
Getting the right amount of sleep every night can keep the crankiness at bay, but did you know several other benefits of rest directly impact your health? Allowing your body to recover and repair itself each night, rest is paramount to staying healthy and happy. Explore these seven ways rest can transform your well-being, and get those eight hours in the future.
7. Balanced Blood Sugar

Our seventh selection for our benefits of rest list is balanced blood sugar. During the deepest part of sleep, your blood glucose levels drop. Without proper rest, your body will have a harder time regulating blood sugar levels. Some studies have shown that sleep deprivation can cause pre-diabetes in healthy adults. With proper rest, your balanced blood sugar can help with energy levels, mood, digestion, sleep quality, and serious future health problems.
6. Better Metabolism

Sixth on our list of powerful benefits of rest is better metabolism. Allowing your body to maintain a high resting metabolism can help with burning more calories, weight management, supporting bodily functions, and lowering the risk of chronic diseases. Low metabolisms can lead to several health issues, like weight gain and fatigue, hurting your body in the long run.
5. Better Emotion/Social Interactions

Social interactions are super important for us but can be impacted without the proper amount of rest. Ranking fifth on our benefits of rest list, better emotions, and social interactions can follow a proper night’s sleep. When we are tired, it’s harder to manage emotional outbursts, respond to humor, and show empathy. Instead, grumpiness and irritability will reign and may cause some friction between you and your friends or family.
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4. Improved Athletic Ability

While not everyone works out, some benefits of rest can impact your next workout session. Adequate sleep can enhance fine motor skills, muscular power, reaction time, endurance, and problem-solving skills. The most important part is rest allows you to repair muscles and other parts of your body strained during exercise, resulting in a stronger body. Without this rest, you can get injured more easily.
3. Immune Boost

Protecting your immune system is a must, which is why it falls under one of the many benefits of rest. Having a chronic lack of sleep can change the way your immune system works and decrease your body’s fighting power, so you get sick more. With the proper amount of sleep, there is a regulation of immune cells, less susceptibility to illness, increased ability to fight infections, and a reduction in inflammation.
2. Healthier Heart/Lower Blood Pressure

Heart health is a must when considering your well-being and ranks second on our benefits of rest list. As mentioned earlier, sleep helps drop your blood sugar but also gives your heart a chance to rest. Without this recuperation time, there is a higher chance of developing heart disease and high blood pressure. Those who have sleep apnea and struggle to get those eight hours are especially at risk. This is because the heart’s blood pressure stays higher longer and forces the heart to work harder.
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1. Improved Concentration/Productivity

Last but not least on our benefits of rest list is the connection to improved concentration and productivity. The lack of sleep can affect any age, from physicians creating medical errors to children having poor academic performance. Without the proper length of rest, brain function decreases for both problem-solving skills and storing memories. When you get eight hours, though, all functions are immediately improved and can keep you focused all day long.