Our bodies can tell us a lot about the quality of our nights. A sleep doctor and a chronobiologist provide body clues that prove our nights aren’t restorative.
What happens to our sleep? A third of French people sleep less than 6 hours a day, according to a 2019 Santé Publique France study. “Over the course of a century, our nights have decreased significantly,” laments Philippe Beaulieu, Henri’s sleep doctor. Mondor Hospital in Paris (1). And if we close our eyes for a short time, our nights are not very restorative either, some people thus accumulate sleep debt without realizing it, and suffer harmful consequences for their health. How do we know if our nights are good or bad quality? Dr. Beaulieu and chronology biologist Claire Leconte help us identify the alarm signals sent by the body.
Are you slowing down?
Waking up fresh isn’t just an expression. According to Dr. Philippe Beaulieu, it is necessary to appreciate this feeling of full recovery after waking up. “Usually, the small residual degree of sleepiness passes very quickly, you just need to take steps to notice it,” explains the specialist. If it doesn’t, it must have been a bad night and the effects are quickly felt. “There is a generalized slowness throughout the body, especially at the physical level; it’s harder to walk or climb stairs,” describes chronobiologist Claire LeConte.
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Do you need hot water?
When you’re struggling to get out of bed, a shower seems to be the best antidote to laziness. Only, once in the cabin, the hot water is so pleasant that you turn around with joy. “Our biological clock works so that our core temperature rises when we wake up,” explains chronology biologist Claire LeConte. In the morning after insomnia, this process starts less quickly, and we will need hot water to get things started again.”
Do you sleep during the day?
It’s 9:30 and you’re already yawning. “Yawning is an action/response mechanism in the brain that responds to our environment—boredom, hunger, or sleep,” notes chronology biologist Claire LeConte. If your jaw drops several times a day, outside of lunch and meetings, look no further. your body reacts to intense fatigue. Sleep experts call this “excessive daytime sleepiness.”
When we accumulate bad nights, the body does not recover on a physical and psychological level
Dr. Philippe Beaulieu, Sleep Doctor
“When we accumulate poor quality nights, the body does not recover on a physical and psychological level,” notes Dr. Philippe Beaulieu. As a result, we find it difficult to stay awake during the day, and sometimes we can have sleep attacks when we are completely asleep if we do not engage in stimulating activities such as a train ride, a meeting, a movie screening.
Your belly needs fat and sugar
Speaking of chocolates, you’ll definitely want a square piece of chocolate to accompany your coffee break. “Disrupted sleep leads to an imbalance in the release of hormones that control appetite,” says Dr. Philippe Beaulieu. In the best of worlds, we’d hit on salads and veggies, but unfortunately, it’s the fat/sugar combo that always gets us. “Sugar improves our focus,” notes chronologist Claire LeConte.
This is its only advantage, but it is short-lived and ultimately contributes to diseases such as type 2 diabetes. “American studies have shown that the obesity epidemic in the United States comes not only from junk food, but also from the disturbance of biological rhythms,” emphasizes the sleep specialist.
Do you have a headache?
“Lack of sleep irritates a number of nerves and neurons in the brain that can cause a pretty annoying headache,” notes chronobiologist Claire LeConte. To remedy this, the researcher recommends allowing yourself about ten minutes of quiet rest and away from light.
Are you in pain?
Your last run was last week, but your muscles aren’t cooperating. One small step to catch the bus and you’re grimacing. “At night, the whole body rests to restore its tissues. On the other hand, if the muscles are not rested, inevitably, the muscle tension of the previous day will remain until the next day,” assures sleep doctor Philippe Beaulieu.
Self-control of our emotions depends on our good form
Claire Leconte, Chronobiologist
“In anxious people, this hardening can sometimes cause blepharospasm, in other words, a repetitive and involuntary twitching of the eyelid,” adds chronobiologist Claire Leconte.
Are you upside down?
Every day our brain stores thousands of pieces of information. When the night falls, the latter is inactive, on the contrary. selects, sorts and ranks the smallest memory. However, accumulated fatigue slows down this well-oiled mechanism. “Sleep disturbances negatively affect our ability to concentrate,” notes Dr. Philippe Beaulieu. And without this constant attention, we more easily forget what we just read or heard.”
Are you on edge?
Maybe you shouldn’t have had second helpings at dinner. But pasta carbonara isn’t the only thing that will be digested overnight, your emotions are too. “Dreams are an important safety valve to evacuate our unconscious during paradoxical sleep,” explains chronobiologist Claire LeConte. When you are at war with Morpheus, this digestion is greatly hindered. “The self-control of our emotions depends on our good constitution,” assures chronologist Claire Leconte. Without the latter, everything escalates, the sensitivity, as well as the aggressiveness.”
(1) Co-authored by Philippe Beaulieu Sleep without medication or herbal teas (Ed. Marabout) with Dr Olivier Pallanca, 192 p., €19.90.
Source: Le Figaro
