We all know how important sleep is to our well-being and how a lack of it can lead to serious health and memory issues.
These are some other sleep facts that would thrill you today.
1. On average, humans spend about 1/3 of their lives sleeping. This might differ from age to age, but 1/3 is the average figure.
2. Parasomnia is real and refers to a person making unnatural movements during sleep.
3. Sleep deprivation would kill you quicker than food derivation.
4. The brain lacks the ability to differentiate what happens in your dreams from real life.
5. Science has found that sleep bolsters the immune system and accelerates the healing process.
6. Most healthy men can experience up to 3-6 erections in a night — it’s called Nocturnal Penile Tumescence. Even women experience a similar arousal in their clitoris and it’s called Nocturnal Clitoral Tumescence.
7. You tend to eat more when you aren’t getting enough sleep due to decreased levels of leptin in the body. Leptin is a hormone that helps regulate energy in the body by inhibiting hunger.
8. Colour television has changed the way we dream. Prior to colour television, only 15% of people dreamt in colour. 75% of people these days dream in black and white.
9. You are most tired at two points in a day, 2 a.m and 2 p.m.
10. The record for the longest time one has spent without sleep is 11 days. The record was set by Randy Gardner in 1964, and he experienced extreme sleep deprivation thereafter.
11. Dysania is a state of finding it hard to get out of bed in the morning. Many workers find it hard to get out of bed early in the morning, but dysania goes beyond that; it’s most likely a form of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
12. It’s not unusual for deaf people to use sign language in their dream.
13. 50% of your dreams would most likely be forgotten after 5 minutes of waking.
14. It should take about 10 to 15 minutes to sleep off. If it takes you less than 5 minutes, it could just be that you are sleep deprived.
15. As you enter the first stages of sleep, your heartbeat and breathing rate starts decreasing. This is as a result of the fact that your whole body has zoomed out when you’re asleep and is left with little work to do.
16. Humans are the only mammals that can willingly delay sleep.
17. You can jump back into your dreams if you go back to sleep immediately, close your eyes quickly and keep your body still.
18. Exercise helps you sleep better, though you shouldn’t exercise just before you sleep.
S.O.Z