Sleep physiology
What happens during sleep?
When we fall asleep our body begins a process of vital cellular repair and regeneration. Some of these processes are:
Repair of cells damaged during the day
Stimulation of the immune system
Consolidation of short and long-term memory.
The sleep cycle
An indispensable element for healthy sleep is the correct development of its phases and cycles.
Sleep is made up of four phases and REM sleep, all of which is a cycle. We go through at least three to five cycles per night, each lasting 90 to 110 minutes.
WATCH
SLEEP
BEGINNING SLEEP
DEEP SLEEP
REM PHASE
In each cycle, the time spent in the NON-REM and REM phases varies, the time spent in REM increases in successive cycles.
The differences in each sleep phase are mainly found in the brain activity of the person. For example, the brain waves are slower in deep sleep phases such as 3 and 4. On the other hand, in the REM phase, despite being deep sleep, the brain activity resembles the waking state, and it is in this phase that we dream.
Sleep is a vital necessity, but if these hours of sleep are not effective, eight hours in bed is of no use.
If the REM and NREM cycles are interrupted several times during the night – whether by snoring, breathing difficulties or frequent awakenings during the night – we will impede our body’s vital regeneration processes, negatively affecting our health in the short and long term.
What happens if you don't get enough sleep?
If you don’t sleep well during the night, going through the REM and non-REM sleep phases, you will notice the first signs of lack of rest in:
Mood swings, irritability, depression and drowsiness.
Slowness in reaction capacity, memory loss, lack of attention.
Desire to eat foods rich in fats and sugars, which could lead to weight gain.
