In a recent research study released in a pediatric journal, children who do not get enough sleep are more likely to be obese. In fact, children who slept less than 8 hours a night had more irregular sleep schedules and were four times as likely to become obese.

In general, the recommended hours of sleep for children (ages 3 through 10) is around 11 hours per night. But perhaps more importantly, is that this is a regular sleep pattern. If a regular sleep schedule is not possible, there have been positive effects shown from “catch-up” sleep on weekends. Children who catch up on sleep on the weekends have a lower risk of becoming obese.

The study consisted of children participants who were monitored in their sleep patterns over a week long period. On average, obese, overweight and normal children all slept around 8 hours per night, but the obese children did not get catch up sleep on the weekend. When researchers gathered metabolic information from blood samples, children who held regular sleep hours and caught up on sleep on the weekends had a higher metabolic rate and lower risk for heart disease and diabetes.

Although this study does not imply a direct cause-effect, it leaves the door open for more research. Our recommendation: make sure your younger children have a regular sleep schedule. Teens are much more likely and able t catch up on sleep on the weekends while the younger children will still tend to wake up early.

Have you ever considered acupressure? The results sound incredible.

In a recent sleep research study, acupressure helped chronic insomniacs get a better nights rest for up to two weeks after the treatment. Similar to acupuncture, acupressure involves pressing the bodies pressure points in order to stimulate health. Unlike acupuncture, which uses thin needles to access the pressure points, acupuncture simply uses fingers and hands.

This controlled study has yielded favorable results for the alternative treatment. 50 people with chronic insomnia were split into two groups. One group received acupressure treatment while the other remained a control group, receiving light touches at the acupressure areas instead. Improvements in sleep were measured with a standardized test over a period of 5 weeks. In the end, the group receiving the acupressure treatment had significantly better results during the  trial and continued for two weeks after.

Although the exact science behind acupressure is not known, the results speak for themselves. Applying pressure to specific pressure points stimulates blood flow to deep muscle tissue. Doing this increases the temperature of your muscles and makes them feel more flexible and relaxed.  One specific pressure point, called the HT7 point, is particularly known for improving insomnia.

The HT7, or The Spirit Gate, is located on the wrist, on the same side as the pinky. Before going to sleep, try rubbing the area slowly but firmly. This should help you get to sleep. If you want to wake up, instead of rubbing the point, tap on it. If you don’t feel any changes in results, try scheduling an appointment with a acupressure professional. This will let you learn first hand how and where to apply pressure on your own.

This is a question that is asked over and over again that is answered with another question – Do you feel tired when you wake up?
If you are consistently waking up tired, then you aren’t getting enough sleep. Ideally, waking up with no alarm (while not sleep deprived) is a good estimate as to how much sleep you need.

Try to following to try and establish how much sleep you need:
Go to sleep when you are tired and wake up with your alarm. You will probably feel groggy but that is to be expected. Continue to go to sleep as soon as you feel tired and eventually, your body will have a certain time that it feels tired compared to your alarm time. The difference is about how much sleep you need.

The amount of sleep depends upon the individual – genetics and daytime activities. It can range from 4 hours to 12 hours so don’t listen to people who say you should get X amount of hours of sleep per night.

I noticed I sort of jumped in a started giving you guys tips on how to fall asleep without first properly introducing sleep basics. So here I am making up for that :D

Understanding the basics of sleep is very important and will be more helpful than you may think. I don’t know how much you already know or how much you think you know, but if you are not familiar with the basics, this will definitely be launch point towards getting over insomnia and getting more energy throughout your day.

Understanding the hidden processes which control your sleep will give you a sense of power;  you can study your problem, why its there, how it should be, and from that, develop a plan to get rid of it.

What Is Sleep?

It’s not until recently that scientists have come into the possession of the technology needed to measure and study precisely what happens in the human brain and body while we are sleeping.

Until the 1950s, almost everyone believed that sleep was a passive and inactive state where the mind and body are shut off and had absolutely nothing to do with our non-sleeping lives.

However, with the new research done, we have learned that our brains are in a very active state during sleep, and what occurs during sleep greatly affects our waking lives. The new technology allows sleep researchers to measure the brain’s electrical activity. These activity levels are called Electroencephalographs (EEG) recordings or, a more common term, brain waves.

Each stage represents a different mental and physical state of the body while asleep. During some stages, the body is experiencing lighter sleep (faster brain waves) and can be awakened easily. Other states indicate a very deep sleep (very slow brain waves).

Why Do We Sleep?

We are not sure why we sleep,  but the two basic theories are that sleep has a restorative process and a adaptive process.

Sleep as a Restorative Function

The restorative theory of sleep suggests that sleep assists the body to recover from the work it did while awake. Research has shown that the more physical exercise we do during the day, the more slow wave sleep (SWS) we have. If you lack SWS in your sleep, you’ll likely be physically tired, anxious and irritable during the day.

Sleep as an Adaptive Function

Sleep may have evolved from our ancestor’s survival instincts to protect themselves at night. Because they couldn’t function well at night, due to their inabilities to see in the dark, search for food, and defend against predators, they instead slept.

Sleep gives your body a rest and lets it to prepare for the coming day. Sleep also gives your brain the opportunity to sort things out. Scientists believe that sleep may be the time when the brain organizes and saves information, replaces used chemicals, and solves problems.

In a recent study done by a British sleep expert suggests that our bodies could be saying something about us even when we are asleep. He interviewed 1000 men and women and found a correlation between their personalities and sleeping positions.

The study found that the 6 most common sleep positions are:

Image Source: PureDoxyk

Here are their personalities and percentage of people who slept in that sleeping position:

Fetal Position 41% – Tough on outside but sensitive at heart. Shy at start but quick to relax.

Log Position (straight on side) 15% - Easy going and sociable. Generally trusting of strangers but sometimes gullible.

Yearner (arms outstretched on side) 13% - Open nature but can be suspicious and cynical. Slow to reach decisions and reluctant to change their minds.

Soldier (flat on back) 8% - Quiet and reserved. Don’t like a fuss. Set high standards for themselves and others.

Free Fallers (on stomach) 7% - Brash and gregarious on the exterior but thin skinned. Outward confidence masks a personality that responds badly to criticism.

Starfish (on back with hands above head) 5% – Make good friends because they are ready to listen and offer help. Unassuming and happiest out of the spotlight.

So what is your sleeping position? Does your pesonality match up?

Yet another one of countless reasons to get a good night’s sleep every single night.

Check out this great post for some nuggets of information on how sleeping helps you lose weight.

Recap:

Less sleep = more hunger. Lack of sleep messes up your hunger hormones which not only make your hungry all day but crave high-carb foods.

More tired = less exercise. Since you don’t get the sleep you need and don’t get your energy, its a lot harder to muster up the energy and motivation to burn some calories with exercise.

Lack of sleep leads to obesity. Some outrageous numbers. Every additional hour of sleep in 6th-grade decreased a child’s likely of being overweight by 20%, while every additional hour of sleep in 3rd-grade decreased the risk of being overweight in 6th-grade by a whopping 40%. The numbers don’t improve with age as we become less active, more stresses and sleep less.

In a recent study done by the University of Chicago Medical Center showed that getting more sleep may prevent future heart complications.

The study involved 495 subjects to be monitored by trackers that would feed information back to labs where the researchers can study sleep patterns. To this data they added data for other significant differences such as age, gender, race, smoking etc. and concluded that people who slept more than 7 hours a night had the lowest risk of artery calcification whereas those who slept under 5 hours a night had a much greater risk.

Artery calcification is a process where a person’s coronary arteries contain calcium deposits. Calcium inside of coronary arteries is a marker for diseased arteries and coronary heart disease accounts for 20% of US deaths.

So here is the final data,

About 12 percent of the people in the study developed artery calcification during the five-year study period. Among those who had slept less than five hours a night, 27 percent had developed artery calcification.

That dropped to 11 percent among those who slept five to seven hours, and to 6 percent among those who slept more than seven hours a night.

So to everyone out there, especially those who have a family history of heart disease, be sure to get your 7.5 hours a night.

Although we may view naps as ways to catch up on lost sleep, how does it affect our sleep at night?

Some people swear that a nap gives them energy during the day and allows them sleep during the night. Others find that napping prevents them from sleeping at night. Naps can be extremely helpful or disadvantageous, depending on how we use them. Most people feel the need to nap the most 8 hours after waking up in the morning. We want to sleep at this time because our body temperature dips to its second lowest point, with the lowest being at night when it’s time to sleep.

A low body temperature allows a person to fall asleep faster and sleep better. People who have some sleeping disorders don’t have their body temperature drop to the same low level. That’s why it is recommended you keep your sleep room temperature at a cool 60 to 65 degrees.

So when is a nap okay? A short, 30 minute nap at around 2pm is optimal timing for regaining energy for the rest of the day. Sleeping longer than 30 minutes can bring you into a REM cycle and being awaken out of that phase will leave you even more tired. Do not take a nap past 4pm, your body temperature goes back up at this time.

If on the other hand you feel so exhausted and absolutely need a nap, sleep for 90 minutes (a full sleep cycle). This will give you more energy but may screw around with your night time sleep times.

If you find that you need a nap everyday, take it at the same time. Having a sleep schedule is what the body needs and taking naps at random times on random days will mess up your sleep cycle and prevent you from falling asleep at night.

To recap: Nap for 30 minutes at 2ish. If you find that this helps you get through the day, make it a habit. If you still feel exhausted after 30 minutes, do a complete 90 minute nap cycle but be prepared to be less tired when night comes.