Grip on your resistance: sufficient sleep improves resistance

'Sleep well', we say to each other at night. Every night we hope for ourselves and our loved ones that it will be a good night. This way you feel fitter and fresher after a night with enough sleep. And did you know that a good night's sleep is also good for your immune system? You can read exactly how that works here.

Before we explain what sleep does to your immune system, let's first say this: during your sleep all kinds of interesting things happen. While you are in dreamland and your muscles are completely relaxed, your body is hard at work. Here's what the body does when it's at rest:

Just do the administration

'What shall we eat? Just call my sister. Do something for work first. At 13.00 a video call with my boss. Don't forget to congratulate the neighbor (from a distance). Hang up the laundry quickly. Should I buy that bike or not?' During the day, your brain is busy processing all kinds of information and answering questions. In other words, he is on edge. While you sleep, your brain filters all the information you have stored during the day. Useless things are forgotten, important things are saved. Sleeping is therefore important to process and organize everything you experience in a day.

Getting younger while you sleep

You know what they say: after you are twenty-five your youth is over. 'How so?' you may ask. After the age of twenty-five, your body produces less collagen. As part of the connective tissue, collagen provides strength throughout the body. In practice, less collagen means more wrinkles. But don't worry: your body actually produces collagen while you sleep. Sleep helps you recover from all the (damaging) influences to which your body is exposed during the day.

Recovery time

During the day you are busy. During the deepest stage of your sleep, your body gets the chance to repair your muscles and tissues. This is how the body releases hormones, including growth hormone. The blood flow to your muscles also increases at this time, giving them the nutrition they need to grow. Your muscles also naturally relax, which can help relieve the general tension that builds up during the day.

Sleeping is good for your immune system: that's the way it is!

We just indicated that a good night's sleep ensures that you filter and process the information you take in during the day. It can help you strengthen your existing memories in your long-term memory.

Something that also works with a memory function is your immune system. The following can be said about this: everything that your immune system encounters and experiences as foreign (think of bacteria and viruses) is mapped, as it were, and stored in your immune cells. So that your immune system knows next time whether these guests are welcome or not, and can take action on it. A long, deep sleep is beneficial for the memory of your immune cells. The cells would therefore store more and better detailed information. As a result, those cells are better able to recognize intruders (source: www.orthica.nl and www.eurekalert.org).

A long, deep sleep not only ensures a young and tight skin; it allows your immune system to excel. So bleib zu Hause, restez à la maison, stay home and sleep well!