The Benefits of Having a Steady Sleep Schedule

You've heard certain advice since you were a kid: breakfast is the most important part of the day, and you need to get a good night's sleep to be your very best.  Have you ever stopped to wonder if these statements are founded in fact or just simple wives' tales?

Related Blog: Sleep Health: Both Quantity and Quality Matter

Some things you've heard for decades are truer than others, but one thing is for sure: there are absolutely benefits of a steady sleep schedule that are indisputable. Here are a few:

Counteracting Insomnia  

Insomnia, acute or otherwise, can impact a person's entire waking life.  Although immediate sleep won't happen overnight if you're suffering from insomnia, establishing a set schedule for rest can eventually start to counteract the disorder.  As your body falls into a routine of resting time and awake hours, your internal clock should start to adjust accordingly.  By sticking to this schedule at all times, including weekends, you're giving your body a head's up that it's time to lay down and rest.  This message, when delivered consistently, can often be just the thing to quiet the mind and help you manage to fall asleep.

Battling Bulge 

Humans' metabolic cycles are largely dependent upon the hours in the day.  During the sleeping hours, our bodies are meant to reset and sync such that the hormones that the metabolic processes responsible for controlling stress, energy, and body fat fall back in line and are ready to do battle tomorrow.  If you are upholding an inconsistent sleep pattern, this sync and reset time is getting disturbed, making it hard for your body's systems to set back into place.  The result?  That metabolism that you need to burn off that burger may be resting dormant in your body, waiting for you to fall back into a rhythm so it can do its job.  Meanwhile, fat cells show no immunity to your inconsistent schedule.

Sustaining Stress Levels  

Cortisol is the body's hormone largely related to stress.  After a full night's sleep, corisol levels spike, alerting the body that it's time to eat, then leveling out.  Without proper sleep, these levels remain spiked, causing a disturbance in appetite, as well as irritation, throughout the day.  Cortisol, to an extent, is a tie between being hungry and angry.

Stop by Land of Sleep today to find the perfect mattress to help you sleep better and get your sleep patterns in check!