Scripture tells us that we should work, but it also tells us to rest. In fact, a day of rest makes the Lord’s top ten list.
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: Exodus 20:8
Today, we have forgotten what it means to rest and what it means not to work. If we understand that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, we can understand the importance of rest.
One study found that adults needed from 7-9 hours of sleep a night but only tended to get less than 7 hours on average. Most Americans choose more work over much needed sleep. This choice has a wide range of effects on the human body from weight regulation to fat storage to hormone levels.
Lack of sleep for men can drop your testosterone levels. After all, your testosterone levels follow a circadian rhythm. They peak in the morning and slowly plummet towards the evening. For women it’s the various forms of estrogen swinging out of balance. The 2 major pathways by which sleep affects the release of hormones are the hypothalamic-pituitary axes and the autonomous nervous system.
The release of hormones by the pituitary gland, the “master” endocrine organ, that controls the secretion of other hormones from the peripheral endocrine glands is markedly influenced by sleep. This in turn effects your cardiovascular system, your reproductive system and so on.
In short, a lack of sleep can kill us.
What is the answer? You might think the obvious answer is get more sleep. However, the advent of artificial light has permitted the curtailment of sleep to the minimum tolerable and an increase in the time available for work and leisure. Not only are we getting less sleep but we are getting poor quality sleep due to artificial “blue” light from our computers, cell phones, and other artificial sources of light.
While warm milk and nutmeg may sound good, here are a few practical tips to getting quality sleep.
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Exercise. According to this study in the Journal of the American Medical Association, even moderate daily exercise can greatly improve sleep quality. This can be home routines such pushups, pullups and high intensity interval training.
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Diet. What you eat matters. Consuming quality proteins can produce amino acid’s such as L-tryptophan will increase natural melatonin production in the brain. Meanwhile, though you should normally avoid simple carbohydrates, the two times you should consume them is just after your workout and an hour or two before bed. The spike in insulin will give you energy for a while but then the crash will allow for a better sleep. BTW, the increase in insulin will deliver the protein to your muscles for repair as you sleep.
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Turn off electronics. We are addicted to our electronic gizmos. The “blue light” from computers, phones and other devices disrupt the pineal gland’s ability to produce melatonin, a hormone that influences circadian rhythms. Even low energy lights and night lights emit blue light. Read the Harvard study here. That leads to the next tip.
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Darkness. God separated light from darkness and had us sleep in the dark for a reason. Complete darkness allows for better quality REM sleep.
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Cool it Down. A cooler room allows for better sleep. Men especially should sleep with less clothing even in the buff. There is a reason why the male sex organs are in a pouch outside the body and cold showers and boxers increase testosterone.
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Melatonin. This is the hormone that your pineal gland secretes to make you sleep, thus it’s called the “sleep hormone”. Cutting the blue light helps but if you need to supplement here is a good choice for Melatonin
. Increased melatonin levels and quality sleep improve your good hormone levels and reduce your stress hormones like cortisol.
Additionally, for believers obedience to the Lord can improve your health. Especially when it comes to the Sabbath rest.
Today, Christians are taught that Sabbath observance is not needed. We downplay the need to take a day off and dedicate it to God. In the United States it was once true that stores closed on Sundays, not so anymore. Now, everything is open on Sundays and before long businesses will remain open on holidays too. Look at how many stores are now open on Thanksgiving to start black Friday sooner.
The Lord meant for us to observe the Sabbath and honor Him and our families. Taking the time to make nice sit down meals and have conversations about scripture, to pray and honor the Lord together is so important that the bible tells us it will be observed in the 1000 year reign of Christ.
So turn off the TV and pick up your bible and enjoy some quality down time each day and rest in the Lord at the end of every week. You will be healthier and sharper for the change.
