50 Things You Can Do Today to Manage Insomnia

A complete cycle lasts for about 90 minutes. An average adult will have four to six cycles each night.

There are two main types of sleep – rapid eye movement (REM) and non-rapid eye movement (NREM). Sleep is also classified in stages. Stages one, two, three and four are NREM sleep and stage five is REM sleep.

The main reason that we need to sleep, according to sleep scientists, is because it’s necessary for the brain to function efficiently.

People who sleep poorly have been found to have lower levels of leptin and higher levels of ghrelin, making them more likely to overeat.

A hormone called leptin regulates how much we eat, by giving the signal of fullness when we’ve eaten enough. A

Lack of sleep has been shown to affect hormones and metabolism, making overeating and weight gain more likely.

Several longterm studies report that if you sleep less than five hours a night, you’re more at risk of developing depression, heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes.

learned that most sleep problems are due to some aspect of daily life being out of balance – for example through overwork, lack of exercise or too much caffeine.