Ashwin Lewis
When you're sick, your body needs more sleep than usual. Sleep is important for your body's recovery and repair, and it's also when certain immune processes take place that can help your body fight off an illness. The body's immune system functions more efficiently when you're sleeping, and feeling sleepy or tired when you're sick is a sign that your body needs to focus its energy on fighting the illness.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Sleep helps the body | Repair itself |
| Sleep helps the body | Fight off infection |
| Sleep helps the body | Bolster the immune system |
| Lack of sleep | Decreases immunity |
| Lack of sleep | Makes you more susceptible to illness |
| Sleep helps the body | Recover |
| Sleep helps the body | Focus its energy on fighting illness |
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What You'll Learn
Sleep helps the body's immune system to function more efficiently
Raj Dasgupta, a quadruple board-certified physician who specializes in sleep, says that "the body's immune system functions much more efficiently when you're sleeping". He adds that feeling sleepy or tired when you're sick is a sign that your body needs to focus its energy on fighting the illness.
There are certain immune processes that take place while you sleep that can help your body fight off illness. A lack of sleep has been shown to decrease immunity and make you more susceptible to additional illnesses, so getting enough sleep when you're sick is important for a robust immune system.
When you're sick, you may find yourself dozing in bed or on the couch all day. It's normal to feel tired and lethargic when you're sick, and sleeping is one way your body tells you to slow down and rest so you can get healthy. While there's no set amount of sleep you should get when you're sick, the more sleep you can get, the better. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine and Sleep Research Society recommend that people with illnesses get more than nine hours of sleep on a regular basis.
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Sleep gives the body time to repair itself
When we sleep, our bodies work hard to recover and repair themselves. This is exactly what we need when we're sick. As Dasgupta explains, the body uses a lot of energy to fight off infection. When we sleep while we're sick, it can focus more energy on getting better instead of diverting resources to move our bodies and get us through our typical daily tasks.
Sleep also helps to bolster the body's ability to fight off illness. Certain immune processes take place while we sleep, which can help our bodies to fight off infection. A lack of sleep has been shown to decrease immunity and make us more susceptible to additional illnesses, so it's important to get enough sleep when we're sick to give our bodies the best chance of recovery.
There's no set amount of sleep that we should aim for when we're sick, but the general advice is "the more sleep you can get when you're sick, the better". According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and Sleep Research Society, aiming for more than nine hours of sleep when you're sick is a good target.
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Sleep helps the body to fight off infection
When you're sick, your body needs more sleep than usual. Sleep helps the body to fight off infection by allowing it to focus its energy on recovery and repair. As Raj Dasgupta, a quadruple board-certified physician who specializes in sleep, explains, "The body's immune system functions much more efficiently when you're sleeping, and feeling sleepy or tired when you're sick is a sign that your body needs to focus its energy on fighting the illness."
Sleep gives your body time to repair itself, which is essential when you're sick. When you're asleep, your body can devote more energy to getting better, rather than using that energy to move your body and get through your daily tasks. Certain immune processes that bolster your body's ability to fight off illness only take place while you're asleep.
A lack of sleep has been shown to decrease immunity and make you more susceptible to additional illnesses. So, when you're sick, it's important to listen to your body and get as much sleep as you can. There's no set amount, but the more sleep you can get, the better. Aiming for more than nine hours of sleep per night is a good target, according to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and Sleep Research Society.
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Sleep can help to prevent additional illnesses
Indeed, a lack of sleep has been shown to decrease immunity and make you more susceptible to additional illnesses. When we sleep, our bodies can focus more energy on getting better instead of diverting resources to move our bodies and get us through our typical daily tasks.
Sleep gives your body time to repair itself, which you need when you’re sick. When you get sleepy, it forces you to slow down and give your body the time it needs to heal. There are also certain immune processes that take place while you sleep that can bolster your body’s ability to fight off an illness.
When you have an illness, sleeping can help support the immune processes your body uses to fight an infection. You may need more sleep than you otherwise would. When you’re sick, you may find yourself dozing in bed or on the couch all day. It can be frustrating, but it’s normal to feel tired and lethargic when you’re sick. In fact, sleeping when you’re sick is essential. It’s one way your body tells you to slow down and rest, so you can get healthy.
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Sleep helps the body to recover
Raj Dasgupta, a quadruple board-certified physician who specializes in sleep, says: "The body's immune system functions much more efficiently when you're sleeping, and feeling sleepy or tired when you're sick is a sign that your body needs to focus its energy on fighting the illness."
There are certain immune processes that take place while we sleep that can bolster our body's ability to fight off an illness. A lack of sleep has been shown to decrease immunity and make us more susceptible to additional illnesses, so the body's need for more sleep when we're sick is important for a robust immune system.
When we're sick, we may find ourselves dozing in bed or on the couch all day. It can be frustrating, but it's normal to feel tired and lethargic when we're sick. In fact, sleeping when we're sick is essential. It's one way our body tells us to slow down and rest, so we can get healthy.
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Frequently asked questions
Feeling tired when you're sick is your body's way of telling you to slow down and rest. Your body needs to focus its energy on fighting the illness.
There's no set amount, but the more sleep you can get, the better. Aim for more than nine hours.
Sleep gives your body time to repair itself and fight off infection. Certain immune processes take place while you sleep that can help your body fight illness.
