How sleep affects our skinWritten by Lori Stryker
Sleep is a "natural, temporary loss of consciousness" (Robinson, 1941) necessary for our bodies to build up energy reserves and regenerate body cells and tissues. During sleep, heart beats more slowly, breathing becomes slower, growth hormones peak, muscles relax and body temperature lowers. Newborn infants sleep almost continuously, gradually decreasing their need for sleep. In early childhood, 12 to 13 hours of sleep are generally required and this amount decreases to approximately 8 hours in adulthood. After age of 50, sleep is often characterized by frequent night time wakenings, shorter dream lengths and less overall sleep (Bricklen, 1990). Many consider sleep to be of low priority among many daily activities engaged in. It is estimated that world's population is depriving itself of one less hour of sleep per night than is needed (Awake!, 2004). Despite this view of night-time rest, sleep is a necessary, sophisticated process regulated by brain. Operating as a 24- hour clock, chemical substances, such as melanin, are released in body to trigger sleepiness. There are two main stages of sleep classified according to eye movement. The first is REM or rapid eye movement which is a shallow, dream-filled sleep. There are four sub-stages within REM sleep. The first sub-stage lasts 30 seconds to 7 minutes, and during this time muscles relax while brain produces irregular wave activity. The second sub-stage lasts 20 percent of night and brain waves become larger as body is asleep. The next sub-stage is called delta sleep, where growth hormones peak, and cell and tissue repair take place. Without delta sleep, which accounts for half of a night's sleep, one will feel tired next day. Every 90 minutes brain enters dream sub-stage, where brain wave activity is similar in pattern to being awake, but muscles are not able to move as when awake. This stage lengthens each repeated cycle during night, and is crucial to preserving mental health and long term memory, since brain sorts through short term memory and 'deletes' unimportant data. The second major stage of sleep is non-REM, or non rapid eye movement, where blood pressure drops and heart rate slows as person enters a deep sleep.Short term sleep deprivation causes little physical harm, since body compensates for lack of sleep by increasing its adrenaline levels during day. The body also attempts to get more sleep at a later time. A temporary shift in attitude may occur, such as feelings of pessimism or negativity (Bricklin, 1990). Sleep deprivation, even short term, can be dangerous if driving a car, or operating machinery. Sleep deprivation is thought to be cause of half of all traffic fatalities on U.S. highways, and being awake 17 to 19 hours can cause same limited reaction and ability as having a 0.05 percent blood alcohol limit (Awake! 2004). It is also implicated in many workplace accidents. Chronic sleep deprivation, which is caused by prolonged shortages of sleep, can lead to paranoia or hallucinations. This is also termed 'sleep debt', and is characterized by irregular sleep patterns that do not allow body to enter delta sleep. This can bring on a short attention span, memory and vocabulary loss as well as other symptoms. Among women aged 25-50 who tend to be "perfectionists", many tend to suffer from shallow sleep as wake centre of brain remains active when it should be relatively inactive. Other complications from sleep deprivation include obesity, premature aging, fatigue, chronic memory loss and increased risk for diabetes, infection, cardiovascular disease and gastrointestinal disease. It is important, therefore, to obtain an adequate amount of sleep each night, since sleep also helps body metabolize free radicals, which are thought to accelerate aging and cancerous growths.
| | Salt and Sodium - Second in a SeriesWritten by Donald Gazzaniga
Second In A Series about Salt and SodiumBaking Soda (Sodium Bicarbonate) Baking soda has approximately 821 mg to 980 mg of sodium per teaspoon. Generally used to leaven breads and cakes, baking soda is often added to vegetables in cooking, especially at restaurants, and is often included in antacids. A good baking soda replacement is available from Healthy Heart Market. It's called Ener-G. It is made of Calcium Carbonate and works by using three times normal amount (from any given recipe). The secret is to put it into batter just before putting recipe into oven. It begins working right away and will "tire" if it stays out of oven during prep time. Otherwise, Ener-G does a good job. Baking Powder Having 320 mg to 480 mg per teaspoon, baking powder is used mostly to leaven quick breads and cakes. Yeast may be substituted for baking powder. A baking powder replacement brand called Featherweight has only 13.2 mg of sodium per tablespoon, and can be found in health food stores or Healthy Heart Market. The primary ingredient for Featherweight is Potassium Chloride. This is not salt. Some may refer to Potassium Chloride as "Potassium Salt." Not so. But if you are monitoring your potassium then you may want to evaluate Featherweight more closely before using it. Again, it takes three times normal amount for any given recipe that you may try to convert. Put it into batter immediately prior to placing into oven. Mix it into batter first thoroughly. Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) A dangerous sodium for those who may suffer from asthma or migraine headaches. Used as a seasoning in home, restaurant and hotel cooking, MSG is present in packaged, canned and frozen foods. MSG is used extensively in Chinese restaurants, and often is flavor ingredient in foods that advertise "Natural Flavorings."
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