Remember those blissful days when you hopped into bed and remained horizontal until morning?
Remember those blissful days when you hopped into bed and remained horizontal until morning? I know, it's a distant memory here too!
As parents sometimes it's inevitable, what with nightcrawlers, early wake-up calls and for some, staying up late just to enjoy the peace and quiet. However the effects of broken sleep go way beyond a tired body, it also affects how you cope and think.
Here are some signs to look out for:
- Your sex life is pretty much non-existent. When you're low on sleep the only thing we want to do when we crawl into bed and sleep. Let's be realistic, who wants to have sex when sleep deprived? For men, it's been proven that sleep deprivation lowers testosterone levels, which has negative effects on libido. So more sleep more sex. It's a win-win.
- Your immune system is gone to SHIT! As parents, we tend to blame the small people in our lives for the head colds and bugs but in this case, your immune system is weaker and will struggle to fight off the germs you come into contact with.
- Munchies anyone? According to research lack of sleep is linked to high levels of the hormone ghrelin, the same hormone that triggers hunger. If the brain is not getting the energy it needs from sleep it will often try to get it from food.
- Forgetfulness. As parents especially children we tend to blame everything on 'baby brain', however, if you're not sleeping enough, it makes it more difficult to stay alert, in return affecting your ability to stay focused throughout the day.
- Your skin doesn't look or feel too good. You can thank the hormone cortisol for that. Our skin can react to sleep deprivation with breakouts and it can start to make skin less firm and hydrated. So if you don't want your skin to age prematurely make sure you hit the hay early tonight and probably lash on some moisturizer while you're at it too.
