Sleep is a vital life process and a biological rhythm.
Approximately one-third of a person’s life is spent in sleep. Despite adhering to the natural rhythm of working during daylight and resting at sunset for thousands of years, few people have questioned why humans need to sleep. What is the reason behind the necessity of sleep for humans? Why is sleep so important?
Throughout history, people have pondered these questions. We only know that the human brain becomes fatigued after a period of activity, and sleep is the optimal way for the brain to rest.
The Functions of Sleep
1. Elimination of Fatigue, Restoration of Energy:
Whether engaged in physical labour or working in an office, the human body consumes a significant amount of physical and mental energy, leading to feelings of fatigue.
Sleep is the primary way to eliminate physical fatigue, allowing the body to rest fully and recover both physical strength and mental energy. During sleep, the synthesis and storage of fats, glycogen, and amino acids significantly increase, preparing the body for future activities.
2. Protection of the Brain, Restoration of Mental Energy:
During sleep, the entire body is in a state of inhibition, leading to a decrease in overall metabolic activity in the brain. Oxygen consumption is greatly reduced, allowing the brain to rest adequately, facilitating the repair of brain cells and the storage of energy.
Therefore, sleep serves to protect the brain, enhance cognitive abilities, keep individuals energetically sharp, and improve overall efficiency in tasks.
3. Enhanced Immune Function, Body Rehabilitation:
During sleep, the body’s immune system undergoes a certain degree of repair and reinforcement. It produces antibodies against various invading antigens, thereby strengthening the body’s resistance. Through immune reactions, it clears these substances to protect overall health.
Additionally, sleep accelerates the self-recovery of various tissues and organs. In modern medicine, sleep is often considered a therapeutic measure. After sleeping, immune function is enhanced, and the body’s resistance is strengthened, promoting a faster recovery process from diseases.
4. Promoting Growth and Development:
Sleep is closely associated with the growth and development of children. In infants and young children, the brain continues to develop for a considerable period after birth, and this process is closely tied to sleep. Only during deep sleep can the human brain synthesize growth hormone that promotes physical growth and development. Consequently, children experience faster growth rates during sleep, as the plasma levels of growth hormones can be maintained at a higher level for several consecutive hours during sleep. This is also why adolescents who consistently lack sufficient sleep tend to be shorter in stature.
Therefore, ensuring adequate sleep for children is crucial to support their growth and development. Additionally, growth hormones are important for adults as well. They play a significant role in the repair and regeneration of aging skin, wounds, and other bodily tissues, as well as in processes like fat burning.
5. Delaying Aging, Promoting Longevity:
Recent research data has consistently shown that elderly individuals who enjoy healthy and long lives typically have good and regular sleep patterns.
During sleep, metabolism decreases to its lowest level, with synthesis exceeding breakdown metabolism, thereby contributing to the slowing of aging and ensuring a prolonged life.
6. Emotional Regulation:
Sleep is crucial for protecting mental health and maintaining normal psychological functioning. It helps regulate emotions, alleviate psychological stress, and mitigate the adverse effects of negative emotions on the body.
Insufficient sleep in the short term can lead to distraction, excitability, irritability, or mental lethargy. Prolonged lack of sleep can result in irrational thinking, hallucinations, or even mental breakdown.
7. Beneficial for Skin Beauty:
During the sleep process, the microcirculation of blood vessels in the skin increases, and the secretion and elimination processes are strengthened, accelerating skin regeneration. Therefore, sleep contributes to skin beauty by maintaining skin radiance and giving the skin a healthier complexion, often referred to as a rosy glow.
In today’s increasingly competitive and fast-paced life, many people have insufficient awareness of the importance of sleep.
Some believe that sleeping consumes too much time, or that having poor sleep is a minor issue, and it’s okay to sleep less. However, these notions are not medically recognized. The relationship between sleep and health is closely linked, and when sleep is inadequate, the body’s functions can become disrupted. Almost all individuals with mental disorders have issues related to sleep. Numerous studies clearly indicate that lack of sleep is risky. Insufficient sleep can, at the least, affect work efficiency and physical health, and at worst, it may lead to potentially fatal consequences.
Therefore, sleep is an absolute necessity for everyone in life, just like food and water, and should not be underestimated.
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