Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep isn't just the part of the night where you dream—it's also vital for your mental and physical health. When you fail to get enough REM sleep, you might notice negative effects, including memory problems, anxiety, and depression. You may also notice that you get sick more often than normal, as a lack of REM sleep can hinder your immune system's ability to fight off bacteria and viruses.
Here, we'll explore everything you need to know about REM sleep, including how much REM sleep you need to feel your best, how to know if you're getting enough REM sleep, and how you can use your sleep tracker and Evidation's data analysis tools to make the most of your shut-eye.
What is REM sleep?
During a typical night of sleep, your brain and body move through four sleep stages known as N1, N2 (light sleep), N3 (deep sleep), and rapid eye movement, or REM sleep (vivid dreaming). Each sleep stage is important and plays a crucial role in helping you to wake up feeling relaxed and refreshed.
REM sleep is named after the fast movements that your eyes make under your eyelids during this stage. For most people, the first cycle of REM sleep begins about 90 minutes after you initially enter the N1 (first) stage of the sleep cycle. Stages of REM sleep become longer and longer as the night goes on.
During REM sleep, your brain is very active—similarly to when you're awake. In addition to increased levels of brain activity, your body may also show increased activity in the form of an increased respiratory rate (faster breathing), a faster heartbeat, and a higher-than-normal level of muscle relaxation.
Some of the processes that occur during REM sleep include:
- Emotional processing: During this sleep stage, your brain processes and regulates emotions, which may help to alleviate stress.
- Memory consolidation: Your brain gets countless informational inputs each day, and your brain needs time to decide what to keep and what to forget, strengthening your memories as you sleep.
- Problem-solving: Researchers believe that REM sleep can facilitate problem-solving abilities by allowing the brain to draw connections between new ideas.
- Brain development: Plenty of REM sleep is especially important for infants and young children, as this sleep phase supports healthy brain development.
Researchers are still learning about what happens during REM sleep. It's thought that REM sleep is important for supporting certain types of learning, such as motor skills.
What happens if you don't get enough REM sleep?
Missing out on REM sleep can leave you feeling exhausted—and it can negatively affect your overall health.
One of the first things you might notice is trouble focusing or remembering things. REM sleep helps to turn your short-term memories into long-term memories. If you're not spending enough time in this sleep stage, you may find that it's harder to recall information.
You might also notice that you have trouble regulating your emotions when you're not getting enough REM sleep. Spending enough time in REM sleep can act as an emotional reset for your brain, helping you process feelings and handle stress in a healthy way.
While you're unlikely to notice serious negative physical health effects after a single poor night of sleep, missing out on REM sleep consistently over time can make it harder to stay healthy. In addition to lowering immune function, a lack of REM sleep can increase the likelihood of issues like weight gain, diabetes, and heart disease.
How much REM sleep do you need?
There are several factors that play a role in determining how much REM sleep you need, including age, gender, and health conditions. Most people feel their best when their REM sleep makes up 20-25% of total sleep time. For healthy adults, this means about 1.5 to 2 hours of your nightly 7 to 9 hours of sleep will be spent in REM cycles.
Since REM sleep cycles get longer as the night goes on, it's essential that you get a full night of sleep to maximize the time you spend in REM.
How to know if you're getting enough REM sleep
Even if you spend a healthy number of hours asleep each night, poor-quality sleep can cause you to miss out on complete REM cycles, which can leave you feeling exhausted. Staying up too late, dealing with excessive amounts of acute and/or chronic stress, and sleep disorders can all make it hard to get the amount of REM sleep you need to feel your best.
If you're feeling groggy when you wake up despite getting plenty of sleep, you're struggling with memory issues or having trouble concentrating, or you're struggling to regulate your emotions despite no new stressors, you may not be getting enough REM sleep.
Key tips to improve REM sleep
Ready to improve your sleep, wake up feeling more rested, and give your immune system the boost that it needs to help you stay healthy? Getting an appropriate amount of REM sleep can be your ticket to feeling strong and energized throughout the day.
Try these tips to support healthy REM sleep.
Create a nighttime routine
Engaging in calming activities before you go to bed can help set you up for a great night of sleep, including plenty of time spent in your REM cycles. Activities like reading, meditating, or taking a warm bath can all help signal to your brain that it's time to prepare for rest.
Limit alcohol and caffeine
While alcohol may make it easier to drift off initially, it can make it harder to get restful sleep. Avoiding alcohol altogether is best. If you're going to drink, be sure to stop at least a few hours before bedtime, and drink plenty of water. Caffeine can also disrupt your sleep. While it's unlikely that a morning cup of coffee (or two) will cause problems, it's a good idea to pay attention to the way that caffeine affects your sleep. Cutting off caffeinated drinks around noon can make it easier to fall and stay asleep.
Avoid screens before bed
While it can be relaxing to lay in bed and scroll through your favorite social media site, doing so can wreak havoc on healthy sleep patterns. When you use your phone, TV, or other screen devices, you're exposing yourself to blue light, making it more difficult for you to get restful sleep. Blue light suppresses melatonin, the hormone that regulates sleep.
Manage stress
We get it—life is stressful, and sometimes, that stress interferes with sleep. When stress levels get too high, your brain and body may struggle to spend enough time in your REM sleep cycles. Practicing stress-reducing techniques—like journaling, meditating, or practicing yoga—can help you reduce stress levels so you can get consistent, restful sleep.
Sleep tracking and Evidation: your great sleep duo
At Evidation, we use the data that you're already tracking (and choose to share with us) to find patterns and provide you with insights that can help you feel your best. When you choose to share health information with us, we use multiple data points to find and provide you with personalized, content-based insights you can use to drive your health forward.
Ready to get started? Click here to download the free Evidation app and learn more about what we do.
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