The short answer is – yes. Sleep – truly is the foundation of health. Imagine a continuum where poor sleep contributes to poor health outcomes while high quality sleep equates to better health outcomes. According to the National Academy of Medicine, 50-70 million adults in the United States fall somewhere in the poor quality end of the spectrum. The consequences of poor sleep seep over into every human function, and those with poor sleep are likely to experience decreased brain function, hormonal imbalances, increased risk of heart disease, decreased productivity and performance, and poor immune and insulin responses. This is because, while you are sleeping, your body is actually busy recovering by:

• Clearing out brain activity
• Decreasing breath, heart rate, and blood pressure
• Hormones go to work repairing tissues essential to every body function

The perfect sleeping environment is simply not the same for all people, however here are a few
ingredients that could help us all:

• Turn off all electronics an hour before you go to bed
• Make the room as dark as possible
• Make sure the room is at a comfortable temperature

Also, remember the importance of creating and sticking to a bedtime routine to signal to your body that
it’s time to start shutting down for the day. Finally, please communicate with your health care provider
if you do feel that sleep deprivation is interfering with your life.