I Love REM…. no, not the 90’s band (though I like R.E.M. as well)….. that wonderful anti-aging sleep cycle.
The reason we need 7-8 hours of Ambien free sleep no matter what our age is that we need to go through the natural/normal/why our ancestors went to bed when the sun went down sleep cycles that include REM and N(non)REM (stages 1-4) sleep.
Ambien may seem like your best friend if you’ve had sleep issues but studies have found that it increase NREM cycles and decreases REM cycles.
Why should you care whether you have enough REM cycles or not? REM sleep is when you repair and regenerate.
Think: When I’m awake I degenerate; when I’m asleep I regenerate.
Healing happens during REM. Lack of REM impairs our ability to complete and learn tasks. It is also where we have memorable dreaming. REM is when the information you gathered during the day is put in to context and stored for future use.
And it just isn’t what lack of sleep does on the inside but what it does on the outside. Participants in a 2013 study from University Case Medical Center in Cleveland showed visible signs of aging including reduced skin elasticity, fine lines and uneven pigmentation, slept fewer hours and spent less time in REM sleep
“Take a rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop.” Ovid
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