By Dr. Michelle Irwin

We all know that sleep is important, but it is more than just being able to stay awake during the workday. Sleep is when our body recovers and even heals itself the most. Research shows that during sleep our immune system is actively fighting infection and some research shows an increase of the immune cells that fight cancer.

Since our immune system works on a 24-hour cycle, just as we do, it is important to know how to get the quality sleep schedule that works best for you. The research right now recommends 7-8 hours for adults, 9-10 for teenagers, and 10 or more hours for younger children. The earlier you can fall asleep the better quality you get; it has been shown that 1 hour of sleep before midnight is equivalent to 2 hours post-midnight.

Importantly in our world today while we are still learning to live with new novel viruses along with those we have had for centuries, studies show that people who don't get quality sleep or enough sleep are more likely to get sick after being exposed to a virus. Whether you are getting enough sleep or not impacts how quickly recovery happens. This is because certain immune cells are released during sleep which are essential for fighting off infection or inflammation and even to combat stress. When we don't get enough sleep the infection-fighting antibodies and cells are reduced, and we are more susceptible to viral and bacterial overload leading to prolonged illness. However, when we are ill our sleep is disrupted as well because of the work the immune system is having to do, so it is important to get good quality sleep at all times to stay healthy rather than waiting for infection to take hold, much like eating right and exercising to stay healthy. Sleep is just as important to our overall health.

One easy tip to put into place right away for better sleep is to stop any visual electronic use 30 minutes prior to going to bed and reduce background noise such as the TV or radio station. I used to fall asleep to the TV or music with lyrics, but I found that when I switched to ocean sounds or white-noise I got better sleep. Personally, I need some constant and consistent noise to drown out the sounds of the world outside my room to sleep and with delta wave mediation and a fan I sleep sound.

If you feel that you need more help with sleep because you have inflammation or your mind just races try our CBD Sleep Line. The CBD we use has little to no THC so it is safe for most professionals and we also carry a tincture with isolates only so there is no THC to be detected on testing for those professionals who require that. CBD is a natural way to get help your body reach a deep state of relaxation and sleep.