How serious is insufficient sleep and how can I address that?
The conclusions of a recent study involving 8,000 participants: 50+ year-old individuals who sleep 5 hours or less a night may be at risk for several serious and chronic health conditions, ranging from heart disease to cancer.
The research, published online October 18 in PLOS Medicine [1], found that compared to those who slept 7-8 hours, individuals who slept less than 5 hours had a 30% increase in many health issues including:
- Arthritis
- Cancer
- Chronic kidney disease
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
- Coronary heart disease
- Dementia
- Depression
- Diabetes
- Heart Failure
- Liver Disease
- Parkinson’s disease
- Stroke
Those in their 60’s who slept less than 5 hours were shown to have a 32% higher risk, while those in their 70’s, a 40% increased risk was found.
Lead investigator, Dr. Séverine Sabia, PhD, states, "It is important to take care of our sleep." Dr. Sabia noted that the source of the sleep problem must be addressed, but for those who don’t have a medical reason for insufficient sleep, she further went on to say that “Healthy sleep habits are a must. These include keeping a regular sleep schedule, a healthy lifestyle — physical activity and light exposure during the day, and a light dinner — and avoidance of screens for a half hour before sleep."
While allowing for the fact that “chronic diseases often coexist, particularly at older ages, it remains unclear how sleep duration may be associated with risk of multimorbidity,” Dr. Sabia also emphasized, "Sleep is important for the regulation of several body function, such as metabolic, endocrine, and inflammatory regulation over the day, that in turn, when dysregulated, may contribute to increased risk of several chronic conditions."
Hammer’s Superior Sleep-Enhancing Trio
Hammer CBD – Our clients consistently tell us that they haven’t experienced a more powerful, yet safe and natural way to enhance sleep quality and duration. The phytocannabinoids in Hammer CBD augment the body’s natural production of cannabinoids while influencing the CB1 receptors, allowing them to function better. This dramatically helps promote calmness, relaxation, and better-quality sleep and support for the immune system. [2]
REM Caps – For nearly two decades, the unique and safe, non-habit-forming nutrient combination in REM Caps has helped thousands of people enjoy more sound, restful, and productive sleep. The main component in REM Caps’ main ingredient is melatonin, which research has shown significantly reduces the amount of time needed to fall asleep, boosts the amount of time spent asleep, and increases sleep duration. [3]
Essential Mg - Of the hundreds of roles magnesium plays in the body, one of the primary benefits for aiding sleep is that it helps the muscles and nerves to relax. Magnesium supplementation, especially when combined with other nutrients—such as those found in REM Caps—has been shown to reduce incidences of insomnia. [4]
Summary
I am oftentimes reminded of the words of highly respected coach Nate Llerandi, who labeled the lack of quality sleep the ultimate performance killer. Coach Llerandi states, “Sleep deprivation can put you in one of the holes you’ll ever experience. It goes hand in hand with overtraining, erratic training, and poor performances.” Dr. Bill Misner elaborates: "Deep sleep patterns may mean the difference between big anabolic gains and none at all! Both bodily repair and anabolic growth occur only during quality rest, and when deep sleep patterns become routine. While lack of sleep can have dire consequences, adequate sleep provides only positive, healthful benefits.”
It's obvious: if you're not obtaining the right amount of high-quality sleep every night, not only is your athletic performance being sabotaged, so too is your overall health! To ensure that you obtain the right amount of high-quality sleep, put the Hammer Nutrition “Sleep-Enhancing Trio” to work for you!
REFERENCES:
[1] https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1004109
[2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3256323/
[3] Brzezinski A, Vangel MG, Wurtman RJ, et al. Effects of exogenous melatonin on sleep: a meta-analysis. Sleep Med Rev. 2005 Feb;9(1):41-50.
[4] Sateia MJ, Nowell PD. Insomnia. Lancet. 2004;364:1959–73.
