HOW SLEEP FACILITATES THE GROWTH OF BONES AND BODY

Release of human growth hormone (HGH) has been shown to occur during normal undisturbed sleep. Before going any further, we need to better understand sleep and that it takes place in  stages.

 THE DIFFERENT STAGES OF SLEEP

 Stage One

We first get a period of day dreaming like as we are preparing to drift off,no wonder we taken off by surprise as we reflect or think about some thing during the first minutes of sleep.

If you meditate, this is the stage of sleep you find your self in a seemingly rest full state. Research has shown that the average sleeper takes about 7 minutes to fall asleep though you may fall asleep sooner, or take longer.

Stage Two

This stage may last about 20 minutes . The brain produces short periods of rapid, rhythmic brain wave activity and Body temperature begins dropping and heart rate starts slowing down.

Stage Three

Deep, slow brain waves known as Delta Waves begin to emerge during this stage. It is a transitional period between light sleep and a very deep sleep.

Stage Four

deep sleep that lasts about 30 minutes. bed-wetting typically happens at the end of this Stage of sleep.

Stage Five  REM (RAPID EYE MOVEMENT )

Most dreaming occurs during REM sleep increased respiration rate and increased brain activity. Dreaming occurs because of increased brain activity, but voluntary muscles like in your arms and legs become paralyzed (hope you have experienced night mares where you shout but your voice can not come out or you can’t escape).

The muscles of heart and gut are involuntary thus they move on their own and they continue moving during this stage of sleep. We typically enter REM approximately 90 minutes after falling asleep. The first cycle of REM often lasts only a short amount of time, but each cycle becomes longer.

This is why we need long periods of sleep each night. If we get short periods of sleep, we can’t really get through all the stages we need in order to heal and stay healthy.

A study with blood sampling at 30-s intervals has shown that maximal Growth Hormone release occurs within minutes of the onset of Slow Wave sleep (often referred to as deep sleep, consisting of stage 3 and 4 of non-rapid eye movement sleep, according to the Rechtschaffen & Kales).

It’s however imperative to note that commercially available hypnotics tend to inhibit, rather than increase, SW sleep and do not stimulate GH release.

Growth hormone instructs your skeletal bones to grow larger and stronger while it speeds the conversion of excess fats into energy.