Health Tips Blog

The Holiday Season is No Time to Skimp on Sleep

By: California Center of Longevity & Functional Medicine on December 1, 2015

As the holidays approach, our schedules often begin to resemble a laundry list of chores and preparations: meals to plan, gifts to buy, travel arrangements to make, and guests to host. Though the holidays are about giving thanks and celebrating the season, often times stress becomes the recurrent theme. While your To-Do List may be ever growing, committing to a night of restful sleep should always remain a priority.

Sleep deprivation may not sound like a serious issue, and it is not uncommon for the average Southern Californian to skimp on a few hours here and there. But a lack of restful sleep can contribute to major health problems and significantly impacts your quality of life for the worse.

During the stress of the holidays, it is more important than ever to safeguard your health to concentrate on adhering an optimal lifestyle—a cornerstone of successful longevity and functional medicine.

Some common side effects of sleep deprivation to be aware of include:

Overall feelings of sluggishness in the brain and body
Mood swings
A negative impact on long and short term memory
A decrease in brain performance, including concentration, decision making, and processing new information
A weakening of the immune system, putting you at greater risk of developing a cold or the flu

Additional reasons that getting enough sleep needs to remain a priority no matter how busy you may be during the holidays include:

According to a study conducted at Harvard Medical School, sleeping fewer than five hours a night can contribute to an overall 15% increase in the risk of death from all causes.

A lack of sleep affects the central nervous system, which happens to be the body’s “main information highway,” according to a report by Healthline.com. If your central nervous system is compromised, then your physical, emotional, and mental health will suffer the consequences.

If sleep deprivation persists over an extended period of time, you put yourself at greater risk of experiencing hallucinations, depression, erratic behavior, and paranoia.

Micro-sleep is a common affliction amongst the sleep deprived. It involves falling asleep for small, nearly imperceptible patches of time, ranging from a few seconds to a few minutes. When you are overly tired, you are at a much greater risk of micro-sleep, which can be extremely dangerous considering your sleep is out of your control. If you’re driving, cooking, working a job, or performing other tasks, micro-sleep could potentially put you and others in great danger.

This holiday season, your days may be filled with the stresses of shopping, prepping, and planning, but it is also crucial that your days include quality, restorative sleep. The first step to an optimized body and brain lies in a comprehensive, integrative medical approach to healthy living. At the California Center of Longevity & Functional Medicine, physicians work alongside patients to develop healthy habits, in order to combat pervasive health problems such as, diabetes, heart disease, dementia, autoimmune diseases, and other chronic conditions.

Dr. Allan Kurtz specializes in creating ideal health and longevity plans for patients of all ages. Fellowship trained in Integrative and Functional Medicine, Dr. Kurtz is also a member of the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine and The Institute for Functional Medicine. The California Center of Longevity & Functional Medicine was founded in Woodland Hills, CA to aid patients throughout the greater Los Angeles area in restoring and maintaining optimal health for the long term.

To schedule a consultation at The California Center of Longevity and Functional Medicine, contact us today at 818.346.1440

Dr. Allan Kurtz

Heart Attack and StrokePrevention Center of Southern California

Health Tips Blog

The Holiday Season is No Time to Skimp on Sleep

Heart Attack and Stroke
Prevention Center of Southern California