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Sleep is the grand mystery of life. You get sleepy, you yawn, you lay your head down, and then you wake up. At some point, you drifted off to sleep and were unconscious, helpless, completely out of it for the better part of the night. Maybe faint glimmers of the moment before you fell asleep remain in your memory. If you remember your dreams, you've got those to fall back onעut they fade fast. No, for the most part we have no idea what happens when we sleep. We do know what happens when we don't. The list of maladies caused by and/or linked to sleep deprivation is long and exhausting. What Happens When You Don't Get Enough Sleep? The best way to understand why sleep is so important is to learn what goes wrong when you don't get enough it. Alzheimer's, dementia, and cognitive dysfunction Insulin resistance and diabetes Low testosterone Junk food cravings Fat gain Premature aging Poor immune function Worsened stress resilience Impaired antioxidant status Poor performance and results in the gym Cognitive dysfunctionࠓleep is when the brain does its "house cleaning," where it floods with cerebrospinal fluid to flush out toxins and damaged proteins through channels that widen during sleep. If you don't get enough sleep, or you fail to reach the "deep sleep" phase of your normal sleep cycle, your brain can't clear the damage. One night might not be a big deal, but weeks, months, and years of poor sleep where you fail to attain deep sleep will increase your chances of Alzheimer's disease and general cognitive dysfunction. Insulin resistance and diabetes One of the most reliable effects of a single night's bad sleep is an increase in insulin resistance. It's such a reliable effect that researchers are always looking for supplements, nutrients, and interventions to counter the insulin resistance induced by bad sleep. Part of this is caused by a reduced ability of the sleepy liver to process fat; if a sleepy liver can't process fat as well, it will accumulate it and turn insulin resistant. Low testosterone A sneaky hack to get a doctor to sign off on TRT for younger guys is to sleep 4 hours a night for a month leading up to your test. Your testosterone will plummet and the doctor is more likely to sign off on hormone replacement. I don't advise anyone try this, but the fact remains that poor sleep is a great way to lower your testosterone levels. Junk food cravings A single night of bad sleep causes people to find junk food more rewarding. Patients on no sleep derived more pleasure from food, desired more food, and reported more hunger than patients who had slept.nd that was just a single night. Just imagine the effects of days, weeks, or even years of chronic poor sleep. Fat gain Sleep restriction increases food intake, particularly೮ack intake. Moreover, it increases food intake without a concomitant increase in energy output. You eat more without moving moreסnd it ŠContinue reading "The Definitive Guide to Sleep"The post The Definitive Guide to Sleep appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple