How to Get More Deep Sleep: 4 Benefits of Deep Sleep

Deep sleep, or slow-wave sleep, is the third stage of non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep. Slow-wave sleep, characterized by low frequency and high-amplitude delta wave patterns, is where the most restful sleep occurs. During this sleep stage, brain activity and blood pressure slow, muscles relax, and your body begins to recover and repair itself. This sleep stage lasts for shorter periods as the night progresses and typically occurs during the first half of the night. Deep sleep is the last stage of NREM sleep before we complete the nightly sleep cycle by entering rapid eye movement (REM) sleep when dreaming takes place.

Deep sleep is important to our health and well-being because of the body processes related to brain health and function that take place during that stage. During deep sleep, our circadian rhythm (the 24-hour cycle that regulates bodily functions) reduces body temperature, while our blood pressure, metabolism, and heart rate drop by 10 to 20 percent.

Our pituitary gland releases growth hormones that help the body recover, while our brain waves change to a pattern known as delta waves. Each of these processes has a significant impact on our physical and mental health.

Deep sleep has many health benefits:

1. 1. Boosts memory consolidation and learning. By lowering our body temperature, blood pressure, and heart rate, deep sleep allows us to slow metabolism and conserve energy for the next day. This energy conservation promotes increased glucose metabolism, which helps with short- and long-term memory consolidation and learning.
2. 2. Increased growth and cell regeneration. When the pituitary gland releases human growth hormones, our bodies begin repairing muscle and tissue and regenerating cells. Deep sleep also allows for more cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) to flow into our bodies, which clears out cell waste. CSF also washes away beta-amyloid, a toxic protein linked to Alzheimer’s disease, from neurons in our brains.
3. 3. Immune system support. Studies show that deep sleep can strengthen our immune system, allow us to fight infection and illness, reduce inflammation, and boost the efficacy of vaccines.
4. 4. More energy. By conserving energy during deep sleep, you’ll have more energy upon waking the next day. Research has suggested that this may be due to increased adenosine triphosphate, which provides more energy to cells during deep sleep.

The amount of deep someone needs depends on their age and the total amount of sleep they receive per night. According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information, deep sleep makes up between three and eight percent of our total sleep. Scientific research has found that most adults need between seven and nine hours of sleep per night, enough to achieve deep sleep multiple times.

Age also factors into the amount of deep sleep we need at different stages of our lives. Babies and children tend to need more hours for a good night’s sleep, while the elderly get less deep sleep because our bodies produce less melatonin (a hormone that causes drowsiness) and growth hormones as we age.

Lack of deep sleep can make it difficult for us to create and maintain memories and retain new information. If you cannot achieve deep sleep regularly, your body will move more quickly through the sleep cycles until it reaches the third stage of non-REM sleep to activate those necessary body processes.

A lack of regular deep sleep can take a toll on your physical and mental health and is linked to a host of health problems. Sleep disorders, such as night terrors, sleepwalking, and narcolepsy, have connections to a lack of deep sleep.

Many of the steps required to get a night of healthy sleep can also help you achieve more deep sleep.

• Create a sleep schedule. Having a consistent sleep routine is among the best ways to get more deep sleep per night. Take note of your average bedtime, then establish a sleep schedule around it. A consistent routine, where bedtime and a state of wakefulness happen at the same times each day, can help you get additional slow-wave sleep.
• Increase total sleep. The body has to cycle through multiple stages before getting to NREM sleep. If you’re getting less than six hours of sleep per night, consider tacking on an additional hour or two of sleep to increase deep sleep.
• Add exercise to your routine. Studies show that people who exercise regularly have better sleep quality than those who do not, whether you’re engaging in cardio workouts, high-intensity interval training (HIIT), or another high-intensity exercise. Even 20 to 30 minutes of exercise a day can help reduce stress and make it easier for your body to fall asleep at night. Learn more about how exercise affects sleep quality.
• Find ways to relax. Taking a bath or shower before bed, reading a book, or meditating before turning out the lights can positively impact your ability to sleep. Avoid meals or stimulants—coffee, nicotine, sugary drinks—and alcohol before bedtime. Practice good sleep hygiene by creating a relaxed, dark environment, turning off electronic devices, and eliminating environmental noise before bed.
• Pink noise. Studies suggest that sound stimulation can help with deep sleep and that pink noise—random noises with a lower frequency than white noise—improves your deep sleep state. Pink noise may even lead to better memory retention upon achieving wakefulness.

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