What Are the Benefits of REM Sleep?

We all sleep — it’s one of the most basic human necessities, but whether or not we’re getting enough REM sleep is a whole different matter. REM sleep plays a crucial role in your well-being. Your brain uses REM sleep to engage in vital processes such as dreaming, emotional processing, and memory consolidation.

Reducing your total sleep time often leads to REM deficits. For example, people who suffer from insomnia may miss out on critical REM cycles because REM sleep typically occurs in longer periods during the later part of the night. Unfortunately, chronic REM deprivation is associated with several mental and physical health issues.

Millions of people across the country suffer from sleep issues like insomnia. In fact, over a quarter of Americans report sleeping less than seven hours on average — the minimum recommended. Plus, almost half of the country reports feeling tired during the day multiple times a week.

In this article, we’ll discuss the various benefits of REM sleep and what happens if you don’t get enough. We’ll also share some tips for improving your REM sleep so you can build a healthier sleep routine.

Benefits of REM and Deep Sleep

REM sleep is key to supporting healthy brain development and overall cognitive function. During this sleep stage, your brain gets busy processing what happened during the day and storing important information in your long-term memory. This has significant effects on learning, memory, and emotional regulation.

During REM sleep, your mind is working away while your body is in a deep slumber. All this cognitive work results in several benefits. Here are some of the most crucial benefits of REM sleep:

• Memory Consolidation: During REM sleep, your brain processes new information and experiences from your day and commits it to your long-term memory.
• Enhanced Learning: Getting enough REM sleep helps you learn, recall information, and think clearly. REM is particularly important for learning motor skills.
• Emotional Regulation: Your brain also processes emotions during REM, which may help you better manage your feelings and emotions.
• Mental Health Support: Studies suggest REM sleep disruptions are associated with mental health disorders and neurodegenerative diseases.
• Immune System Support: REM sleep can help boost your immune system by triggering hormone production and regulating body temperature.
• Dreaming: REM sleep is when you do most of your dreaming, which is important for creativity, problem-solving, and memory processing.

On the other hand, chronic REM sleep deprivation may lead to various mental and physical health issues, including mood disturbances and difficulty concentrating. One study even found that REM sleep fragmentation is associated with a higher risk of depression in people with insomnia, suggesting that disruptions to REM sleep may contribute to mood disorders.

Getting enough REM sleep is crucial for your mental health and well-being, but sleeplessness or disrupted sleep patterns can prevent you from spending enough time in this critical stage. Let’s explore a few strategies you can try to improve your REM sleep.

How to Improve REM Sleep

The key to improving your REM sleep is to focus on overall sleep quantity and quality. Your biological rhythm can be disturbed in many ways, but there are steps you can take to get back on track. Here are some tips to improve REM sleep: 

• Develop a sleep schedule and stick to it. 
• Try to avoid caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine intake (especially before bedtime).
• Set up a relaxing sleep routine that allows your body to wind down before bedtime.
• Exercise regularly, even if it’s just taking a walk down the block.
• Create a cozy environment for sleep with no bright lights, a comfortable temperature, and no TV, cellphones, or laptop.
• If you can’t fall asleep, try a relaxing activity like reading, meditating, or listening to relaxing music until you feel sleepy.

These healthy sleep habits can help you restore an irregular sleep cycle and increase the amount of time you spend getting high-quality shut-eye. Note that REM sleep isn’t the only beneficial sleep stage. The average sleep cycle goes through four to six cycles of REM and non-REM sleep, both which are essential to your health.

This is the the difference between non-REM sleep and REM sleep:

• Non-REM Sleep: This part of the cycle is divided into three phases. In the first, you are relaxed but might be easily awakened. The second phase prepares your body for deeper sleep by lowering your heart rate and temperature level. In the third phase, you’re officially a deep sleeper, while your body works to repair the body and strengthen the immune system.
• REM Sleep: REM stands for Rapid Eye Movement. During this cycle, your eyes might move and dart quickly beneath your eyelids, along with increased brain activity and a quickened pulse. This is also when dreaming occurs.

Implementing strategies to fall asleep faster and stay asleep through the night will increase the amount of beneficial REM and non-REM sleep you get. Natural sleep remedies like CBD and CBN can also help improve your sleep cycle — more on this below.

Does CBD Affect REM Sleep?

CBD appears to affect REM sleep latency, or the amount of time it takes to reach the REM stage of sleep. Research shows that high CBD doses can increase REM latency while moderate doses reduce REM latency. This suggests that mid-range doses of CBD can help you reach REM faster and improve the quality of your sleep.

Keep in mind we’re still waiting on conclusive results from dozens of studies that could help illuminate the intricate relationship between CBD and sleep (specifically REM sleep).

Preliminary results suggest that CBD may help with sleep disorders that affect millions, including insomnia, REM sleep behavior disorder, and excessive daytime sleepiness disorder. Other research has shown CBD may lower stress levels, which can result in better sleep.

Does CBN Affect REM Sleep?

Like CBD, CBN can improve REM sleep. Studies show that CBN causes a decrease in REM sleep initially, but leads to an increase in REM sleep four hours after ingestion. This suggests that CBN can help you sleep longer and maximize beneficial REM periods later in the night.

CBN is also known for being the most sedating cannabinoid in cannabis. Studies are yet to be concluded, but as always, they bring promising results. Initial studies on CBN suggest the compound offers improved sleep quality, pain relief, and anti-inflammation benefits.

Try CBD and CBN for Enhanced REM Sleep

Who doesn’t like a treat before bed? Even better, who wouldn’t love a treat before bed that helps them sleep quicker and deeper? We’ve got just the thing: FOCL Full Spectrum CBD + CBN Sleep Gummies. Each melt-in-your-mouth chew has 25 mg of premium CBD and another 15 mg of CBN so you can enjoy the extra support to get restful sleep, calm the body and mind, and doze off in no time.

Our FOCL gummies are backed by a 29-day sleep study with impressive results — 87% of participants reported FOCL Deep Sleep is the best sleep aid they’ve ever tried. Check out our CBD gummies and learn how our potent formula can improve your REM cycle.