Health Benefits of Sleep for Kids, Teens, Adults, and Seniors

March 17, 2021
/ Sleep
/ By Jessica Larsen

The health benefits of sleep are countless. Our sleeping schedule impacts nearly every movement that we make throughout the day. Our bodies need sleep just as much as it needs water, food, and air.

Sleep plays a crucial role in promoting a long-lasting physical health, emotional well-being, and longevity. It makes sense how, after a good night’s sleep, we feel more emotionally stable.

Whereas, lack of sleep leads to lack of judgment and the inability to retain information. Without it, we are shells that are trying to hang on to something – but are too dysfunctional to do so.

So, what will happen if we give our bodies just as much sleep as it needs? Will the way we interact with people also change? This article will offer you some hints on that.

Quick Navigation

1. Health Benefits of Sleep for Babies

2. Health Benefits of Sleep for Teens

3. Health Benefits of Sleep for Adults

4. Health Benefits of Sleep for Elders

5. Health Benefits of Sleep for All Ages

Must Read: Before You Go!

1. Health Benefits of Sleep for Babies

Babies need to sleep the most – even though they might not always agree with you on that. Children never know when they are tired – and if they do, they don’t want to admit it.

Once your baby gets regular decent sleep, you’ll notice that he/she will be showing a lot of improvement – not only in health but behavioral as well. Allow your baby to get around 14 hours of sleep each day. Here are the main benefits that your baby will reap if he gets enough sleep:

They Grow Faster: Babies need a lot of sleep simply because they are in the initial stage of growth. The act of sleeping in babies will help them regenerate the cells that have been lost, stimulate their hair growth, refresh the brain, and pretty much help everything else in their growth. Many studies have shown that cell regeneration is much faster when the brain is at rest.
Rejuvenates Their Body: Just like us, babies need a lot of sleep to recover, rejuvenate and relax from the day’s activity. Considering that their diet is only consisting of milk – which is pretty much just calcium and carbohydrates – babies will get exhausted pretty quickly. It may be just kicking and fussing, or just a couple of minutes of crawling; for them, that’s something exhausting, which is why they need a lot of sleep to recover.
Prevents Them Gain Weight: A well-rested kid will eat differently from a sleep deprived one. Research shows that tired children will crave higher-carb or higher-fat foods than those who got a decent rest.
Develops Their Mind and Body: It is while sleeping when most of the babies'growth happens. Although a baby is born yet the internal organs are still delicate and highly prone to diseases. The brain and body strengthens up only during the sleep.
Develops Their Immunity: There may not be enough data to support this theory, but several claims were showing that children who sleep more than eight hours are more than likely to get over the viruses faster.
Replaces Harmful Chemicals: During sleep, a babies body is highly capable of flushing the harmful chemicals out of the system. A baby can't take care of its own hygiene so the nature has given him extra capability to clean the body during sleep.
Prevents Them From Getting Cranky: Last, but not the least, when the baby sleeps well, they tend to be less cranky. Yes, sleep controls the babies behavior directly. If your baby is short of sleep, it will make him highly ill-tempered.

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2. Health Benefits of Sleep for Teens

We have all been at this point sometime in our lives: we stayed in late to watch “one more episode” of that TV series that we’ve been obsessing about, and before we knew it, we only had 5 or 6 more hours until the alarm went off.

As a result, we’d go to school sleepy as hell and struggle with not falling asleep while your physics teacher is talking about something you can’t even pretend to understand.

If you are a teenager reading this, news flash: you need those hours of sleep. Technically, your body requires that you sleep around 9 hours and a half – that is, if you want to function like a normal human being and not look like a zombie all day long. If you do decide to get those 9 hours of sleep, here are the benefits that you’ll reap by doing so:

Ability To Perform Better: The brain rehearses the skills what you have learnt during the day and store it as muscle memory. Thus, with each good night sleep, you are able to perform better in ground.
Increases Reasoning Skills: Brain improvises on the information it has stored in it. Whatever information or skill you have learnt, it can be stored in memory only during the sleep. With a good sleep routine, you have more information at your disposal that helps you reason better.
Keeps Immune System Healthy: Very similar to babies, even for teenagers the immune system is still developing. This development is at its peak during the sleep. So don't sacrifice your sleep over a late night show.
Reduces Mistakes: Lack of sleep is directly linked to Brain Fog. If you sleep less, you will find it difficult to recall information or names etc. As a result, you are less capable of accomplishing something properly and are more likely to create a mess out of everything.
A Clearer Eyesight: When all body parts are getting benefited, how come the eyes would be an exception? The eyes get most of the rest while sleeping, as they are closed and you get a clearer eyesight.
Better Mood and Confidence: With increased focus, better learning ability, and a quick grasping power, why would a teenager not be more strong and confident in adverse situations? Moreover, sleep reduces stress that makes you even more focused and confident person.
Keeps Digestion Healthy: Once the sun sets, the digestion system slows down. If you are awake for long after sunset you are likely to eat some snacks that puts stress on an already slowed down digestive system. So, sleep keeps you away of late night foods and allows your slow digestion enough time to process the existing food in the body.
Helps Recover The Muscles: This is highly important if you are a gym-goer or a sportsman. The recovery of the muscles is as important as exercising them. The broken muscles and tissues gets repaired during the sleep only.

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3. Health Benefits of Sleep for Adults

Adults get all of the sleep benefits that teenagers do – except for the growth hormones. If you are a busy CEO who considers that sleep is a waste of time, here are a few health benefits that prove to you that it isn’t.

Prevents The Formation Of Under Eye Circles: Adults develop dark circles under the eye due to stress and eye muscle tension. A proper sleep is the first step to treat them or avoid them at all.
Eases The Mensuration Period: These monthly cycles are highly stressful and sometimes painful for women. It usually causes hormonal imbalance and mood swing. A proper sleep regulates the monthly cycle and keeps you active throughout.
Prevents Heartburn and Acidity: Sleep is the key to digestion. Other activities are at its lowest and body is focused solely on performing vital functions and sucking all the nutrients from food available in the gut. At the same time, it expels any by product such as food acid that cause heartburn.
Balances Bodily Hormones: The production of hormones in the body starts from the signals from the brain. While sleeping, the brain is free from stress and can co-ordinate with hormonal production more effectively. Moreover, some of the hormones like testosterone and growth hormones etc. can be produced only during the sleep.
Enables You fight Stress: Sleep helps to bring the cortisol levels down. An elevated level of cortisol increases the stress level in the body. Moreover, sleep increases the amount of dopamine in brain that brings an alpha male calmness.
Helps You Build Muscles: The broken tendons of muscles can be repaired in sleep only. During sleep, the protein synthesis is on high and so is its absorption by the muscles.
An Increased Productivity: Sleep reduces brain fog and helps your brain to remain focused. The new skills are absorbed by the brain during the sleep. As a result, you are better at everything you do.
Keeps The Skin Young: Who would not be aware of this super fact of sleep? It helps an adult’s skin by rejuvenating cells and open pores. It makes the face to appear younger than the actual age.
Increases Fertility in Men: Yes, it makes the men more fertile. Some key hormones such as testosterone are produced during the REM phase of the sleep. So a sleep less than 8 hours isn't manly at all.
Prevents Early Graying of hair: Our body can't absorb vital nutrients unless it sleeps. So is true about hair. The lack of sleep prevents the hair from getting repaired with essential protein. So they tend to fall or turn gray.

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4. Health Benefits of Sleep for Elders

Once we reach the “elders” stage, sleep becomes even more important. Since our cells start aging and deteriorating at a faster pace, there will be a need for around 7 ½ hours and 9 hours of sleep every night.

Insufficient sleep in elders may cause serious problems, such as an increased risk of diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, weight gain, or even breast cancer. Plus, it has been proven that older adults that have been sleep-deprived are also more likely to suffer from depression and memory loss. As an elder, here are the health benefits that you will reap by getting all of your hours of sleep.

Repairs Blood Vessels: During the later age, the body is at decay. You can't afford missing any chance of recovering from the decay. Sleep is vital to grow new blood vessels and repair the damaged ones.
Prevents Restless Leg Syndrome: This is a very uncomfortable feeling in the legs that make you move it every now and then. One of the cause is heavy load on the legs. Sleep ensures that the legs are recovered properly and RLS doesn't set in.
Reduces Hypertension: Increased stress paves its way to hyper tension. That's why you must have a proper sleep once you grow older. The lack of sleep may drive you crazy and you may find difficult to perform some normal mental functions.
Prevents Joint Pain: This is one of the biggest issues with old age. The fluid within your joints is on a decline. Body need ample time of low activity to replenish it. Sleep is the best period for this recuperation.
Decreases Risk of Alzheimer: Forgetfulness or Alzheimer is highly linked to old age. Sleep is one of the best mean to prevent this cursed disease. Also, its even better if you can take a short nap at noon.
Reduces Glucose Metabolism: Excess blood sugar is a key problem with old age. Insulin sensitivity is on a decline. Here, sleep comes as a savior and tries to regulate blood sugar.
Prevents Impaired Cognitive Function: With old age, cognitive skills get an adverse hit. You lose your wit, alertness, memory power etc. It gets even worse if you are accumulating sleep debt. Sleep is highly important for an effective cognitive functioning.

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5. Health Benefits of Sleep for All Ages

There are health benefits that apply to a particular age category – and then there are health benefits that apply to all of us. If you are wondering why you should add more sleep in your life, here you have it – the ultimate benefits that you can reap:

Constant Yawns and Eyes Blinking Would Stop: One big sign of lack of sleep is constant yawns and frequent blinking of eyes. It shows the muscles around eyes are getting weak. With sufficient sleep, these symptoms disappear.
Helps You Consume Fewer Calories: There are two types of food cravings. Eating due to hunger response or eating due to stress response. Sleep keeps the stress in check and you eat only when you are truly hungry.
Helps To Overcome Anxiety: Anxiety is nothing else than accumulated stress. The deeper your sleep is the lower your stress level. Eventually, it eliminates even the chronic anxiety.
Prevents Severe Migraine: Migraine happens due to damaged blood vessels in the brain or infection in the spinal fluid. It gets worse with lack of enough sleep. Make sure you are getting a proper rest and migraine will be less intense.
Prevents Formation of Wrinkles: A good night sleep sheds the dead skin, repairs the bodily cells, and flush toxins out of the body. As a result skin remains healthy and free from wrinkles.
Helps Body to Grow New Collagen: Collagen is a highly vital protein that retains moisture in the skin and repairs all sort of skin damages. The interesting point is, a large amount of collagen is manufactured by the body during sleep.
Reduces Mood Swings: Mood swings is a result of major hormonal imbalances in the body. This happens as a chain effect when the body does not sleep well, hormonal imbalance occurs and that causes loads of mood swings. So, ultimately proper sleep is the key to eliminating all of this shit.

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Must Read: Before You Go!

The next time someone tells you that “sleep is for the weak,” tell them this: sleep is actually what makes you stronger.

Considering the health benefits of sleep, a good night’s sleep will make you feel healthier, more alert and less prone to coming down with different diseases. An optimum sleep is great for you, no matter if you are a baby, a small child, a teenager, or an adult.

Now, all that you need is to figure out how many hours of sleep you need for your age, buy the best pillows for your needs, and time-block your sleeping hours.

Also, Keep in mind that oversleeping can be as dangerous as depriving yourself of sleep. So, getting the exact recommended amount of sleep will offer you more benefits than you could ever imagine.

About the Author Jessica Larsen

I am a big advocate that having great sleep is something everyone deserves. With over 10 years of experience in this field, I would love to use this platform as a means to help you achieve a good night's sleep.

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