For a large part of human history, sleep was a mystery, and served no purpose beyond being a source of dreams for interpretation. Even if people felt great after a good night's rest, most would lament the colossal waste of time. After all, no one wanted to spend a third of their life in what was considered a stupor, like a coma, with no benefit. And now we know they couldn't have been more wrong! Sleep is one of the most important elements of good health. If there is just one thing you can do for your health, it should be to get seven to eight hours of sleep on a regular basis. For those with the luxury, sleeping as long as your body needs is also advisable!
Thanks to advanced brain imaging technologies, we now know that in sleep, our brains are equally, or perhaps even more, active than when we are awake, just in a very different way.
At night, the brain processes everything it experienced during the day, deciding what to transition to long-term memory and what to discard. This is why good sleep is so important for learning. During illness or injury, most recovery occurs when you sleep. If you work out vigorously, it is during sleep that muscles will be repaired to become stronger. We now have numerous studies that link good quality sleep with good health on all levels. From boosting immunity and learning to improving mental health, from improving willpower and athletic performance to helping people live longer, sleep is that elusive miracle drug whose benefits are seemingly endless. There is no good health without good sleep.
