We've all heard the term "beauty sleep" and have probably noticed the difference in our skin after a good night's sleep and a bad one. But what exactly happens to the skin during those hours of shut-eye?
During sleep, the body literally regenerates itself and this regeneration has its own complex schedule. Soon after we fall asleep, certain processes take place that are quite different from those that happen after a few hours of sleep. (This is why waking up in the middle of the night and not being able to fall back to sleep is so disruptive to the following day's schedule. Our bodies have undergone only part of the renewal necessary for proper function the following day.)
During the six phases of sleep, the body undergoes a myriad of functions. During the third and fourth phase of deep sleep (each lasting on average 100 minutes), growth hormones are secreted. These hormones help repair and rebuild the tissues of the body, including the skin. During this deep sleep, or Delta sleep, the body's cells increase production, and reduce breakdown, of proteins. This includes the skin's supportive structures, collagen and elastin. Any damage that the skin has incurred, such as that caused by ultraviolet light, is repaired during this phase of sleep. The skin's antioxidant activity also increases, reducing damage from free radicals.
One or two nights of disrupted sleep won't affect your skin in the long term. However, missing out on one or two hours sleep nightly will age the skin more rapidly. Chronic lack of sleep also increases the production of the stress hormone, cortisol, which further reduces the skin's ability to regenerate and restore itself.
So there perhaps is one of the answers to increasing production of collagen in the skin. Make sure you aren't sleep deprived. I know I get only 6.5 to 7 hours a night, and should be making the effort to get more. By the way, if you are finding yourself wide awake in the wee hours and unable to get back to sleep, try taking one or two of those little pink Gravol pills before you go to bed. I find they keep me from waking and, if I do happen to wake up to go to the loo or something, I fall right back to sleep.
The fact your skin actively replenishes itself and rebuilds protein structures during sleep is why you need to supply it with the building blocks to do so. So make sure your night cream is rich in elements such as CoQ10, vitamins A, C and E, and amino acids such as carnosine to further help the renewal process.
