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Did you know that your sleep patterns may be influencing your food cravings and your ability to recover from exercise?

Why is sleep important?

When we sleep, we usually have periods of deep sleep and REM sleep (rapid eye movement). During deep sleep there is an increase in the release of growth hormone – that is responsible for the repair and recovery of muscle and tissue cells. This type of sleep also influences our immune response making deep sleep vital for optimal health & wellness. REM sleep is important for our mental and emotional wellbeing, our decision making and thought processes.

So how much sleep do you need?

Eight hours is optimal, seven hours is acceptable but less than six hours and you significantly increase the risk of impaired cognitive and/ or motor function. Sleep deprivation can have a profound affect on the body…...

If you don’t get enough sleep, you may not recover as well from exercise, increase the risk of illness, and prolong the recovery if you’re already sick. It can also alter the levels of the hormones that affect appetite and influence the way we process and store carbohydrates. Together, these increase your risk of becoming overweight and all the problems that are associated with that.

Sleep deprivation can also cloud your judgment, increasing the likelihood you will make mistakes. Often these can be easily corrected but others can have dire consequences. Did you know that fatigue was a major factor in the Three Mile Island disaster in 1979, Chernobyl in 1986, and disastrous launch of the Challenger in 1986……food for thought isn’t it, especially given that many outdoor activities, particularly those around water and mountaineering relies heavily on people being ‘on the ball’.

How to get a better nights sleep

The nutrient that has the biggest impact on the quality and quantity of sleep is caffeine. Caffeine is present is varying amounts in tea, coffee, energy drinks, some vitamin waters and soft drink and has an extremely long half-life of between six to eight hours. That means that it takes approximately 6-8 hours for half of the caffeine to be metabolized in the body.

Because caffeine is a stimulant and works on your central nervous system, it will, if taken at the wrong time, affect your sleep patterns. When this happens you are more likely to be tired throughout the next day and use caffeine as a ‘pick me up’ and the vicious cycle continues.  

I can certainly appreciate that some people just can’t go without their morning coffee but my best advice would be to aim to make your afternoons caffeine free, i.e. consume no caffeinated beverages after lunch time…..sounds tough I know but trust me, you’ll thank me in the end!