Sleep is such a valuable and vital part of life and health. Nearly six in 10 Americans report having insomnia and insomnia at least a few nights a week, according to the National Sleep Foundation. A growing body of research links the benefits of good sleep to increased well-being, lower rates of illness, more happiness, sharper mental abilities, and less fatigue.
A recently completed joint study from the Division of Sleep Disorders at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston found that 204 college students greatly benefited from getting regular, good sleep. These students, who were between the ages of 18 and 25, participated in a 30-day study that measured sleep time and duration.
When students transitioned from irregular sleep patterns to regular sleep throughout the week, there were significant and measurable improvements in their levels of evening and morning happiness, higher level of health, and better calm and composure throughout the week. There was even greater well-being the day after the week of improved sleep.
Lead author Akane Sano, PhD, a research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, said: “Irregular sleep and wake times are common in our modern society. Our results indicate the importance of sleep regularity, in addition to sleep duration, and that regular sleep is associated with greater well-being.
In another interesting study published by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, professional baseball players increased their sleep over a period of five nights and then demonstrated significant improvements in mental processing speed. In addition, their tension, fatigue, and sleepiness during the day were reduced by more than a third.
Cheri D. Mah, Principal Investigator at the Center for Human Performance at the University of California, San Francisco, said: “Our study indicates that short-term sleep extension of an additional hour over five days resulted in demonstrated benefits for thinking skills. athletes’ visual search, as well as an improvement in their quick response. Fatigue during a season can negatively affect performance, and the extent of sleep during periods of high training volume can be a practical recovery strategy.”
For a nutritional approach to insomnia, the minerals calcium and magnesium have been shown to be effective sleep remedies that can increase quality of life. In a study from Iran University of Medical Sciences, a research was conducted with 46 adults who suffered from insomnia. Taking magnesium oxide tablets resulted in significant increases in sleep time and reduced cortisol levels in their bodies, which is a stress hormone that can keep people awake.
In another research study from the US Department of Agriculture’s Human Nutrition Research Center, scientists found that a magnesium-rich diet is associated with deeper, less interrupted sleep. Foods rich in magnesium include green leafy vegetables, black beans, pumpkin seeds, almonds, avocados, figs, bananas, brown rice, and nuts and seeds.
The benefits of getting better sleep are showing up in countless research studies, and the energy invested in achieving them is well worth it.