There are hundreds of benefits of sleeping early in 2024. One heinous truth is that the number of calendar years is increasing and the sleep is decreasing.
Yes, the average sleep hour of 50 years ago was 20% more than today’s time. The causes behind these are the modern technology, business, contemporary lives, faster growing world, etc.
Sleep is essential for the survival of human beings. And early sleeping is the best habit one can form for a better life. There’s a saying of a renowned person, Benjamin Franklin, one of the founding fathers of the United States, “Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise”.
Science and experiments have also proven the causes and effects of hitting the pillow early. It can protect the heart, reduce the risk of cancer, improve one’s immune system, flourish skin conditions, improve memories, control body weight, and boost one’s energy and overall confidence.
Does sleeping early make a difference?
One should sleep seven to nine hours per night and just sleeping early can make a huge difference in his mood, his body even in his relationships. As a result, his overall life can be affected through early sleeping.
Early sleeping people are the same as the early birds. They go to bed early and wake up early which can give them a balanced sleep. They get enough time for exercise that may lead them to a fresh start in the morning with more energy.
Early sleeping people are happier and healthier than the people who sleep late at night. Again, early sleeping can make a person more successful as their productive level is increased by it. In 2008, a study by Texas University explained students who sleep early at night have earned higher GPAs; they have got an extra point than the late nighters’.
Is it healthier to sleep early?
Early sleepers have fewer health issues than late sleepers. Researchers have shown early sleeping can help a person to remain fit and those who sleep late may have a high risk of serious diseases like obesity, hypertension, heart problems, high blood pressure, and diabetics as it interrupts the body’s circadian rhythm meaning a natural, internal process of the sleep-wake cycle.
Going to bed early helps one to get up early that leads him to get 15-20 minutes of sunlight upon awakening. Again, the sunlight of morning can intensify the body’s circadian rhythm and enhance wakefulness in the morning, and later allows one to have a better sleep at night. So, early sleep can be a huge plus point for processing the sleep-wake cycle in an improved and smooth way as it can help to get a better sleep at night.
The 05 Health Benefits of Sleeping Early
Sleeping early has a great impact on health issues. The chances of getting sick become less because of this habit. Many other health benefits are given below:
01. Reduces the risk of cancer
Life-threatening diseases like cancer can be prevented by sleeping early. WHO- World Health Organization has researched some night shift workers. They sleep late, which interferes with their body clock, and Carcinogen, a substance that is the cause of growing cancer in living tissue, can be found in them.
They mainly have a higher risk of developing cancers like breast cancer and colon cancer. Again, the Ivy League Harvard Medical school confirmed good quality sleep annihilates the chance of life-risking chronic diseases like cancer.
Matthew Walker has also supported the scientific analysis in his book that late sleepers who sleep less than six to eight hours increase the risk of cancer in double. Sleeping early can help to function the sleep cycle smoothly and in the cycle, a hormone named Melatonin is produced which is thought to protect against cancer as it suppresses the growth of tumors.
02. Sound & Healthy Heart
Early sleeping has the power to protect the heart by controlling our blood pressure. Scientists depict that the 75 million adults of America suffer from high blood pressure is a very common problem as they do not go to bed early as well as work late at night and in every 30 seconds they get a stroke.
Again, heart attacks and strokes mostly occurred during the morning hours. As sleep has deep interaction with blood vessels and sleeping late at night which leads to lack of sleeping has been implicitly connected with worsening cholesterol and blood pressure.
Also, stress hormones are increased because of late sleeping. These are the main factors of stroke and numerous heart diseases. In Japan, a study at the Misao Health Clinic in Gifu claimed that the participants who went to bed after midnight significantly showed an earlier sign of heart disease than those who went to bed early at night.
03. Reduce the Growth of Alzheimer’s Disease
Alzheimer’s disease is severely connected with sleeping which is a progressive brain disorder that demolishes memory slowly with thinking skills and later one fails to do the simplest tasks. Late sleeping increases the risk of hampering the sleep cycle that can be the cause of making the disease worse. So, early sleeping can regulate the circadian rhythm in Alzheimer’s patients which can help them to reduce illness.
04. Energy-boosting
Sleeping early can result in a sound sleep that makes one feels refreshed and full of energy. When one fails to sleep soundly, he ends up being weary and lifeless. As in sleeping, the body goes through various processes for the production of hormones and tissue repair along with muscle growth. It recharges one with energy and recovers lost memories when we awake also.
05. Enhance the immune system
Early napping and having good quality sleep is a must for strengthening the immune process. Those who go late for a sleeping experience a shorter sleep duration. Dr. David Perlmutter, a famous neurologist in his book named The Grain and Brain Whole Life Plan has narrated after 10 pm the sewage system of the body is occurred that means the body cleans the extra waste products and in the time of 11 pm to 2 pm, the immune system restores itself. So, if one wants proper functions and to improve his immune system he must need to sleep early.
Mental Benefits of Early Sleeping
An early sleeper has many mental benefits for their habit such as they relieve stress and anxiety, they have a sharp memory, their confidence level becomes very high and they lead a happy life.
The habit of early sleeping helps a person to have a good night sleep and accommodates us to build up a conscious mind that strengthens memories and practice skills. This is called consolidation. A night of sound sleep can help the brain to work more effectively through reorganizing and restructuring the memories.
Sound sleep also helps to bind the emotional ingredients of memory more accurately that aids in creative processing. So, it can help to sharpen the memory and thinking process. On the contrary, a late sleeper often finds it difficult to focus and memorize. And we do not need the fact to be scientifically proven as we can face it frequently when we sleep late at night.
Again, a person who goes late to bed always starts his days with annoyance and irritation as he cannot get enough sleep. The habit becomes the cause of insomnia and results in acute negative emotions such as sadness, anger, and finally, it can turn into depression.
Moreover, early sleeping connects with early rising which has many impacts on the chemicals of our body. People who lack the chemical called serotonin are mainly suffering from depression. Going early to bed is a fruit of a healthy sleep that can produce this serotonin chemical which assists us to remain in a state of a tranquil and peaceful mind.
Physical Benefits of Sleeping Early
Sleeping early plays an important role in different physical issues. One can remain fit and fine by this habit. It can make one more attentive and attractive. Because of sleeping, one can lose his pounds also.
Furthermore, the habit of sleeping early can make a person drink less. It is a very helpful thing for one’s physical health and sound sleep. At first, alcohol can make one feel drowsy but later it will make one less restful in his entire sleep stages, states Gromer.
How sleeping early works on skin?
Sleeping early is recommended by every beauty regime. Because, at that time, the skin makes new collagen and it helps to prevent sagging. It is a part of the repair process of the skin. When one sleeps late, his entire skin processing systems and functions may hamper. It can be a cause of inflammation, acne breakout, dullness, taking too much time in wound healing. So, people can become younger by hitting the pillow earlier.
Why is it important to sleep early?
The importance of early sleeping is beyond imagination. Early sleeping helps one in boosting his mode that aids him to remain fresh the whole day. Recently, Psychology Today has surveyed more than 700 respondents whose age is 17 to 79.
And among the seven hundred, early risers feel more healthy and happier than night owl counterparts. Researchers have shown that when people fail to get the recommended sleep of seven to nine hours for late sleeping, they feel exhausted which can cause an extensive order of negative consequences on the human brain.
The negative impacts can be many kinds of mental disorders including depression and anxiety. Again, an early sleeper can wake up early from the bed that gives him an excellent opportunity to roam in morning sunlight which is extremely effective and vital for mind prompting. Again, going to bed early, helps one to be more productive in his daily life.
For the person who is sitting at his desk for a long time at night, his cognition process will surely be affected as the body’s sleep cycle hampers. As a result, it’ll be harder for the brain to perform its’ basic functions such as memorizing and concentrating on anything. So, it is extremely beneficial for a person to sleep earlier rather than later for leading a happier and healthier life.
Benefits of early sleeping on sleep-cycle
Moreover, the sleep cycle is hugely benefited by early sleeping. Mainly, there are two stages of sleep named NREM (rapid eye movement) and REM (non-rapid-eye movement). Within these two stages, REM periods have also two periods that occur in the last echelon of sleeping. The more night goes one, the REM stages also get longer.
In the two stages of REM, the first REM stage may last for a few minutes but in the second stage, it lasts for around an hour. In REM stages, we dream vividly and that can thwart our creative-thinking skills. A study has shown REM stages overall make up approximately 25% of sleep in adults and it gets longer in the second half of the night.
So, when one goes to bed early he gets enough sleep at night and his second stage of REM sleep also gets time for its work. As a result, it can function properly and help to keep balance in the circadian rhythm or whole sleep cycle.
How early sleep affects sleep quality?
Early sleeping is the reason behind the improvement of the cycle of sleeping which is directly connected with sleep quality. For a person whose habit is to go to bed late every day, his sleeping quality remains poor.
A famous sleep specialist who is a professor of Neuroscience and Psychology at the University of California additionally the director of the Centre for Human Sleep Science named Matthew Walker in his New York Times bestselling book mentions Sleep is a 90 minutes cycle. During this cycle, the brain moves to rapid eye movement from deep non-rapid eye movement. NREM controls the early part and REM dominates the last part. When one turns early in bed, these two stages can get the chance of operating properly and that is why one can have a good quality sleep.
Is sleeping early beneficial for weight loss?
Getting early in bed is an important segment of a healthy weight loss plan. It suppresses the feeling of hunger and gives signals of fullness to the brain. The more time one will remain awake the more hunger one can feel.
A journal named Sleep has published their research that adults with late bedtimes gained much more weight than those who hit the bed earlier. Again, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine states that in Australia, late sleepers were 1.5 times more likely to be flabby than the early ones and they are extremely poor in physical activities.
Doctors have unrevealed that, late sleepers who lack enough sleep; their chances of putting weight become higher. They may even develop the level 2 diabetics also. There is a hormone called cortisol and leptin that regulates appetite is greatly reduced by early sleeping.
Again, sleeping late can make us so exhausted that we do not want to exercise properly in our morning times. Early sleeping makes one more consistent in exercises. As early sleepers are generally early risers also, that makes them have time for exercising in the early morning.
Consistent workout routines are followed mostly by those who are early risers and do exercises in the early morning. Cedric Bryant, an exercise expert has said, if one wants to shed some pounds it is good for him to start it in the morning. And that can only be possible when one will go to bed early.
Does going to sleep early make one grow faster?
Sleeping early can help to make a good quality sleep and 40% of height growth happens during sleep time. So, it is extremely needed for a sound sleep to give enough time to function the sleep cycle and aids the pituitary gland to release the growth hormones.
Early sleeping in safe driving
Sleeping early can also prevent accidents by administering the mind in a clear direction. Another side, late-night sleepers often deal with a foggy mind and sometimes this leads them into a drowsy condition at the time of getting behind the wheel. In a survey of the National Sleep Foundation found out 60% of adult drivers have driven a vehicle in a sleepy state and 103 million people have fallen asleep while driving.
What is the ideal time for sleeping?
Studies have shown time of one’s sleeping is deeply connected with his sleep quality. And sleeping early is recommended for every person but the time of going to sleep may vary in numerous factors such as age, schedule, and sleeping pattern. As people of different ages have different schedules so their adequate sleep time is also diverse.
- Infants should be put to bed between 7 pm to 8 pm.
- Toddler time should be from 7 pm to 9 pm.
- For preschool children, it should be from 8 pm to 9 pm.
- School-age children’s sleeping time should be between 8 pm to 9 pm as they need to wake up early for their school.
- Teenagers must go to bed from 9 pm to 10 pm. They should not be late more than 10 pm.
- Adults should keep their sleeping time in the middle of 10 to 11 pm.
Early sleeping effects on different ages
Early sleeping has positive impacts on kids, teenagers, and adults. Research shows that for those kids who were put earlier in their beds, their emotional, physical, and cognitive development grows rapidly. Earlier sleeping habits can make a child healthier, smarter, and more cheerful.
A recent study of Japanese scientists occurred on 18 months old children, among them who have earlier bedtimes, they are advanced in social function as well as motor and language functions.
Weissbluth, the writer of Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child, states that earlier sleeping at night tends to be more restorative than the sleep of late nights.
So, early sleeping tendency can assist to worry less, getting along with everyone, have a safer commute, increase the productivity, to make less sick among the teenage people and adult ones.