Sleep - An Essential of Health

          A huge part of maintaining good health is getting adequate sleep. As a science major, I have noticed that this topic has become especially prevalent in the science fields within the last fifteen years. There are a seemingly endless amount of research papers and websites with information about the essentials of sleep. Like most people, I know that getting about eight hours of sleep is recommended by the majority of medical professionals, but I found myself wanting to know why.

Last week, I pulled an “all-nighter” studying for my microbiology exam. When I walked to my exam at 7:45am, I felt delirious, like I was in another world. The exam took me longer than usual to complete and I found it was hard to comprehend what I was reading and remember what I had studied. When I got home (after a short nap), I researched my experience to see what professionals had to say. It turns out that in a recent study, which was published in Neuron, Dr. Marcos Frank and his colleagues at Pennsylvania School of Medicine observed something new to the medical world. They saw observable changes in the cells of a sleeping brain which consequently allow for memories to form. Dr. Frank states that when a person goes to sleep, “it’s like you’ve thrown a switch, and all of a sudden, everything is turned on that’s necessary for making synaptic changes that form the basis of memory formation” (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090211161934.htm). This would explain why I had trouble remembering things I had just learned and why I had such trouble reading the questions.

Besides my lack of sleep affecting my mental health, I suspected that it also contributed to the cold I had two days later. I seem to find quite frequently that I get sick after a lack of sleep. Better-sleep-better-life.com explains that when you are stressed or have been exposed to bacteria, sleep is extra important to maintain good health. The site states that “your body produces extra protein molecules while you’re sleeping that helps strengthen your ability to fight infection and stay healthy” (http://www.better-sleep-better-life.com/benefits-of-sleep.html). This would obviously explain why I got sick after not sleeping for 36 hours. My immune system would most likely have fought off my cold provided more sleep.

This topic is definitely something that I want to do more research on and blog about in the future. I have only pulled one all-nighter in my college days, but I will absolutely never do it again. In my opinion, it seems rather pointless to stay up all night studying if it makes it more difficult for our brains to remember what they learned. It is also not worth getting sick which affects you doing work for other classes. Maintaining my mental and physical health as a college kid is hard enough without burdening my brain with a lack of sleep.

Battling my sweet tooth

     One of my biggest food-issues in college has been my love for sweets. I cannot get enough of cakes and cookies and ice cream, especially when they are put in front of me. It was very difficult freshman year to not eat desert when I was sitting with my friends in the dining hall for nearly an hour every night. 5 pounds later, I realized that I truly am not very strong when food is in plain sight. I started leaving the dining hall when I was done my dinner rather than sit around and eat desert because I was just relaxing. This is my first tip which I still live by now: when you are done eating a meal, put the food away so that you don't go for second helpings, and if you have a sweet tooth like me, don't buy the sugary food to begin with so that temptation doesn't hurt your waist line.

    Even though I stopped buying unhealthy deserts which are loaded with sugar, my roommates don't seem to live by the same rules. Every time that anyone's parents come to visit, we have cakes and cookies and more left in the house when they leave. Now these delicious sweets which are dripping with fat and bad health are staring me in the face every time I'm in the kitchen. It is so easy to simply take one small bite. The problem is that I'll go back for 6 more small bites throughout the day. This can add up to a whole slice of cake by the end of the day, which isn't a healthy decision for anyone. Here is where my next tip comes into play: put any sweets which are left out to share in a place which is out of direct site. I've learned to put the cakes and such on top of the fridge so that they are not right on the counter where I'm doing my cooking and such. When my sweet tooth still battles me, I'll take a small bite then put a piece of mint gum in my mouth right away. Mint makes anything else taste horrible and thus makes it much easier to say no to that next bite of sugar. Try it :)