What Happens to Your Body If You Don’t Get Enough Sleep

If you find yourself clocking in fewer than seven to nine hours of sleep most nights, you’re not alone. Up to 46% of Americans get inadequate sleep on a regular basis. And experts believe it’s causing a health crisis in our nation.

Sleep is often considered the cornerstone of good health, playing a vital role in both physical and mental well-being. Quality rest helps the body recover, boosts the immune system, and enhances cognitive function, leaving you feeling refreshed and ready for the day. If you find yourself missing out on some critical zzz’s, keep reading to find out what you may experience.

You Could Have Trouble Focusing

A poor night’s sleep is the enemy of efficiency. Even just one night of bad sleep can temporarily impair your decision-making skills, concentration and ability to stay focused. Plus, it’s a lot harder to learn something new or be enthusiastic about your work if you’re constantly fighting droopy eyes.

Your Memory Could Be Impaired

Sleep plays a vital role in helping us remember things. When we don’t get enough sleep, we tend to forget things more easily, especially memories about events and experiences, also known as episodic memories. A study compared memory after a full night of sleep, after staying awake all day, and after pulling an all-nighter without sleep. The results showed that people forgot more details following a day without sleep and even more so after sleep deprivation overnight. Interestingly, losing sleep overnight not only made it harder to remember individual pieces of information but also disrupted the connections between those pieces, making memories feel more fragmented. This shows that missing sleep can change the way we forget, not just how much we forget.

Your Mental Health Could Suffer

Sleep is crucial for how we feel and manage our emotions. Recent studies have explored how losing sleep impacts mood, emotions, and the ability to regulate them from childhood to adulthood. One meta-analysis reviewed the results of 64 studies to understand the connection better. They found that losing sleep increases negative moods, especially in younger people, and significantly reduces positive moods. Completely missing a night of sleep tends to affect negative moods more than just getting less sleep than usual. Sleep loss also slightly weakens how we react emotionally, regardless of whether the situation is positive or negative. Additionally, getting less sleep makes it harder to handle emotions in healthy ways, particularly in children and teens.

You Could Impact Your Skin Health

Sleep plays an important role in maintaining healthy skin. Our skin undergoes changes during sleep, such as shifts in hydration, blood flow and the way the outer layer absorbs substances, which may influence how treatments work. A lack of sleep might interfere with how well the skin absorbs medications and how effective they are. It could also speed up skin aging and disturb the skin’s natural microbiota. Additionally, sleep problems might disrupt how the skin fights off diseases or repairs itself. More research is needed to understand how sleep and our body’s natural clock (circadian rhythm) influence skin treatments. Ultimately, getting enough quality sleep is key to supporting better skin health and improving the results of many treatments and cosmetics.

You Could Develop a Heart Condition

Sleep and heart health are connected. A review study highlights this notion, highlighting how obesity can disrupt sleep, which in turn can make obesity—and heart issues—worse. Bottom line? Skipping quality sleep may have unrealized consequences on your cardiovascular health.

You Could Unintentionally Gain Weight

Research has long studied the connection between sleep and weight loss, but it often overlooked the fact that sleep is complex and includes many different factors. Our study looked at how the overall quality of sleep, combining several sleep-related elements, impacts changes in weight and body composition during a weight loss program. The researchers worked with 125 adults who were overweight or obese, participating in a 12-month weight loss program. The results showed that better overall sleep quality was linked to greater weight and fat loss during the program. Specific sleep factors, like maintaining a regular sleep schedule and feeling satisfied with sleep, were strongly connected to success in losing weight and fat.

Our Expert Take

Let’s face it, we live in a world that tells us to go faster and do more—and sometimes it’s hard to get the sleep we need. However, it’s important for your overall health to get regular shut-eye, so put off those work emails on your phone until the morning, shut off the TV and head to bed—your body will thank you!