Even today, the real importance and science of sleep is not
fully understood. We do understand that sleep is a building
process for the body, restoring the energy of the body and mind.
During sleep is when our body also repairs damage and rebuilds
muscle tissue. The body also secretes important growth hormones
during sleep, which is important throughout adulthood. A number
of breakthroughs have occurred in recent years shedding light on
why we need sleep and what it does for the body and mind. There
are actually a number of theories about why we need sleep. An
early theory is the inactivity theory, which states that
inactivity during the night is a natural adaption that keeps
animals out of danger during times when they are most likely to
be hurt. The energy conservation theory, on the other hand,
suggests that sleep conserves important resources and allows
animals to remain competitive. Science does show that our
metabolism does reduce up to 10% during sleep. Finally, the
brain plasticity theory is based on