Sufficient sleep is essential in promoting a strong immune system and overall good health. Ever wonder why you still feel tired after a long night’s sleep? A long period of time in bed might not count if the sleep is not quality.
Mt. Sinai Hospital and Florida State University, conducted studies to determine the five stages of sleep and how important they are by using brainwave analysis.
The studies separate sleep into five stage cycle. Two of these cycles are necessary for invigorating the immune system and another is for relaxing, getting rid of stress and negative emotions.
Stage 1
The beginning of sleep. This is the briefest phase of sleep. Each time you wake up, you begin at this stage again.
Stage 2
This level of light sleep continues for a little longer than stage 1. At this stage it is still easy to be awakened or disturbed.
Stage 3
This is the deep sleep phase. It is when the immune system gets recharged. During this stage, the brainwave patterns switch to mainly delta waves, these are the slowest and the largest amplitude of brain waves.
Stage 4
Another seep sleep phase where the brain produces more delta waves. The deep sleep phases are highly beneficial for your immune system. High quality sleep consists of longer stages 3 and 4.
Stage 5
The Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep stage. This is the stage when you dream. Dreams can help reduce stress and stabilise emotional health.
Easy Tips For Better Sleep
Keep Your Bedroom Dark
Make the bedroom as dark as possible by turn off all the lights. Use heavy curtains or a sleeping mask.
Eliminate Disturbing Noises
Stay quiet. For those who have sleeping problems, just little noise can disturb their sleeping. Choose a soothing piece of music, one that has a regular pace such as white noise, sounds of waves, birds, waterfall, etc.
Promoting Fresh Air
Make sure your bedroom is well ventilated. Give your bedroom a good airing every so often. Fresh air facilitates quality sleep and give benefits to your overall health.
Withdraw from Blue Light
Electronic devices give off blue light. Limit the use of electronic devices before bed whether it is a laptop, computer, smartphone, tablet and/or kindle. These gadgets emit blue light and this keeps you awake at night.
For more useful tips and advices on general health, please contact us on (02) 9637 9998 during business hours.
