You spend the first portion of your life avoiding or fighting it and the second half wishing for it and trying to manage your time better so you can have more of it!
While you sleep your body is able to regenerate, fixing the micro tears in your muscles and correcting chemical balances, this is also the time that your brain is able to process your memories, converting them to long-term memory, and even solving problems while you dream. Over ⅓ of Americans do not receive sufficient sleep even though experts say that sleep is as integral to health as is diet and exercise.
When you are tired your brain’s frontal lobe function is affected, hence poor decision making and slower thought processes. This increases your reward center and decreases self-control, causing strong cravings for “comfort foods” that are very hard to resist.
Lack of sleep affects hormone levels kicking up your ghrelin, which signals your brain that it’s time to eat, and decreasing your leptin, which tells your body it is full. Insufficient sleep increases cortisol levels, causing the body to retain fat – especially in the abdominal region.
The best thing you can do for your body is to get enough sleep, so try to get at least 7 or 8 – you’ll notice a difference!