Stop Falling AsleepFalling asleep in the middle of the day has become a norm for many of us in high school. Whether is was the pounds of homework, "just one more episode" on Netflix, or the endless thoughts swarming around our heads at night, our constant inability to sleep is getting the best of us, and it's becoming hazardous to our health. Not sleeping is making us fat When we don't sleep enough, our metabolism slows down to conserve energy. This, in turn, triggers the release of the hormone cortisol, which increases your appetite. Sleep loss also causes our bodies to release more ghrelin, another hormone that signals hunger, and less leptin, the hormone that tells your body when it's full. Aside from causing off-kilter hormones, being awake later simply give you more time to snack, which can also contribute to weight-gain. Sleep enables us to understand better When we sleep, we take what we learned during the day and process it, form connections, draw inferences, and help ourselves better understand things for the next day. Trying to study for a test? Don't bother cramming if it's too late at night - you will not only not remember it the next day, but your brain won't have enough time to process the information. You'll have better luck in the morning once you've rested up. Essentially, the more you learn, the more sleep you need. "A loss of one hour of sleep is equivalent to [the loss of] two years of cognitive maturation and development." Sleep contributes to depression? It's no secret that as high schoolers, we get less sleep than we did when we were younger. However, this often causes our quality of life to decrease. One study at the University of Kentucky, which analyzed how decreased sleep effects teens, found that with each year of high school, not only will the amount you sleep decrease, but your so will your mood. "In their first year, 60% of kids got at least eight hours on average. By the second year, that was down to 30%. Right alongside this decline went their moods; dropping below eight hours doubled the rate of clinical-level depression."
So, you want to sleep better? Here are some tips: 1) Keep a regular sleep schedule: this will enable your circadian rhythms, or, internal body clock, to keep at a steady rhythm, allowing you to wake up and go to bed at a regular time. 2) Cut down on caffeine after 2 pm: it stays in your system for up to 8 hours 3) Stay away from bright lights at night, wake up to bright lights in the morning: light is a powerful signal to your brain for awareness - constant exposure to it will keep you awake 4) Before bedtime snack? Make it crackers and cheese - foods that contain carbs and calcium or protein contain the amino acid tryptophan, which will boost serotonin, a naturally concurring chemical that helps your brain feel calm. Other ideas include whole grain toast with cheese or turkey, banana with peanut butter, whole grain cereal, fruit and low-fat yogurt. I hope this was a real wake up call for all you late night netflix watchers and homework-doers. Sleep is important and it's important that we don't sacrifice it. Thanks for reading, guys! The quotes used in this article can be found in the full article "The Lost Hour" here
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