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Sleep is the fundamental anabolic
process common to all life forms, plant and animal.
All animal organisms go through sleeping and wakeful cycles just
like you do. However it is not clear that plants do. It is believed
by many people that plants may exist in a constant sleep, or
anabolic, phase. No one has ever been able to show that plants
experience an awake state, and they do not act awake, at least not
in our sense of the word.
For human beings, as with any other animals, sleep is primarily a
time to allow our bodies to heal and to grow. The anabolic period is
when we digest the food we ate during our awake, or catabolic,
phase. Each of the activities you do during the day you exhaust or
destroy complex proteins as you use them for energy. While you are
sleeping your body is taking the simple substances (carbohydrates or
proteins and vitamins) you ate and turning them into more of these
complex proteins. Such proteins are what make up your tissues. The
processes which go one within your body while you are sleeping do
not require you to be conscious. However, sleeping is very different
from a coma or other levels of unconsciousness. For example, sleep
can always be interrupted. While you are sleeping all of your organs
remain very active.
Everyone goes through a cyclical pattern of sleeping, waking, and
sleeping again. Some studies have shown that the natural cycle for
most humans is generally one full day or a little bit more (up to an
hour and a half more sometimes). These daily cycles are regulated by
hormones produced in your hypothalamus, as well as many external
stimuli (ie. the level of sunlight you are being exposed to). The
levels of certain hormones released by the brain into the human body
seem to vary according to anabolic and catabolic phases. For
example, Melatonin is usually higher during periods of the anabolic
phase. Levels of hypo cretin rise between the transition from
sleeping to being awake. Similarly, Adenosine seems to rise during
the catabolic phase and then decrease while you sleep. Adenosine
plays a part in many biochemical processes. However, although your
body does function in a cyclical pattern of sleeping and waking,
many people do sleep many times during the day for short periods,
such as in a nap. Such short periods of sleep are entirely normal.
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