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Lights Out
The modern,
hectic world of today usually leaves many a person at a deficit of
sleep. With the heavy workloads, long traveling distances and traffic
jams, we encounter on a daily basis, people compensate with their sleep
to get work done. Seldom can you find people who sleep nine hours, or
even seven hours a day. Though sleep is neglected, it is necessary to
have at least nine hours of sleep a day for a healthy lifestyle, and
this is the main theory behind Lights Out, an interesting book by
TS Wiley and Dr. Bent Formby.
The main
point emphasized in Lights Out is that with a proper night's
sleep of nine hours, you can lose weight effectively, find it easier to
eliminate any form of depression and in the process, and lower the
stress and blood pressure levels in your body. It may be surprising to
learn that it is also possible to curb any cravings for carbohydrates,
help minimize any risk for heart disease, help prevent reverse type II
diabetes and prevent cancer, all with the help of a good night's sleep.
Basically,
the main reason for people sleeping less today is the boon of mankind;
the light bulb. It is only because there is illumination at night that
people work at night. So it can be said that if there was no light,
there would be no late nights, but this is not feasible as though light
promotes late nights; it is a necessity for life as we know it.
However,
with late nights and insufficient sleep you tend to stop sleeping
according to seasonal light exposure. With this, you tend to alter the
biological rhythms in your body. As these biological rhythms are those
that control hormones and neurotransmitters wherein it is possible to
determine appetite, fertility, and your mental and physical health, all
of these are affected with insufficient sleep.
The book,
Lights Out, hypothesizes that with the light bulb, and artificial
light, human beings extend days to fool the body into a perpetual summer
condition. With this, the body tends to anticipate a scarcity of food
supply and some inactivity in the coming winter wherein the body starts
accumulating fat and some slowing down in the metabolism. This is with
the intention of sustaining the body through the months of hibernation
and hunger, which actually never arrive. With this, you experience a
reduction in the amount of calories that you burn which is not healthy.
People used
to sleep less in the summer, while eating more in preparation of the
coming winter as light basically calls for more carbohydrates. So with
light being present 24 hours a day, we have a tendency to eat more food,
the whole year through, and it is for this reason that many health
complaints, and diseases arise.
The 354
pages of the book Lights Out studies the role sleep plays in the
lives of human beings. Both Wiley and Formby who are actually
researchers infer that there is a downwards slide of the health of
Americans because of the increase in night activities that is provoked
with light generation and the increased carbohydrate consumption that
accompanies it. Moreover, a deficit of sleep basically inhibits the
production of melatonin and prolactin in the body wherein you experience
deranging in the immune system; another health problem
It is
thereby suggested by Wiley and Formby in the book, Lights Out,
that it is better to sleep at least nine and a half hours a day in
complete darkness and correspondingly, switch over to a diet that is low
in carbohydrates and high in protein, healthy fats and vegetables. This
leads to a more healthy body, a more healthy society, with a more
healthy future.
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