How Getting Enough Sleep Slows Aging
Getting adequate sleep each night is one of the cornerstones of maintaining optimal health. Most experts agree that getting 6-8 hours of restful, rejuvenating sleep each night is essential to maintaining optimal focus, concentration, mood and energy levels. Adequate rest also plays a crucial role in keeping immune function at its peak, which is an especially important consideration during cold and flu season.
Getting enough sleep also has many other benefits that many people don’t know about, the most compelling of which is its ability to slow the aging process.
During the day, our physiology is dominated by hormones, which support the body’s ability to function both physically and mentally. Cortisol is a commonly known stress hormone that circulates at high levels throughout the day. Its primary function is to help support the energy demands of the body by liberating sugars and fuel into the blood stream. It also suppresses immune function to reduce inflammation and blunt the immune response. When it falls to its lowest levels at night, immune function increases, which is why most people will spike fevers or feel worse when they are sick at night. All of those symptoms are created by an active immune system.
To offset the immune suppressing effects of cortisol production during the day, the body releases another hormone at night called growth hormone.
Human growth hormone (also known as HGH) is naturally released by our bodies every day. The most significant triggers for the release of growth hormone are strenuous physical exertion, and most importantly, sleep. When cortisol levels fall at night, our bodies are triggered to release growth hormone. Its role is to undo the physical stress exerted on our bodies by cortisol and injury incurred from daily activity. We literally heal when we sleep. We also know that growth hormone production significantly declines as we age, and it is thought that this decline is one of the primary contributors to the aging process. Although growth hormone has been synthesized and is available as a prescription, taking it as a hormone replacement is highly controversial and comes with the risk of some serious side effects.
The best way to ensure that growth hormone levels stay high as you age is to engage in strenuous physical activity every day and to get good sleep each and every night. Getting to sleep before midnight is vital, as this helps to trigger growth hormone release.
Although prescription sleep aids improve sleep patterns for many people, they do not always create the kind of restful, rejuvenating sleep that happens without drug therapy. Having your body cycle through the various stages of sleep throughout the night is critically important to getting restful sleep. Many prescription sleep aids prevent your body from cycling through those critical stages of sleep.
Click here to read about Dr. Passero’s suggestions for natural sleep aids.
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Article updated on: December 27th, 2012
[...] extreme insomnia issues may need to implement a combination of natural therapies in order to obtain good quality sleep. These are just some basic ideas that can be very effective for those with mild to moderate sleep [...]
Great article, Kevin! I didn't know sleep causes you to naturally release HGH. You mention trying to get to bed before midnight. If you stay up later than this, does that significantly decrease the amount of HGH released or is it based more on total hours of sleep?
Hi Brian,
See my comment below to Dave for a further explanation.
Thanks, Kevin. I've been using a sleep mask whenever I try to sleep past 6am (which is most of the time!). My bedroom gets really bright when the sun rises. Thanks for the great advice!
Dear Kevin Passero,
I follow a late schedule: I always get to sleep well after midnight, but arise in late morning.
If I get 8 hours of sleep after midnight, isn't that good? (In your article you said sleep before midnight was important.
Typically our circadian rhythms are designed to sleep and wake in accordance with light and dark phases of the day. This is why staying up too late and sleeping too late can be disruptive. However, night shift workers and people who have a consistently shifted schedule do seem to be able to adapt as long as the schedule follows the same pattern day in and day out. I do suggest using an eye mask to make it completely dark or use blockout shades. As soon as your eyes sense light it affects the pineal gland and the downstream cascading of hormones like HGH so keeping it very dark in the room will help to enforce normal hormonal releases.
I truly enjoyed reading this article. I was sleep deprived for almost a decade and the toll it took on my health was horrible. The good news is that I am back on track and have healthy sleeping patterns which has led to a happier and healthier me! Thanks for the great article!
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