be if we could store hours of sleep and use them the way we wanted.
There is a precedent in biology called the fat cell. The evolution has given us this cell, thanks to which we can store energy in times of abundance that allows us to survive in times of famine.
So why not develop a similar system for storing sleep?
Because we are the only species deliberately depriving ourselves of sleep for no apparent reason.
That's why even a single night of bad sleep can affect our body and our brain.
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