Being a Healthy Nerd (Part 4) - Sleep

Resting and recovering the body

Sleep is one of the most underrated pillars of health. Especially in the United States, where people are constantly pressed for time - juggling jobs, family, side projects, hobbies - sleep often ends up at the bottom of the priority list. What does that look like in practice? Waking up early, staying up late, and telling yourself you'll catch up later, maybe on the weekends. But that "later" rarely comes.

The Culture of Bragging About Sleep Deprivation

Somehow, not getting enough sleep has become a weird badge of honor.

“Yeah, I stayed up until 1 AM playing video games. When did you go to bed? 10 PM? Okay, boomer.”

Sound familiar? I’m sure you’ve either said something similar or heard someone say something similar before.

It’s easy to brush off the consequences when you can wake up after 4 or 5 hours, chug a coffee or a Monster energy drink(not a sponsor), and function through the day. But functioning is not thriving. And the long-term damage of poor sleep is far more serious than most people realize.

Sleep: The Missing Link in Health

When we talk about health, we usually think of two things: diet and exercise. But sleep? It deserves to be a talking point for every human being, right alongside them.

So… what does sleep actually do?