Sleep has a lot of benefits. Aside from the usual rest that most people long for, it also has its share of contributing towards people who undertake strenuous exercises such as sports and body building. Hence, while you are counting your calories, it would be best to see the power that sleep can bring as far as pulling the overall power back to normal.

Apparently factors such as proper sleeping hours and the bed we lay on are relevant. We are often told to get some rest. Now on how to analyze and go about it is another thing. We just have to think practical.

Sleep helps your body heal. It’s really the only time your muscles can completely rest and recover. There are a ton of studies linking sleep with healing. They show that, among other things, human growth hormone and melatonin, both of which play a big role in tissue recovery and immunity, are produced during sleep.

So if you’re not getting good sleep-whether it’s due to pain, anxiety, fear or whatever-you’re not giving your muscles, especially your back muscles, time to rejuvenate themselves for the next day’s activities.

(Source) American Chronicle

The delicate stage of infants today is how fast they can learn things like talking and perception. While we all know that this varies, sleep has been identified as another contributor towards how fast a child can develop such learning abilities.

“Children are able to make the transition well if they are able to interact with peers and teachers and concentrate in class and take on the workload,” he said.

“If you have enough sleep, you have enough concentration … the brain is still growing, they are still taking in a lot of information,” Sydney Morning Herald quoted Jon Quach, lead researcher, as saying.

Lack of sleep contributes to child development and proper growth. Apparently being left out would be the intellectual development of a child. Monitor their sleeping habits and make sure that they get the proper shuteye. It can make a difference.

(Source) The Times of India

We have been hearing the growing relation of obesity with sleep these days and indirectly, the point is people have to spice up their lives with certain activities that can perhaps add spice to their normal routine. This does not really entail rigorous activities and in fact, a study has showed that Tai Chi Chih, an ancient form of Chinese Martial arts, can significantly help improve sleeping patterns.

This is a good activity to participate in considering that it is a better alternative to healthier lives compared to the usual reliance of people on drugs to get that much needed sleep.

Studies show that more than half of older adults experience sleeping problems at least a few times a week, Irwin and his team note in their report. While CBT can ease insomnia, few therapists have the training to offer this type of treatment, which is also relatively expensive. And while aerobic exercise can also help people sleep better, vigorous workouts aren’t an option for many seniors.

To investigate whether tai chi chih might be an option, Irwin and his team analyzed sleep quality in 112 people aged 59 to 86 participating in a randomized, controlled trial of the martial art for preventing shingles. Tai chi chih instruction was given in 45-minute sessions, three times a week.

(Source) Reuters

As far as sleep comparison is concerned, it would be intriguing to note if some animals would follow the same sleep patterns that we do. Apparently thanks to the continued research of most groups such as the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in San Diego, Calif., there is a bird that has been discovered to sleep like us. The said bird is called the Zebra Finch, a songbird that has episodes of rapid-eye-movement sleep and slow-wave sleep as well as transition stages and quick spikes, all reminiscent of mammalian sleep patterns.

As for the zebra finch results, he said, they show that a cortex isn’t required to have such structured sleep, and they also raise evolutionary issues. “The question now becomes whether evolution has gone through the trouble of selecting for these particular patterns more than once,” he said.

(Source) The New York Times

If you are among the people today who are aching to stay fit and maintain the ideal weight levels, you will never guess what the best activity is for being able to achieve proper weight levels. It does not include having to enroll in the usual fitness centers. It all boils down to getting the proper amount of sleep, something many people today are losing in their lives.

A good book to support this claim is this book, Sleep to Be Sexy, Smart and Slim: Get the Best Sleep of Your Life Tonight and Every Night, authored by Julie Bain and Ellen Michaud.

“It really surprised me how many women think sleep is a waste of their time,” says the New York City-based writer and editor. “So many women feel guilty if they’re not doing as much as possible all of the time. But your sleep is not an indulgence.”

(Source) Dallas News