To address this question, it is prominently important to understand exactly why we sleep in the first place. A common misconception about sleep is that it functions as an opportunity for our bodies to shut down and unwind. This is only one of many acts that our bodies do when we sleep.
Our minds engage in “consolidation”, which is the act of solidifying and consolidating memories from our short term to our long-term memory storage. Research has proven that after people sleep they are able to regurgitate information for memory tasks better than those who had not slept since absorbing the information.
Among this important factor, our bodies require sleep in order to synthesize hormones, rejuvenate, grow muscle, and repair tissue. A study conducted by the National Sleep Foundation cites that “young adults and adults” (19-64) require 7-9 hours of sleep per night. An important note at the end of the study reminds us that there is not such thing as “sleep debt”. This is the idea that you can make up for lost sleep by sleeping more the next day. In fact, “The best sleep habits are consistent, healthy routines that allow all of us, regardless of our age, to meet our sleep needs every night, and keep on top of life’s challenges every day”(NSF).
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