The Importance of Sleep to Our Health and Longevity

Everyone knows that we need sleep. But not only is sleep important to our health, it can also affect our longevity.

In this Learning Bites session, Susan Williams speaks with Fitness and Performance Coach, Shannon Bond on the importance of sleep and how we can make sure that we get what we need.

Here are some of the highlights of the discussion;

Why is sleep so important to our health?

Sleep is important to our health for many reasons but essentially the better and higher quality of sleep we have over our lifetime can affect our longevity.

Sleep helps to regulate our our metabolism, along with the hormones that can impact our feelings of hunger. Sleep can also affect our ability to burn fat or muscle. It also has an impact on our mood, our will power and our general overall feelings.

How does sleep affect our longevity?

The length of time and quality of sleep can have a significant impact on our longevity. Getting higher quality sleep can add almost 5 extra years for men and 2 extra years to our lives. 

You can also have too much sleep. Seven to eight hours of quality sleep seems to be the sweet spot whereas ten hours can actually increase your risk to your longevity.

The quality of our sleep can also have a significant impact. The need for REM sleep and deep sleep is very important. Not only our longevity but also just how well we are able to function on a daily basis. It can affect our energy levels, our mood and even our will power to get things done.

It's also interesting to note that at different life stages we require different amount of sleep. When you're younger you need more but as you age the amount needed declines.

What are some good sleep habits to have?

Having a good sleep routine is extremely important. This consists of;

• Having a consistent bed time and wake time

• Creating a relaxing bedtime routine

• Ensuring an ideal sleeping environment

  • dark (use of sleep mask can help)

  • comfortable bed and pillow

• Managing the levels of caffeine, screen time (including TV) and alcohol before you go to bed

Sleep is a vital function that can affect so many aspects of our lives. Including our overall health and longevity. 

Hope this information helps you to get a good night's sleep and live your best booming encore!

Please note, this information is provided for informational purposes only. You should always consult your healthcare professional regarding your personal situation.

This content about the factors that can affect our longevity is being developed as part of Susan Williams Pushing My Limits for Longevity Project. If you are interested in learning more about her plans, you can read about it here.