This is unfortunate because getting enough sleep is as vital to good health as eating healthy foods or getting enough exercise. This article will help you understand the benefits of getting good quality sleep and how many hours per night are optimal. Sleep is more than just a time for your body and mind to rest. Sleep is likewise vital in helping you regulate your emotions. Your inner biological clock runs on an approximately hour schedule controlling the sleep-wake cycle. It may also influence your metabolism , inflammation, and how you respond to stress 5 , 6.

Our sleep need depends upon genetic and physiological factors and also varies by age, sex, and previous sleep amounts. However, a simple definition of sufficient sleep is a sleep duration that is followed by a spontaneous awakening and leaves one feeling refreshed and alert for the day. Sleep Function and Need Need for sleep is complex because it is bound up with the more general question of the function of sleep. As we do not understand the exact function of sleep, and it is possible that sleep serves many purposes, simple benchmarks for defining adequate sleep are difficult to identify.

The quality of your sleep at night directly affects your mental and physical health and how well you feel during the day. Sleep impacts your productivity, emotional balance, brain and heart health, immune function, creativity, vitality, and even your weight. No other activity delivers so many benefits with so little effort!

How much sleep do we really need, and what happens if we get too little or too much? We spend about a third of our lives sleeping, so you've asked an important question. The National Sleep Foundation recommends seven to eight hours of sleep for people over age 64 and seven to nine hours for ages 18 to