we sleep when we get tired, yes. but how do we get up rested? i mean our body keeps on working and working. which means we keep consuming energy right? so how do we feel more energetic, more rested as we wake up?
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In short, we don’t really know how sleep works, because we don’t entirely understand how our brain works.
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Sleep is much more than just energy.
We evolved this to conserve energy during the night, when we were unable to do any task and we were just sitting in a cave.
During sleeping you use much less energy than just sitting beside a fire. Your brain is in power safe mode and your body is recharging its reserves all over the body. It is much more efficient to recharge muscles when they are not in use.
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Circadian rhythm governs this, which is mostly aligned to the day night cycle and it has triggers to move along like morning light hitting your skin.
The sleepiness is just an illusion your body communicating that you are “supposed to” sleep and recharge, to function normally.
But your body has many reserves in case of an emergency. Technically you can go 10-11 days without sleep, then your body shuts down.
A milder example is coffee, which interferes with the sleepiness, your brain doesn’t feel the sleepiness chemical called adenosine and thinks you are rested and you can go as usual.
But your body is dipping into the reserves and when coffee wears out, you crash. Your brain starts to shut down non-essentials to keep core systems going. Fun fact, your brain is not essential, that is why clear thinking the first one that is gone when you are exhausted.
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When you sleep normally, that sleepy chemical breaks down because your body doesn’t make it, your muscles don’t work, your organs don’t work that much, your brain doesn’t exert itself that much.
So a lower sleepiness chemical feels rested.
Keep in mind that the sleepiness chemical is different from physical exhaustion when you excercise. A totally different feeling. But later you feel sleepy sooner if you excercised a lot.
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