Sleep , along with nutrition , physical activity and stress management , is one of
the pillars of your well-being. It would not be correct to put these four factors in order of importance, as, in addition to being all indispensable, they are also closely related to each other. In fact, if you sleep badly, it is more likely that you are attracted to unhealthy foods, that you have less desire to exercise and that your stress levels are higher. Let’s find out in this article how sleep and physical and mental well-being are closely related and what measures to follow to obtain, or recover, regular sleep.

How sleep affects your diet Tiredness
due to lack of sleep affects your diet because it leads you to seek out sweet foods, rich in sugar, as a source of energy, to cheer you up. The problem is that the rise in energy caused by sugar is rapid, but short-lived. After a short time, it is therefore normal to feel grounded again and look for more sugar to get back energetic and efficient.
Thus we enter an endless circle of rising and rapid collapse of energy, which causes people to consume large quantities of sugar, sweets, candies and sugary drinks. However, sugar is a highly inflammatory substance and therefore harmful to health and the enemy of the best physical shape. You know that lack of sleep also stimulates the production of ghrelin, the appetite hormone
. Conversely, a good night’s sleep promotes the release of leptin, the satiety hormone. So basically if you sleep well you will feel less hungry throughout the day.

The link between sleep and physical activity
In addition to nutrition, sleep is also closely linked to physical activity, which as we know is another pillar of wellbeing. First of all, when you are rested, you train more willingly and consequently the quality of the training benefits. Do not forget that just while you are sleeping, muscle fibers regenerate after the efforts made during training. Without adequate rest, it is difficult to achieve physical improvement and that is why professional athletes take care of training and rest with the same attention.

How Stress Affects Sleep Quality
Lack of sleep and stressthey are closely related and feed on each other. When you do not sleep well and you wake up tired, it is more difficult to face the days with a smile and keep stress under control. At the same time, when you get stressed out in the evening, it is unlikely that you will be able to get a quality rest . It therefore becomes important to be able to have a restful sleep to be less stressed during the day and to learn how to decrease your stress to sleep better at night.
Stress is the enemy of health because it stimulates the release of cortisol, known just as the stress hormone. Cortisol is useful for dealing with sudden dangerous situations, defined precisely as “fight or flight”. Instead, it becomes harmful when it is constantly in circulation, as occurs in chronic stress situations. It is therefore chronic stress that we must try to avoid, because cortisol promotes the release of sugar into the blood and consequently the pancreas is forced to produce large quantities of insulin.
This situation favors the onset of metabolic diseases, such as insulin resistance, obesity, metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes. Having a lifestyle attentive to physical and mental well-beingit therefore means giving the right importance also to sleep. For this reason it is important to put in place the right strategies to have a truly restful sleep.

5 strategies to improve your night’s rest

  1. Try not to dine too late in the evening and especially avoid binges. It is important not to arrive at dinner too hungry and never miss vegetables, which fill without weighing too much. Ongoing digestion does not help sleep.
  2. Do not consume coffee , tea and even chocolate after 2 pm, as they contain stimulating substances, which interfere with sleep.
  3. Turn off all electronic devices at least an hour before bedtime . Mobile phones, PCs and TVs emit a light, the so-called blue light, which the brain confuses with that of the sun’s rays. The light stimulus inhibits the release of melatonin, the hormone that promotes deep sleep.
  4. Take care to create an environment that favors rest in the evening . Do not keep the room temperature too high, change the air before bed and try to avoid discussions and negative news.
  5. Before going to sleep, dedicate at least ten minutes to meditation or even simply to breathing, to clear your mind and throw out the tensions accumulated during the day.

In periods when you feel more stressed and unable to have a restful sleep, or when the regular sleep-wake rhythm is altered , you can help yourself with a supplement based on melatonin . Melatonin is a hormone released naturally by the body and its deficiency can lead to insomnia and early awakening. ESI’s Melatonin Pura line includes a wide range of products containing melatonin, to meet different needs and sleep peacefully.

Take care of your sleep , do not underestimate its importance for your physical and mental well -being, because it is during sleep that toxins are eliminated, the cells regenerate and the immune system is strengthened. This is why sleeping, and above all sleeping well , is so important.

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