How much can an extra hour’s sleep change you?
7th June 2017
Slumber Centre
An extra hour sleep doesn’t seem like much but really an extra hour shut eye can benefit you in a whole host of different ways. Research has shown simply by sleeping for an extra hour can upgrade the quality of your sleep – which consequently upgrades the quality of your day.
So, how much can an extra hour's sleep change you?
It can make our genes happier…
Research showed around 500 genes were switched on or off by an additional hour of shut-eye, for the better. The good news is that having even one extra hour sleep can actually make you healthier. Genes associated with inflammation, immune response and response to stress react positively to having more sleep.
You’ll have improved memory and emotions…
Sleeping an extra hour will mean you have longer periods of REM sleep – a phase of deep sleep linked closely to learning and memory. During this important stage sleep, our brain is moving memories into our long-term storage allowing more short-term memory space for the next day. If you don’t get sufficient deep sleep then these memories will be lost!
Help you relax…
During REM sleep one of the stress-related chemicals in the brain is switched off, and with this being the only time, day or night, this happens it allows us to remain completely calm. This gives our brains a chance to process everything that’s happened in the day, particularly helping us to come to terms with emotional event
Help you become an athlete…
If you’ve got a marathon to train for, or an active day ahead, it has been suggested that just one hour of sleep can boost your athletic performance. An extra hour on a regular basis is even better!
So have a lie in, it will do you good, and the benefits will be even greater in the long run if you can regularly sleep just one hour extra