WORLDWIDE SHIPPING Complimentary within UK on Purchases over £250
We all know the importance of sleep for every system in our bodies, but I only recently truly grasped how integral sleep is to our immunity. Our sleep health and immune systems are closely linked and critical to our overall health. Fighting off infections and protecting against chronic and life-threatening illnesses requires this bi directional relationship to be optimal.
An immune response, like that caused by a viral infection, can affect our sleep, at the same time, good sleep strengthens our immune system, allowing for effective immune function.
In a nutshell, both short- and long-term sleep deprivation can make us sick.
Our immune systems are wondrous, complex and generally divided into two main categories, innate immunity and adaptive immunity. Our innate immunity is a broad type of protection with several layers of defence. Whereas our adaptive immunity, includes defences that we develop over time.
When functioning optimally our immune systems are able to maintain a delicate balance. It’s important for our immune systems to be strong enough to find and attack potential threats, but it must also be well-regulated so that our body is not always on high alert or in attack mode.
Sleep provides essential support to our immune systems. Sufficient hours of high-quality sleep is vital enabling a well-balanced immune defence with strong innate and adaptive immunity. In contrast, serious sleeping problems, including insomnia, sleep apnea, and circadian rhythm disruption, can interfere with the healthy functioning of our immune system.
During our nightly sleep, certain components of our immune system rev up. There is an increased production of cytokines associated with inflammation. This activity appears to be driven both by our sleep and circadian rhythms, which are our body’s 24-hour internal clock.
When we are ill or injured, this inflammatory response may help with recovery, fortifying innate and adaptive immunity as the body works to repair our wounds or fight off infection.
Inflammation occurs even when we aren’t actively hurt or sick. The type of cells and cytokines involved in this nighttime immune activity indicates that its role is to strengthen adaptive immunity.
Just like sleep helps our brains consolidate memory and learning, sleep strengthens our immune memory too. The interaction of our immune system components during sleep reinforcing the immune system’s ability to remember how to recognise and react to dangerous antigens.
Our immune systems are wondrous, complex and generally divided into two main categories, innate immunity and adaptive immunity. Our innate immunity is a broad type of protection with several layers of defence. Whereas our adaptive immunity, includes defences that we develop over time.
Experts aren’t certain why this process takes place during sleep, but it is believed that several factors may be involved |
– During sleep, breathing and muscle activity slows down, freeing up energy for our immune system to perform critical tasks.
– The inflammation that happens during sleep could harm physical and mental performance if it occurred during waking hours, so these processes unfold during nightly sleep.
– Melatonin, a sleep-promoting hormone that is produced at night, is adept at counteracting the stress that can come from inflammation during sleep
While this immune system activity during our sleep is beneficial, a critical aspect of this process is that it is self-regulating. As our sleep period winds down, the body’s circadian rhythm ramps down this inflammation. In this way, getting enough high-quality sleep facilitates the delicate balance of immune function that is vital for both innate and adaptive immunity.
While sleep plays a critical role in immune function, our immune system also affects sleep in multiple ways. Infections trigger various responses from the immune system, including a lack of energy and sleepiness. This is one of the reasons why, when we are sick , we often spend more time sleeping.
The nature of our sleep changes during infection, altering how much time is spent in certain sleep stages. Specifically, the immune response induces more time in stage 3 non-rapid eye movement REM sleep, which is also known as deep sleep. Deep sleep involves a greater slowing of bodily processes, allowing our immune system to utilise more energy to fight infection.
While researchers continue to study the relationships between sleep and our immune system, there is much evidence to demonstrate how closely interlinked they are and how our immune system can harness sleep to improve its ability to fight off infection and illness.
While this immune system activity during our sleep is beneficial, a critical aspect of this process is that it is self-regulating. As our sleep period winds down, the body’s circadian rhythm ramps down this inflammation. In this way, getting enough high-quality sleep facilitates the delicate balance of immune function that is vital for both innate and adaptive immunity.
Given the importance of sleep for immune function, make it a priority to get a sufficient amount of uninterrupted sleep every night so that you can benefit from a strengthened immune system.
Improving sleep often starts by focusing on our habits, routines, and sleeping environment. Invest in the best quality mattress and bed linens you can afford. Use mattress and pillow protectors and launder linens weekly for a clean sleep environment that doesn’t aggravate allergens.
Avoid blue light before bed, ensure your room has fresh air and good ventilation. Invest in cool cotton blend or linen pyjamas and rather layer up with Reed quilts and blankets that you can easily shed through the night as your body works to maintain a healthy temperature.
Sweet Immune Boosting Dreams,
Karen Reed
Join our family to be the first to receive our latest stories and inspiration.
