Sleep deprivation & what happens if you can't sleep well?

Sleep is the foundation of everything that we do. Lack of sleep may negatively affect our daily habits and may be detrimental to our long-term health. Even if you eat well and exercise often, but don’t get enough sleep every night, you’re undermining all of your other efforts of trying to lead a healthy lifestyle.

Even missing as little as 1.5 hours of sleep each night can have an impact on how you feel when performing such tasks as driving, resulting in a greater likelihood for car accidents. Drowsy driving accounts for thousands of crashes, injuries, and fatalities each year, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Lack of rest can make you very sleepy and tired throughout the day, leaving you unable to focus at work as well as on day-to-day activities and hobbies.

Research shows that losing sleep while dieting may reduce the amount of weight lost and encourage overeating in adults. In children and adolescents, the link between not getting enough sleep and an increased risk of obesity is also established. Insufficient sleep in children can lead to metabolic irregularities such as skipping breakfast in the mornings, and increased intake of sweet, salty, and fatty foods.

Lack of sleep may affect your ability to think clearly and impair your short-term memory and ability to process information. Decision-making, reasoning, and problem-solving, along with reaction time and alertness all suffer with lack of sleep.

It can make you feel irritable and moody and you can become more likely to have conflicts with others. It can also negatively impact the libido of men.

Chronic sleep deprivation can affect your appearance. It can lead to premature wrinkling and dark under-eye circles. There’s also a link between lack of sleep and an increase in the stress hormone, cortisol, in the body. Cortisol can break down collagen, the protein that keeps skin smooth.

You’ll likely become less of a participant in normal daily activities such as activities with family, exercise, or shopping. Lack of sleep can weaken your immune system, cause weight gain, and also lead to more serious health complications, such as cancer and diabetes.