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oney It’s H e for bed tim
ty, and diabetes. Probably the most important function of sleep is that it keeps our immune system working. In one study scientists discovered that sleep deprived animals’ immune systems and will actually cause them shut down completely. In those trials 100% mortality was reported in those animals after only a couple weeks. Ok yeah, sleep keeps the bags under our eyes at bay and our skin shining, but what about our mind. More recent studies have shown that a process called neural plasticity, the ability of the brain to reorganize acquired data, only occurs at night! That means that everything you learn during the day, including all those quizzes and tests you study for doesn’t really mean dick unless you sleep and let your mind reorganize itself. If that doesn’t scare you, think about this: sleep deprivation also affects performance… all types of performance. Yep even… Driving a stick shift. There are a couple of things you can do to help you get a better night sleep. Don’t smoke. Nicotine is a stimulant and will prevent you from maintaining deep sleep or REM sleep, the type of sleep you need to help restructure your brain. Don’t drink before bed or to help you fall asleep. As it turns out, alcohol does relax your body, but once the booze starts to wear off it acts as a stimulant and will cause you to wake up in the middle of the night. Don’t drink caffeine. Caffeine prevents the sleep chemical, adenosine, from properly affecting you. Adenosine is builds up as you are awake and at a high enough level causes sleepiness then as you sleep your body breaks it down. If you don’t get enough sleep then your body doesn’t break down enough adenosine alternatively you are tired when you wake up. Lastly instead of taking an energy drink, learn to nap. Napping will help break down some of that adenosine, which will help you to feel more alert when you wake up. It also has some of the other benefits of a full night sleep such as memory consolidation. Yep, that means one of the best things you can do a few hours before a test or a big day at work is nap. 136 A R I E S / J U LY 2 0 1 3
e all think its super important to make an appearance at the club, or hang out with your boys, buuut it’s time you took a second look at going out late to a party and turning in early for some beauty sleep. During sleep our bodies restore our cells, maintain neural plasticity and our body’s chemistry; all of which us gays need to prosper and stay gorgeous. Over the course of the day our brain becomes exhausted, muscles become fatigued, immune system is taxed, and our bodies deplete vital nutrients and sleep-you guessed it- restores all of these. According to the Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard University by maintaining a healthy sleep pattern you can enhance your whole life. Studies have shown that without sleep your body does not have proper restorative functions and will have difficulty with muscle growth, tissue repair, protein synthesis, and the production of growth hormones. It can also greatly increase the chance of developing cardiovascular disease, obesiJ U LY 2 0 1 3 / A R I E S 1 3 5