{"id":46515,"date":"2016-01-05T07:15:38","date_gmt":"2016-01-05T12:15:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/?p=46515"},"modified":"2016-07-14T16:07:46","modified_gmt":"2016-07-14T20:07:46","slug":"sleep-deprivation-effects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/lifestyle\/sleep-deprivation-effects\/","title":{"rendered":"This Is Your Body on Sleep Deprivation"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Sleep
Photo by\u00a0Patrycja Tomaszczyk<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Do you know when the last time you got a full night\u2019s rest was? If you can\u2019t remember, well, you\u2019re not alone, but your body is definitely asking for some serious snooze time \u2014 whether you can feel it or not. The American Sleep Association recommends<\/a> eight hours of sleep each night and, though it varies slightly from person to person, you may start feeling the effects as soon as you dip below seven-and-a-half hours a night, says James Maas, PhD, former professor and chair of psychology at Cornell University and author of Sleep for Success<\/em><\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIf you’re not wide awake and alert all day long from the sleep you got last night,\u201d says Dr. Maas, then you\u2019re suffering from some degree of sleep deprivation. (So yeah, basically everyone.) And trying to fix the problem by adding extra hours to your snooze schedule on weekends can actually do more harm than good by messing with your circadian rhythms. \u201cYour body never knows when to shut down,\u201d Maas explains.<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong> 9 Cool New Gadgets to Help You Sleep Better Tonight<\/a><\/p>\n

As hard as it may be<\/a> to prioritize sleep (work-life balance<\/a> is tough enough!), just taking a look at the consequences when you don\u2019t get enough sleep might convince you to log more hours in bed. Here\u2019s how not sleeping affects your body, from head to toe.<\/p>\n

5 Ways Sleep Deprivation Affects Your Mind and Body<\/strong><\/h3>\n

1. Your brain: <\/strong>If you\u2019re sleep deprived, your mind slows down. A <\/span>lot<\/em>. Be prepared that the quality of your work may slide without rest. \u201cThere\u2019s a reduction in the ability to concentrate, to make critical decisions and process information,\u201d says Maas. \u201cMemory is also affected \u2014 sleepy people are often forgetful too,\u201d says Dr. Neil Kline, a representative for the <\/span>American Sleep Association<\/a>. It also becomes more difficult to take in new information, speak or write well and to think creatively. \u201cBasically, you don\u2019t have your A-game with you,\u201d says Maas.<\/span><\/p>\n

2. Your mood: <\/strong>You probably know from experience that a lack of sleep causes mood instability. (Who hasn\u2019t been the office grouch after tossing and turning?) Specifically, it causes irritability and a loss enthusiasm, says Kline. Anxiety<\/a> is also likely to be higher after periods of sleep loss, says Maas.<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong> 6 Signs That You\u2019re Exhausted (Not Just Tired)<\/a><\/p>\n

3. Your appetite: <\/strong>\u201cWhen you\u2019re sleep deprived, you overeat,\u201d says Josiane Broussard, PhD, researcher and assistant professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder. After a poor night\u2019s sleep, your levels of <\/span>ghrelin<\/a>, a hunger-promoting hormone, are altered, with its levels <\/span>increasing <\/em>after meals. In other words, even when you\u2019ve already eaten, you\u2019re still hungry). On top of that, you\u2019re not making great food choices when you <\/span>do<\/em> eat. \u201cYou\u2019re more likely to go for high-carbohydrate, sugary foods,\u201d says Broussard, instead of cleaner choices, like produce.<\/span><\/p>\n

“If you’re sleeping six hours or less a night the whole week, you are going to be just as horribly off as someone who has pulled an all-nighter.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

4. Your workout:<\/strong> Good luck getting in a solid sweat session if you haven\u2019t slept well. \u201cSleep deprivation impairs physical performance and response time, and the pain threshold is reduced,\u201d says Kline. Your form can also suffer, since your motor skills will also be impaired. (And we know form is key <\/em>in everything from yoga<\/a> to spinning<\/a>.) If you do work out the day after a bad night\u2019s rest, try and do so after 4 p.m. \u2014 the morning hours are the peak time for these delayed reactions, explains Maas.<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong> This Is Exactly How to Take the Perfect Nap<\/a><\/p>\n

5. Your immune system<\/strong>: \u201cSleep loss is cumulative,\u201d says Maas. That means over time, it can cause a decrease in your ability to fight off infection. \u201cSo you might not notice tomorrow, from a short sleep last night, but after a few days you’re going to start to notice \u2014 you\u2019re going to get sick. And if you’re sleeping six hours or less a night the whole week, you are going to be just as horribly off as someone who has pulled an all-nighter,\u201d he says. Plus, Broussard found that one night of no sleep was just as detrimental for insulin sensitivity, a key predictor of type-2 diabetes, as six months on a high-fat diet. \u201cWhat we found which was so shocking was that the effects of one night [of no sleep] were pretty much the same [as the high fat diet], the number one risk factor [that can cause type-2 diabetes],\u201d Broussard says.<\/p>\n

The Bottom Line<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Your body needs sleep, period. \u201cTime and time again, we’ve proven that people who think that six hours is all they need will get into car accidents, make stupid mistakes and are not able to exercise to the degree that they want. There are big consequences [when it comes to sleep loss],\u201d says Maas. To stave off its temporary effects and find out how many hours you need to start feeling back<\/a> to normal, Maas suggests adding 15 minutes of sleep per night back into your schedule until you can make it through a whole day without feeling your energy sag. However, keep in mind you may be so<\/em> sleep-deprived you don\u2019t know or remember what that feels like to be well-rested! \u201cPeople tell me after they shift to even one more hour of sleep, \u2018I never knew what it was like to be awake before.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sleep deprivation doesn\u2019t just cause you to count extra sheep: Your body, mind and health can seriously suffer from a lack of sleep. Keep an eye out for these warning signs. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":85,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[202,51,224,280,341,352],"class_list":["post-46515","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lifestyle","category-sleep","tag-brain","tag-food-choices","tag-illness","tag-sleep","tag-tax1living-well","tag-tax2weight-loss"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/85"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46515"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46515\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}