Why is sleep important?

Sleep has many scientifically proven benefits. Find out why it matters so much for your health and wellbeing.

The rat race

Today, there are more than seven and a half billion people living on Earth.

As a species, we are unique in the animal kingdom. Apex predators, crop cultivators, agricultural innovators; we have a pretty impressive track record when it comes to survival and progression.

Fast-forward to the modern world, and we've developed our own complex societies, cultures and technologies. Work days are getting longer. For some of us, working late into the night is a badge of honour. We're naturally competitive, and working harder and better keeps us at the head of the pack.

In fact, for many of us, the relentless pursuit of growth, satisfaction and greater productivity is just a normal part of modern life.

However, this constant grind is causing us to neglect the very thing we need to keep us going: sleep.

Why we're all tired

In a society that values efficiency and productivity, switching your brain off for a few hours to recharge can seem like a waste of resources.

We've come to see constant busyness as a sign of prestige. Those who are constantly tired are deemed to be more important. They can't steal a few hours of rest because they are needed elsewhere. They are the ones who make the big decisions, or are called in to save a situation from disaster.

On the other hand, we've started to associate sleep with laziness. Even our weekends - the time once reserved for catching up on rest - are under pressure. If you're not up before 7am on a Saturday morning, ready for a bracing 10k run and a kale smoothie, then are you really being as productive as you could be?

Very often, we end up sacrificing sleep in order to find extra hours in the day. We need to keep up with our work, social lives, exercise regimes and - occasionally - Netflix binges.

It's not surprising, then, that a recent survey found that most Americans are tired for most of the week. Of those of us who manage seven or eight hours of sleep a night, 45% feel tired three times a week or more. Meanwhile, 54% of those who get six hours feel tired four days or more per week.(1)

Finding a balance

While these statistics might seem painfully relatable, how much does tiredness actually matter? Should we be putting more effort into finding a balance between work and rest?

Professor Matthew Walker of Berkeley University certainly seems to think so. And, judging by the success of his internationally acclaimed book ‘Why We Sleep’, so do his readers.

Throughout the book, Walker encourages us to adopt a more balanced approach to life. He emphasises the importance of post-prandial naps. He also discusses dreaming and siestas from a scientific point of view.

However, his ‘moderation running through the core of life’ doesn’t just stop there. It extends into all parts of being alive; work life, family, social activities, charity, diet and exercise.

In a way, professor Walker can be seen to share Erbology’s mission. We create every product in the hope that it will encourage people to consume in a more conscious and balanced way.

Why do we need our rest?

The science of sleep so fascinates scientific researchers that they have explored the field in even greater detail than those of sport and education.

International athletes value sleep as much as training, understanding its restorative powers. Academics also recognise the importance of a well-rested brain for optimal learning.

Not getting enough sleep produces, unsurprisingly, the opposite effect. Sleeping poorly on a regular basis puts you at risk of diseases such as obesity, heart disease and diabetes. It also shortens your overall life expectancy.(2)

Conventional knowledge also tells us that sleep is the state our brains enter into to rest; the opposite of active, daytime alertness.

The sleeping brain

But as Arianna Huffington explains, “the sleeping brain is feverishly busy, and the work that’s being done is as important as anything being done during the daytime. For example, it is during sleep that our brain clears toxic waste proteins – the kind associated with Alzheimer’s disease”(3).

Roughly one third of American adults suffer from long-term sleep deprivation.(2) Matthew Walker argues in his book that we are amid a ‘silent sleep loss epidemic’. According to him, this poses ‘the greatest public health challenge we face in the 21st century’.(3)

So, below are 3 key reasons we should be getting more sleep.