Read this book!
I hate sensationalistic, click-bait headlines, mainly because what follows is always a let-down, so please believe I intend no hyperbole when I say that this book has the potential to really change your life for the better. Please read it, if not for you then for your kids, friends, partner or parents.
Sleep is a miracle drug
After going through the results from a litany of scientific studies, clinical trials, etc., author Matthew Walker (PhD, professor of neuroscience and psychology at UC Berkeley, former professor of psychiatry at Harvard) leaves no space for doubt in the reader’s mind: sleep has miraculous, yet tragically under-appreciated health benefits. Here’s a selection:
Sleep:
- Improves memory and learning
- Improves creativity
- Regulates hunger
- Improves weight loss
- Improves emotional control/stability
- Soothes the pain of emotional memories
- Fights illnesses and cancer
- Improves physical performance
- Improves the ability to read social cues
Given the above, you’ll probably want to get more of it when you put the book down!
Unfortunately, lack of sleep does the opposite. Walker does a thorough job detailing both the benefits of adequate sleep (minimum 7 hours per night), as well as the consequences resulting from inadequate sleep (less than 7 hours, even for a single night). Essentially, why we sleep. In addition, he covers the driving forces behind our sleep cycles, providing useful insights into common habits which either aid or disrupt these cycles. He also describes the “hows” behind it all, in surprisingly easy to follow prose. I suspect you’ll find instances in your life which reflect the situations he describes, much as I did (short fuse after a bad night’s sleep anyone? ;)), and because of Walker’s clever analogies, you’ll be able to better understand and explain why.
This book was an eye opener. I love my sleep and have never really considered the whole “I’m so busy or overworked that I can’t sleep” to be a badge of honor, and now I’m quite grateful for that.
Verdict: This is an absolute must-read. Please read it, and after you do so, please sleep more!