Are you getting enough sleep?

Our inner sleep clock - how to get it working for you Our sleep routine helps to determine our everyday well-being. From our mood, to digestion, liver health, body recovery, immunity and gut microbiome, our sleep hours either helps or hinders us. Emerging research shows a growing link between our sleep hygiene habits and our longer-term health and well-being. Are you getting enough sleep? How much sleep do we need and what is the perfect number of sleep hours? We are all individual and what may work best for someone may not be the same for another, including the number of hours we need in order to wake up feeling rested and restored. For many, the most beneficial number of sleep hours are 7-9 hours per night. Some people may need more or less depending on their natural sleep/wake clock. We often get by with less sleep hours, but this sets us up to be below par right from the start of our day, when we could be at our best.   Finding out what works best for you and your inner sleep clock It is not just the number of hours that we sleep, but also the particular time frame that we go to sleep that impacts on our whole well-being. The ideal time window for deep sleep is commonly between 9-10pm until 2am, this the best time for getting into our deep REM sleep stages where our most restorative sleep takes place. Getting enough deep sleep is one of our essential ingredients for overall well-being. What is your perfect amount of sleep hours? The perfect sleep time is usually around the 7-9 hours, but this can differ depending on your individual need. In pregnancy more sleep time may be needed, up to 8-10 hours and for teenagers also 8-10 hours is a more ideal amount of sleep time too. Naturally, a teen’s sleep clock makes them more tired later on in the night and less able to wake early, this is due to a decreased sensitivity to light because of the change in serotonin release in the brain at this age. Giving an explanation for all those sleep-in mornings, and why they have the constant urge to sleep in past morning.    For babies and littlies, up to 13-14 hours sleep time can be needed and often intermittently with a nap in the afternoon plus night-time sleep time. If an active lifestyle with more intense exercise and energy output is required then more recovery support including boosting your sleep hours to more than 9 hours will help for optimal immune function and energy recovery. Your lifestyle, age group and individual needs all come into which sleep hours may work best for you, boosting your daily energy and total well-being for your day ahead.   Read part 2 - How to achieve deep, restorative sleep