SLEEP is vital to good health, but is often overlooked in our busy lives.
Both quality and quantity are important.
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Quantity of sleep is how many hours you squeeze in, while quality of sleep comes down to how much time you spend in each sleep stage over the course of the night. Are you ever awakened feeling tired and groggy the next morning?
The chances are you spent very little time in “deep sleep” – arguably the most important part of the night.
How much deep sleep is recommended for each night?
According to the NHS, everyone needs between 6 and 9 hours of sleep per night.
Your individual needs will determine how much sleep you get.
While eight hours is the magic number, many people can live on seven to six hours.
The quality of your sleep is an entirely different matter.
There are four stages to sleep.
- Stage 1 is when you are merely dozing off. It lasts approximately five minutes.
- Stage 2, which is the second stage, is a time of light sleep before you enter deep sleep. Your heartbeat, breathing and body temperature slow down.
- Stage 3 deep sleep is where the heartbeat and breathing slow to their lowest rates. This stage is the most difficult to wake up from.
- Stage 4, rapid eye movement (REM), in which we dream and our brains are most active.
Nights are spent switching between stages. We spend most of our time in the sleep stage 2.
25% of our sleep time is in REM, or the dreamy stage. This happens approximately 90 minutes after falling asleep.
We should also spend between 15 and 20 percent of our night in deep sleep, which takes around one hour.
Children still require 20 percent of the recommended amount of deep sleep, depending on their age.
Babies should be
sleeping from 12 to 17 hours a day,
toddlers between 10 and 14 hours and school-age children between 9 and 11 hours, with
teenagers needing even less at 10 hours
Deep sleep is the key component. Generally the more you get, the more rested you’ll feel the next day.
Deep sleep is what gives us that “refreshed” feeling in the morning.
What is deep sleep?
Because of the slowing down of brainwaves deep sleep is also known by the name delta sleep.
This stage is when the thinking parts of your brain are completely shut down and the muscles relax completely. No dreams occur during deep sleep.
This is when sleep disorders like night terrors and sleepwalking, can most commonly occur.
With sleep tracking apps, you can get an idea of how deep sleep you get each night.
Why is deep sleep so important
Deep sleep is believed to be essential for us to remain functional and healthy as we age.
That’s because it is the body’s best opportunity to heal itself and promote growth.
Deep sleep plays an important role in hormone regulation. The body produces hormones that repair and strengthen the immune and muscle tissues.
Deep sleep is crucial for those who are young or have chronic conditions.
Deep sleep, on the other hand, is when the brain stores memories that improves its ability recall information.
So you can imagine what happens when we don’t get enough deep sleep.
You age much faster if you don’t get enough deep sleep. It is more difficult to avoid heart disease, bone issues and neurological problems like dementia.
The American Sleep Association says people with insomnia will have impaired memory and can’t perform memory tasks very well.
To ensure your health later in life, it is vital that you get sufficient sleep.
How can you get deeper sleep? You will be able to get deeper sleep if you sleep longer hours.
You might also benefit from vigorous exercise. However, for people with sleep disorders, it is best to do this as early as possible.
ASA suggests that reducing carbohydrates and getting warm in the tub may help.
If you need more advice about sleep, find out how to sleep when it’s light out and stop your kids and babies from waking up early.
Find out our top 12 tips for staying cool during heatwaves, including how to kick your partner out of bed.
Find out what Britain’s top sleep tips are, including reading books, bathing, and watching films.