4 ways poor sleep can affect your health

Life is all about being in perfect harmony with your body, mind and spirit so that you can live well every single day.

To achieve this, you need sleep as much as you need fresh air, nutritious food and clean water, if you want to be at your best.

When you open your eyes in the morning, being well-rested means that you’re full of energy and open to the possibilities that lie ahead! Your body and mind are also more prepared, allowing you to embrace the coming day with enthusiasm.

However, what can happen if you sleep poorly?

What is poor sleep?

Every individual has their own definition of what they would deem ‘quality sleep’. This is because you are unique. On average, it’s recommended that adults get between 7 and 9 hours¹, however it really comes down to whatever allows you to awaken at your best.

This makes defining poor sleep much simpler: it's any rest that you get where you don’t get up in the morning feeling fantastic.

Obviously, when you wake up in this state, you feel pretty average throughout the day. So, it’s important you’re getting enough quality sleep for the good of your health.

If not, there are some problems that come from getting poor sleep.

Poor sleep can contribute to gaining weight

There have been links found between weight gain and not getting enough quality shut-eye². It may even increase the risk of obesity over time too³.

It’s no surprise – when you don’t sleep well, the last thing you may want to be is active and motivated to exercise. 

If you’re trying to lose weight or avoid excessive weight gain, getting quality sleep can be crucial.

Poor sleep can impact your sociability and emotions

Most people enjoy being with company in social environments. No one wants to be lonely after all!

However, sleep deprivation can really put a dampener on your emotions and the way you relate to others⁴. This is not to mention feeling grumpy and irritable too.

Getting sufficient sleep means you can relate better to other people and continue to be the life of the party.

Poor sleep can lower your sex drive

When you’re feeling the effects of poor-quality sleep, the last thing on your mind is probably sex!

But, it’s not just your mood that’s suppressing your libido. When your body becomes stressed due to lack of sleep, your brain reduces the production of sex hormones such as estrogen and testosterone⁵ which may lead to a decrease in sex drive, and increase the risk of infertility and erectile dysfunction.

Poor sleep can put you at risk of serious illnesses

While not getting good quality sleep and feeling lethargic in the morning may feel like an inconvenience, it can be potentially more serious than this.

In general, continuous poor quality sleep may contribute towards a higher risk of heart disease, stroke⁶ and diabetes⁷.

But it’s not just physical illnesses. Poor sleep may also put you more at risk of mental health issues too, such as depression and anxiety⁸.

This is even more of an incentive to get into bed and rest soundly!

How a free sleep assessment can help you

Getting enough quality sleep every night offers you a lot of benefits to improving your well-being, quality of life and mental state. If you want to awaken at your best and avoid all of the problems that may result from poor sleep, then it’s important you give your body and mind the rest it deserves each and every night.

If you believe you are experiencing problems sleeping, take our free sleep assessment to better understand how to improve your restful state and overall health. 

The assessment only takes 60 seconds and asks you a series of simple questions designed to provide you with more information. It also conveniently sends the results to you via an email.

You can take our free sleep assessment here.