One person already pays more attention to a good sleeping pattern than the other. While one longs for his bed, there are people who experience sleep as superfluous. Still, getting enough sleep is essential and gives you the full battery you need for the next day. Giving both your body and mind the necessary energy sounds good right?

What is sleep?

Like the ringing alarm clock that wakes us up every day, we have internal the clocks in our brains. These clocks alternate between sleeping and being awake. If the amount of the sleep hormone melatonin rises, the body is getting ready to go to sleep and when the amount drops it is time to wake up. There are factors that can influence our biological clock and the amount of melatonin in our body, namely. light sources and stress.

Businessmen, politicians and other people in high positions often see sleep as a waste of time. Donald Trump himself admitted that he only sleeps 3 to 4 (!) hours a day. Do not take this as an example, because sleep is indeed important for good health and to function optimally throughout the day.

Yet we see sleep as something mysterious that we don't know much about. Even scientists cannot give a concrete answer to the question: what is sleep?

What happens to us when we sleep?

Your mind settles down when you sleep, because it gives you a feeling of rest and recovery. After a too short night due to a late evening at home with friends or a party, you will have already experienced that your alertness and concentration decrease.

The sleep cycles

In total there are four phases in our sleep cycles, each lasting about 90 to 120 minutes. What happens after those minutes? Then we do micro-awakening. Our body 'checks' for any stimuli that affect our sleep and your body tries to solve that. Then you immediately fall asleep again. So you should not think that you immediately have a sleeping problem if you occasionally wake up in the night.

There are 2 important phases in your sleep cycle:

• The first important phase is the deep sleep which ensures physical recovery. Your body recovers from the efforts made throughout the day through a greater blood supply to your muscles. You may have wondered why babies and children need more sleep than adults. That's because your body grows and develops the most in that phase.

• Another important phase is the REM or Rapid Eye Movement sleep which ensures mental recovery. A very active brain and a faster and more irregular heartbeat and breathing are associated with that phase. Your brain processes the information collected throughout the day and the data in your short-term memory is transferred to your long-term memory. For example, imagine that you are learning a new skill at work and you don't understand it very well at first. Then there is a chance that you will be able to perform the skill better the next day, because you slept on it.

Why is a good sleep pattern so important?

Sleeping is therefore important for your body and your mind. But what exactly does that mean? We will therefore take a closer look at some of the benefits of sleeping:

• Less sick : especially in winter it is important to get enough sleep, since you are more susceptible to illnesses. Your immune system works less if you don't sleep enough, because during your sleep you produce extra antibodies such as white blood cells and lymphocytes.

• Good for your memory: this mainly has to do with the REM sleep that processes and stores information gathered.

• Better for your figure: Do you think a healthy and varied eating pattern is important? Then enough sleep is definitely a must. Otherwise you will unbalance the hunger hormones leptin and ghrelin, your brain will be confused and you will not give your body the signal that you have already consumed enough calories.

• Less risk of high blood pressure and cardiac arrhythmias.

• You look fresher and more energetic: Say goodbye to your bags under the eyes and gray skin.

• Avoid gloomy thoughts: People who are not rested can often seem grumpy, because insufficient sleep affects your irritability and depression. In the longer term you can even suffer from anxiety disorders and depression.

• A boost to your sex life: Insufficient sleep causes a lower libido.

Sleep is an important part of your life

Despite the little scientific research on the concept of 'sleep', we are all aware that we need to get enough sleep to get through the day more productively and that there are many short and long-term effects associated with it. We can't give a definitive answer to the question: how much sleep do I actually need? It all depends from person to person and what you feel most comfortable with. Do you want to promote a relaxed sleep and a good night's sleep? Then these tablets might be the solution.g