The time that your body repairs itself is during deep, slow wave sleep, which is a process that relies on the body's circadian rhythm and is highly active during the early stages of the night.
10:00 PM through 2:00 Am is often referred to as the golden window for physical restoration.
During deep sleep, your pituitary gland releases growth hormones which repair tissues, muscles and organs, while immune boosting chemicals also circulate through the blood.
During the hours of 1:00 AM through 3:00 AM, your liver goes into overdrive to filter blood, process chemicals and also detoxify your body from the wear and tear of the previous day.
And during the hours of 3:00 AM through 5:00 AM, your lungs work to clear out accumulated mucus and air pollution before the morning.
For the body to repair itself and wake up fully rested your body requires both deep sleep and core sleep for a healthy sleep cycle.
Deep sleep is what repairs the body and core sleep, which is the lighter stages and REM sleep recharges the brain.
To wake up feeling fully rested you need both core sleep and deep sleep.
Core sleep is the light and REM sleep stages and are the foundational stages of sleep N1 and N2, along with REM (rapid eye movement), and it often makes up the majority of your sleep at night.
The Core Sleep handles cognitive processing, memory consolidation and emotional regulation and without the core sleep, you experience brain fog as well as moodiness and poor focus during the day.
Deep sleep is also slow wave sleep and stage 3 of non REM sleep is the deepest and most physically restorative phase of sleep where your brain waves slow down.
Deep sleep drives physical recovery, repairing muscles and strengthening your immune system and releases growth hormones and without enough deep sleep, often 1.5 to 2 hours of deep sleep at night you feel physically exhausted and drained no matter how long you remain in bed.
The toxins that are removed during sleep are toxic proteins and metabolic waste, which is flushed out through your brains waste management system called the glymphatic system.
The critical cleansing process of the brain is most active during deep and slow wave sleep, when your brain cells temporarily shrink to allow the cerebrospinal fluid to wash through the tissue.
The specific waste products and toxins that are cleared out and removed during sleep are Metabolic byproducts, potassium ions, lactic acid, Tau Proteins and Beta amyloid.
Metabolic byproducts that are removed during sleep are various other cellular wastes that build up as your brain works and thinks throughout the day.
Potassium ions that are removed during sleep are removed when they are in excess to keep the delicate mineral balance required for healthy cell function.
Lactic acid that is removed during sleep is a metabolic byproduct of cellular energy use that causes fatigue and requires clearance.
Tau proteins are another toxic protein that tangles inside of neurons and disrupts the brain communication and accelerates neurodegeneration and are removed during sleep.
And beta-amyloid is a protein that accumulates during your waking hours and is removed during sleep, and the build up beta-amyloid proteins are toxic plaques that is heavily linked to Alzheimer's disease.
If you don't get enough sleep, your brain does not literally eat itself, however chronic sleep deprivation does cause your brain's internal cleanup system to go into overdrive and then mistakenly destroy health connections.
When you get enough sleep and sleep normally, your brain relies on specialized cells to perform a nightly deep clean, through use of astrocytes and microglia.
Astrocytes are star shaped cells that act like miniature vacuums, which clean up worn out cellular debris and recycle old connections also known as synapse.
And microglia are cells that serve as your brain's dedicated immune cells and hunt down damaged waste and debris.
In a brain that is well rested, the cleanup is perfectly healthy, but when you're sleep deprived, astrocytes go into hyperdrive and instead of just vacuuming up the garbage, they begin to eat away at perfectly healthy and active synapses.
And the microglial immune cells become overactivated and triggers inflammation in the brain.
The organ that is affected by lack of sleep and sleep deprivation is the brain as well as the cardiovascular system.
Lack of sleep and sleep deprivation, affects nearly every organ in the body, although lack of sleep and sleep deprivation, mainly impacts and affects your brain and your cardiovascular system, which includes your heart and blood vessels.
Lack of sleep and sleep deprivation hampers your cognitive functions, which includes learning, memory, decision making and regulation of emotions.
Not getting enough sleep and sleep deprivation also disrupts your glymphatic system, which cleans out toxic waste products like amyloid-beta, which is also linked to Alzheimer's disease.
Chronic sleep deprivation and lack of sleep is also linked strongly to high blood pressure or hypertension, heart disease, stroke and even increased inflammation in the body, as your body misses the restorative low pressure resting state.
Your gut is also a major site of damage, when you lack sleep, as it causes reactive oxygen species or ROS to accumulate and leads to leaky gut or gastrointestinal damage.
And poor sleep is also linked strongly to non alcoholic fatty liver disease and can also lead to damage in your liver cells.
Sleep deprivation and lack of sleep also inhibits the production of cytokines and antibodies, which make your body more susceptible to infections and reduces your body's ability to fight off illnesses.
Lack of sleep and sleep deprivation also disrupts hormone levels, "rising ghrelin, falling leptin", which leads to increased appetite, insulin resistance and weight gain as well as a higher risk of Type 2 diabetes.
You can tell if you're sleep deprived by the signs and symptoms which include daytime sleepiness, persistent fatigue, slow reaction times, irritability, poor memory and concentration, hallucinations and increased risk of accidents.
Hallucinations and not being able to concentrate often occur when you experience a severe lack sleep or sleep deprivation
Severe, lack of sleep and severe sleep deprivation can result in microsleeps, which are involuntary naps, increased risk of accidents and hallucinations and the symptoms of lack of sleep often begin as mild symptoms, like increased hunger and morning exhaustion.
Your eyes can also look bloodshot and be swollen and red from a lack of sleep and you may also experience low energy, frequent yawning, muscle aches, feel more hungry than normal and have a weak immune system, which can lead to frequent illnesses like colds.
Sleep deprived eyes will look like they are swollen, red and tired.
Sleep deprived eyes and eyes when you have a lack of proper sleep also lead to the appearance of dark circles, puffy eyelids and sagging skin.
When you're sleep deprived and lack sleep, your eyes may also appear to be bloodshot as a result of dilated blood vessels and they may feel dry or itchy.
And you may also experience some involuntary twitching or spasms when you are lacking sleep.
Not getting enough sleep, not only affects your overall health and ability to function in the day, but it also can affect the look of your eyes and cause you to become dizzy and even cause blurry vision.
When you don't get enough sleep, the lack of sleep also causes blood vessels under the thin skin of your eyes to constrict, which then results in a dark, bruised appearance, also known as dark circles.
Without enough sleep, fluid also accumulates in the delicate skin tissues around your eye, which also leads to edema, also known as swelling, which results in puffy eyes.
And the lack of sleep or insufficient sleep also triggers inflammation and causes the tiny blood vessels in your eyes to dilate, which makes your eyes appear red.
And reduced collagen production from a lack of sleep or insufficient sleep can also cause the skin around your eyes to sag and cause your eyelids to droop.
And your eyes might also produce less tears, which lead to dryness, irritation and sensitivity to light when you don't get enough sleep.
Lack of sleep also can result in overstimulated muscles from fatigue, which often results in involuntary eyelid twitches also called myokymia.
Lack of sleep and poor sleep quality can also lead to temporary vision issues, like blurry vision or difficulty focusing.