Effects Of Sleep Deprivation On Your Body
POSTED ON September 10, 2018 BY Drew Canole

What Happens To Your Body When You Don’t Get Enough Sleep
Tossing and turning all night long can make you feel cranky and grumpy all the next day. Poor sleep drains out your mental abilities and you end up feeling tired and groggy from the moment you wake up to when you lay back down to try and sleep again. Lack of sleep can do much more than that though.
Science shows that sleep deprivation can put your physical health at real risk. A poor slumber is like an invitation for all sorts of health issues. During sleep, your body restores and heals itself by creating balance in its functions. Research shows that just a single night of deprived sleep can cause metabolic reactions that can trigger chronic diseases.
If you are not sure whether you are sleep deprived or not, here are a few common signs to look out for.
Signs Of Sleep Deprivation

You will find yourself excessively sleepy during the day, yawning every other hour and you get irritated often. Any daytime fatigue is a sign telling you that you need some sleep. In such cases, even a stimulant like caffeine isn’t enough to boost your energy. Your body’s functions and systems are on hold and this can cause a drop in your performance in any activity.
Your body needs sleep, just as much as it requires other necessities like food and air to function at its best. Here’s how sleep deprivation affects different systems in your body.
Digestive System
Many factors can disrupt the digestive system and result in the person becoming obese or overweight. And among those, sleep deprivation is one prominent risk factor.
Lack of proper sleep can impact the hormones that regulate feelings of fullness or hunger. Lack of sleep increases the levels of ghrelin, which stimulates your appetite and decreases the levels of leptin, which curbs your hunger. Any fluctuation in the levels of these two hormones signals the brain to indulge in some snacking. That’s when you tend to keep eating instead of getting rest.
Also, sleep deprivation can signal your body to release more insulin than usual, which indicates higher fat storage. That’s how lack of sleep can contribute to being overweight.
Nervous System
Sleep is mandatory to make sure that your body is functioning correctly. Lack of sleep can disrupt your body’s natural system of transferring information. The central nervous system helps to transmit information around the body and lack of sleep can disrupt its functioning. You start finding it difficult to concentrate on something or grasp a new concept.
When you have enough sleep, your nerve cells help organize the information in the brain, but when your brain is exhausted, it fails to carry out its duties. Sleep deprivation can pose a potential threat to your mental abilities and even increase your risks for accidents. You start feeling more irritated and become prone to frequent mood swings and incapable of making wise decisions.
Cardiovascular System
Shortened sleep can make your body prone to many severe medical conditions. It is not as bad when you cannot get good sleep only on occasion. But frequently getting poor sleep can disrupt your health.
Good sleep also ensures optimum heart health. When you get a deep, undisturbed rest, your heart functions at a normal pace. But lack of rest activates specific chemical reactions that can increase the heart rate and blood pressure at an abnormal rate. High blood pressure is a risk factor for heart attack, stroke and heart diseases. This is how sleep deprivation makes the heart more prone to cardiovascular problems.
Immune System
We spoke about how lack of sleep can affect your immune system. The immune system is responsible for protecting your body from infection and diseases. It builds infection-fighting substances that can combat any foreign invaders in the body, like bacteria or viruses. But when your body hasn’t had enough time to restore itself, the immune system’s protection is weakened. Sleep deprivation can keep the immune system from building its walls to protect you from invading microbes.
When your immune system is not working at its best, your risk of chronic illnesses like heart disease or diabetes increases. Long-term sleep deprivation can make recovery from illnesses all the more difficult.
Conclusion
These are a few ways sleep deprivation can affect your overall health. It could just mean skipping a day of sleep to you, but you don’t realize how this could negatively impact your body. Not sleeping will not only ruin your day with mood swings and headaches, but also disrupt your physical and mental health.
The only way to avoid this is by getting enough rest. Getting enough sleep can restore all the systems in the body and help you recharge and start the next day actively. So, follow good sleep habits and keep health risks away.
Author Bio

Nisha is passionate about writing and loves to share her thoughts with the world. She has written many articles on yoga, fitness, wellness, remedies, and beauty. She keeps herself updated by going through interesting blogs every day. This fuels her passion and motivates her to write appealing and engaging articles.
Drew Canole is a rockstar in the world of fitness, nutrition and mindset, with a huge heart for others and doing his part to transform the world, one person at a time.
As the founder and CEO of Fitlife.TV, he is committed to sharing educational, inspirational and entertaining videos and articles about health, fitness, healing and longevity. He is also a best selling author and the founder of Organifi, an organic, incredibly delicious greens powder, chock-full of superfoods to make juicing easy no matter your busy schedule.
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