Expert Opinion: What Sleep Does for Your Body

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Good sleep is at least having seven to eight hours at night without any sleep disruption and having a continuous sleep until you wake up next morning feeling refreshed, totally rejuvenated, and be able to do your daily activities with normal functioning. Sleep is very important because it provides the foundation for all daily habits and decisions. And sleep deprivation in particularly can negatively affect your mood, your temperament, and the way that you perform tasks as well. There is a lot of evidence that people who sleep less hours at night has a higher increase for diabetes, heart disease, stroke, also cognitive decline.

One of the most important things to do to have a good night of sleep is to keep a good schedule. Try to keep the same bed time and wake up time. Decrease the screen exposure before bedtime, because otherwise with the light that you get from the TV, from the iPhones, from iPads, that light is going to suppress an important hormone that you need to promote a sleep. This hormone is called melatonin. It's very important to avoid eating heavy foods two or three hours before bedtime because that also will accelerate your metabolism and then you won't be able to fall asleep.

Also it's very important to have a very good environment, a comfy bed, no noises, and dark, darkness is very important. When they have difficulty to sustain sleep, falling asleep, or they are waking up too early with an additional daytime symptoms like excessive daytime sleepiness, mood problems, feeling fatigued, at least three nights a week for more than three months, this is the definition of insomnia and that's when they need to seek for medical attention.