Shut Off The Lights and Sleep

What is known about sleep is that human beings sleep about 1/3 of their lives (National Sleep Foundation [NSF]). Sleep is considered a beautiful function for the human body, the ability to shut the mind and have a somewhat “reboot” every time, feeling refreshed the next day. Of course, it’s well known to everyone that sleep is very beneficial. Sadly enough, many people are not getting enough sleep as they should be. The average adult has to have at least 7 to 8 hours, but the average hours of sleep is 6.5 (Geyer, Talachi and Carney). On this planet called Earth, humans have evolved to where artificial light has been created and how work is never done. There are times where the night shift, sometimes called the graveyard shift, is needed. Humans were not meant to be nocturnal, but many people seem to enjoy the night life. Without sleep, there are very serious consequences. The “sleep debt”, which means the hours that a person has lost, needs to be repaid (citation). There are short-term to long-term issues when there is no sleep. There ways to solve this. Sometimes many people have nights where they cannot sleep, so they take certain items or eat special foods to help go to sleep. Those choices must be careful, prescriptions for sleep are not as beneficial as, does more harm than good. There is more to sleep than just closing the eyes.

Sleep is the natural state of fractional consciousness where a person can be aroused by stimulation (NSF). The brain releases naturally made melatonin that helps the person fall asleep. What is important about sleep is the circadian rhythm. The circadian rhythm, also known as the “biological Clock”, gives people a 24 hour sleep/wake pattern into the day. Surprisingly enough, when day light savings...

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...utes to good sleep” and that’s because, “it mimics what occurs inside the body when the body's internal temperature drops during the night to its lowest level” (NSF). Temperature can be tricky too, it all depends on the person. Alcohol has been used to help sleep, in which this case, it is only a myth. It has been known to help people induce sleep, but what it really does is it disrupts the cycle of sleep, causes “intermittent awakenings”, and can cause a “hangover” in the morning (NSF, National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism). With caffeine, it has been used to wake up many people, always getting the coffee in the morning. Never have caffeine before bed, it takes the caffeine “3 to 7 hours” before it “reduces dramatically in the bloodstream (Natl Soft Drink Assn., Tea Council, Pharmacopeia Complex Drug Reference, FDA Natl Center for Drugs and Biologics).