4 Reasons Sleep Deprivation Impacts Your Health

If you constantly feel sleepy during the day and worried at night about falling asleep, it’s time to fix your sleep schedule. Not getting enough sleep can cause problems like poor concentration, low energy levels, and bad moods. However, prolonged lack of sleep can lead to some serious long-term issues. To take better care of your health, let’s understand how our bodies and minds get impacted without sleep in the long run: 

Reason #1. Poor Cognitive Performance

Having a short sleep may temporarily impair our cognitive performance (the way our brain holds attention and processes information), and we often end up feeling foggy and scatterbrained at work or school. Experts believe our genes dictate how drastically poor sleep affects our cognitive performance. Some people struggle with thinking and concentration after just one night of little sleep, while others are affected only after long periods without enough sleep.

Reason #2. The Cycle of Stress, Anxiety & Poor Sleep

Stress and anxiety affect our sleep patterns, leaving us with restless nights. To complicate things, losing sleep can stress us out too! This can create a negative cycle where stress and poor sleep snowball and worsen each other. When you're stressed, our cortisol level ('the fight or flight' hormone) rises, disrupting sleep patterns and shortening the amount of time we spend in non-REM sleep. Try OLLY Sleep gummies, which is a convenient blend of ingredients, including Melatonin as a key ingredient that helps to reduce the time it takes to fall asleep and helps to increase your total sleep time. And for days you just need a little something extra, try OLLY Extra Strength Sleep gummy that promotes restful sleep.

Reason #3. Increased Hunger & Weight Gain

Lack of sleep can affect your appetite greatly. For example, some research has shown that sleep-deprived folks are found to have lower levels of the appetite-suppressing hormone called leptin (which makes us feel full), and higher levels of ghrelin (an appetite-inducing peptide produced in our stomachs). The affect on appetite, could in some people, lead to munching more on energy-dense, calorie-laden snacks.

Reason #4. Weakened Immunity

There is heaps of evidence that sleep and our immune system are tightly linked. Not getting enough sleep can weaken our immunity because sleep affects the hormones and cytokines (signaling molecules that are involved in inflammation) responsible for our immune system. To help keep your immune system running strong, we’ve created OLLY Active Immunity with a blend of Black Elder, Vitamin C and Zinc that supports a healthy immune system.