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Negative Effects of Sleep Deprivation You Should Know

Negative Effects of Sleep Deprivation You Should Know

If you’ve ever experienced insomnia, you’ll know that a lack of sleep can leave you feeling irritable, slow and generally unwell. What you may not realize, however, is that frequent sleepless nights can wreak havoc with your long-term health. Among the most serious effects include memory issues, weight gain, and an increased risk of death. 

If you regularly get less than the recommended seven to nine hours’ worth of sleep a night, you may not feel particularly motivated to change your habits. After all, many of us feel that we can function on much less than this. However, while you may not feel fatigued, failing to get enough shuteye could produce the following negative effects:

Increased risk of life-threatening health conditions

There have been swathes of scientific studies on the long-term effects of sleep loss in recent years, with many indicating strong links between impaired sleep and conditions including:

  • Hypertension
  • Diabetes
  • Stroke
  • Heart attack
  • Heart failure
  • Heart disease

These illnesses have the potential to seriously impact your quality of life and could even be fatal.

Increased risk of accidents

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there were 91,000 motor vehicle crashes involving sleep-deprived drivers in the US in 2017. This is a shocking figure reflecting the extent to which drowsiness can impair a person’s reaction times. If your everyday routine involves controlling vehicles or machinery, you could be putting yourself and others in considerable danger. 

If you ever find yourself falling asleep at the wheel, immediately take a break and consider it a sign that your sleep habits need improving.

Premature aging

If you’re keen to stay looking youthful or want to improve the look of fine lines and wrinkles, you should focus on getting your beauty sleep. In the short term, a night of tossing and turning can lead to puffy eyes and pale skin. These symptoms will usually improve once you have got back into a regular bedtime routine. 

Chronic lack of sleep, on the other hand, could cause permanent damage to your complexion. This is because fatigue prompts the body’s release of cortisol, a stress hormone known for breaking down the skin’s collagen. Collagen is vital for keeping skin strong and youthful, so chronic sleep can eventually lead to fine lines, dark circles and a drained complexion.  

It is also worth noting that sleeplessness can block the release of growth hormone. This hormone is vital for both growing children and adults, encouraging growth in the former, and increased muscle mass and strengthened bones in the latter. If you’re an adult who struggles to get enough sleep, your body may take a long time to recover following injury.

Lowered libido

Sleep deprivation can lead to a lower libido, particularly in men. This can partly be explained by depleted energy levels reducing a person’s willingness to engage in physical activities. However, studies have also shown a strong correlation between low testosterone levels and sleep disorders such as obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Fortunately, there are plenty of effective treatments available to treat OSA that could help to improve a man’s sex life.

Impaired cognitive function

While we may not realize it, sleep plays a fundamental role in learning and thinking critically, helping the brain to consolidate important connections and memories made during the day. Lack of sleep, therefore, can significantly impede your everyday cognitive processes. As well as impairing your ability to concentrate and remain alert, it can affect your ability to solve simple problems and use basic reasoning skills. 

While you’re unlikely to notice much of a difference after missing one night of sleep, persistent insomnia can make learning much more difficult in the long term – bad news if you’re studying for a test or hoping to learn a new language. To boost your brainpower, you must address sleep problems first and foremost.

Poor mental health

Achieving less than six hours’ worth of sleep a night increases a person’s risk of developing depression by 10 times. In many ways, this link represents a vicious circle that is difficult to break. Sleep loss can make depression worse, while depressive thoughts can make getting to sleep more difficult. Fortunately, there are plenty of effective treatments out there to treat both conditions simultaneously. 

Weight gain

According to scientific studies, there is strong evidence to suggest there are links between lack of sleep and weight gain. This is because lack of sleep is thought to interfere with the body’s production of hormones known as ghrelin and leptin. It decreases leptin, which is responsible for telling the brain that you’re full, while increasing ghrelin, which stimulates hunger. 

This is, of course, a recipe for disaster if you’re trying to lose weight. To make matters worse, fatigue is also thought to stimulate cravings for foods rich in fat and carbohydrates. 

Immune system problems

Sleep is vital for the healthy functioning of the immune system as it produces special substances designed to fight infection such as cytokines and antibodies. If you fail to get at least seven hours of sleep a night, you are at increased risk of illnesses caused by viruses and bacteria. Your body may also take longer to recover than it would if you experienced a healthy sleep pattern.

Forgetfulness

A lack of sleep can make you forgetful as sleep is responsible for consolidating memories and can improve our ability to make neural connections.

Increased risk of death

One of the scariest effects of a chronic lack of sleep is an overall increased risk of death. Although scientists are reluctant to draw immediate conclusions about the reasons for this, it is thought that a combination of the problems sleeplessness causes such as immune, endocrine, and metabolic system damage are primarily to blame. 

Addressing your sleep problems

As you can see, there are plenty of very good reasons to improve your bedtime habits if you frequently get less than seven hours’ worth of sleep a night. Helpful lifestyle changes could include:

  • Waking up and going to bed at the same time every day
  • Avoiding naps during the day
  • Avoiding screens before going to bed
  • Meditation
  • Avoiding caffeine after midday
  • Exercising regularly
  • Reducing your alcohol intake

If you still find yourself unable to sleep after making these changes, it is worth visiting a doctor or sleep specialist. They will offer helpful advice and prescribe treatments that could improve your health and quality of life.

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Pure and Simple

Love what isn’t here (artificial sweeteners) and how easily it mixes with my morning oatmeal: no clumps and lumps!

Big fan!

Your protein powder check so many boxes for us. No sugar, no fake taste, easy to mix into foods and drinks!

Good fish oil

I have been taking fish oil for years for heart and brain health. This fish oil by TGS Nutrition seems like a good one. It is sourced from wild caught Alaska pollock. It contains the triglyceride form of Omega-3's and the quality seems good. A serving size of 2 softgels contains 640mg of EPA and 420mg of DHA. The softgels are of the regular size and pretty easy to swallow. No fishy odor or burps.

No soy, no gluten, no crazy flavors - just what I needed

Very simple ingredients and no soy or gluten or wild flavors. I sneak it into a strawberry banana smoothie. My wife, who hates the taste of protein powders, said that was the least "protein-y" tasting protein drink she's ever had.

Always use trusted wild caught sources

Fish oil is a great supplement to take for so many reasons, heart and brain and joint health to name a few. You likely aren’t getting enough Omega 3 in your diet unless you eat fish a few times a week. Pregnant women need it more as it is critical for fetal development and for young kids it is important for brain development too, so read up on it. The recommended dose of total Omega 3 is 1100 mg for women , but 1600 mg for men, so this product falls a little short for men. Yes, you are getting oil from wild caught pollack, USA made. And that’s what your paying extra for of course. But there are other available options too of wild caught fish that are equally good, so shop around . More isn’t necessarily better, but try and get the recommended dose and a high amount of DHA ( at least 200mg DHA ) . This one covers that easily. This is a worthy product , but the fact that you should take it consistently means you need to find your most affordable option. Research and shop. Spend your money on good and economical products and always understand what you are taking and why. No complaints, this is a 3 month supply for about 14.00 a month and a good clean product.

This omega 3 fish oil is perfect

I am glad I purchased this jar from TGS Nutrition.
This company is famous with pure and clean products, and no additives or anything else, but what the product should be. I like this product a lot and it is as expected - just pure Omega-3 fish oil.
Thank you TGS Nutrition for creating amazing and high quality supplements!

Another great product!

I do my best to find trusted sources and if you ever reach out to TGS you can tell they really care about their customers! Great fish oil!

This is VERY NATUAL!

I really like this product. Many manufacturers and sellers have a tendency to overstate the benefits. However, that is not the case this time because this product really worked for me. I have to give it my highest recommendation. Five stars!

Happy with it so far

I’ve been taking this for a month now. I didn’t know omega 3’s were so important until my dr told me to consider taking a supplement. I’m very happy with it so far.

Good choice for omega 3’s

I take many various dietary supplements. But fish oil is the only one that I take faithfully daily. And I'm approaching 70 years old with great health, vigor and mobility. This TGS fish oil product comes packaged 180 softgels per bottle. Serving size is two softgels daily which delivers 640 mg EPA, 420 mg DHA, 200 mg other Omega-3s. The fish oil is sourced wild-caught Alaskan Pollock (not from shellfish or krill) and the softgel capsule is bovine gelatin-based . . . which is compatible with my kosher-like diet. Labelling claims the fish are sustainably caught, then processed to eliminate mercury (small fish generally contain much less mercury anyway). Expiration date appears to be about 2 years into the future.

TGS Omega 3 fish oil - 1260mg

It is really hard to find supplements now a days that are transparent. Whether it’s transparent with ingredient amounts vs. just proprietary blend formulas, or transparent on the actual ingredients. The fish oils by TGS have both transparency on the amount of EPA/DHA which are both in line for the levels you want in a fish oil, as well as, where the fish oil originates from (Alaska Pollock). I take 2-3g of fish oils a day as a normal part of my diet. These are easy to swallow and provide a good source of omega-3s.

Excellent!

Excellent product and great price. I don’t like fish but still need Omega 3s. The EPA and DHA content is great. Quality is what matters more for me - Wild caught, Made AND sourced from USA.

Very good!

Great product at a reasonable price. Thanks!

Potent and no fish burps

This fish oil has a high potency listed. As with any supplement, we as consumers are at the mercy of the manufacturer when it comes to potency listings and ingredients, but I have no reason to doubt this of this product. I believe this to be slightly pricey at $39.99, but I also believe that you could get by with 1 gel-cap per day as opposed to the recommended 2 per day. The National Academy of Medicine sets the daily adequate intake (AI) of omega-3 fatty acids as 1.6 grams for adult men and 1.1 grams for adult women, while standard supplements typically contain around 1 gram of fish oil, with 120 milligram of EPA and 120 milligrams of DHA, the two types of omega-3 fatty acids. I have been using fish oil, or krill oil, as a supplement for quite a few years and believe it to be beneficial.

I really had no dislikes (other than price) of this product. There was no fish burp after taking it. As with any fish oil capsules, they tend to be on the large side (1 is pictured atop a US Dime), but I had no difficulty in taking them. I even tried taking 1 before a meal and still had no fish burps.

I hope that this helps someone decide on whether or not to purchase this product.

Wild caught

From wild Alaska pollock and sustainably sourced as well as made in the USA, what more could I ask for.
I’m taking 2 softgels daily and this huge bottle contains 180 softgels so I have a 3 month supply for the very reasonable cost of $39.99.
I’ve not experienced any fishy burps with TGS fish oil nor any other negative effects. I’m very pleased with the quality of this supplement and i would definitely repurchase.

Good product and 3 month supply

Great product for a healthy daily fish oil. To get the 1260mg 2 gels are needed each day. Wild caught has always been my choice favorite. This container has a long expiration of year 2024. I am not having any issues taking these. I really like this product and recommend it.

Large easy to swallow clean looking capsules

I try to get my omega-3s from fish sources to take advantage of the benefits of fish oils. The capsules look clean. I didn't get any "aftertaste" and I think these are a good value.

Highly recommended

Fish oil is an essential nutrient in that it contains all the omega oils you need. I have taken at least 1,000 mg daily for years to help maintain my general health. So far so good.

Good fish oil

Easy to swallow and no bad aftertaste

Very good!

Great product. Reasonable price.

Good concentration

I've been taking Omega 3 for years and have tried many different supplements. This one has a good concentration of EPA and DHA. You get 180 gelcaps for a good price. I typically take quite a bit of Omega 3 as it helps a lot. As a result, I like getting containers this size. The small stuff I blow through quickly. You can't go wrong with this.

No artificial sweeteners

Was looking long and hard for a quality protein powder that did not contain artificial sweeteners. This one checks that box and goes well with whatever I mix it with.

No noticeable flavor and no a sugar bomb

Exactly what I was looking for. I add protein powder to my morning smoothies and the powders are always too sweet. Now my smoothies taste like smoothies and I don't taste the protein powder

satisfied

item as described arrived on time

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