Why We Sleep

In Chapter 6, Walker starts off with a fictitious ad about an “amazing breakthrough” (107) that increases your life span, memory retention, and creative abilities. It prevents weight gain and makes you more attractive. It decreases your likelihood of catching a cold or the flu or developing cancer, dementia, and Alzheimer’s disease. It lowers the risk of diabetes, stroke, and heart attacks. Individuals will also feel happier, less anxious, and less depressed. Are you interested in trying this breakthrough? Do all of these aforementioned wonderful benefits raise your suspicion about the breakthrough’s accuracy and truthfulness? As Walker reveals, this ad is not describing a new drug, but the scientifically proven benefits of eight hours of nightly sleep. Humans all too often shun sleep. Yet, it is the “most powerful elixir of wellness and vitality” (339). Walker’s primary goal of this book, which the title illustrates, is to help readers reunite with sleep to unlock its health, wellness, creative, and therapeutic powers.

In Part 2, Walker describes the numerous functions of the brain and body that sleep restores. For example, sleep helps regulate weight. Sleep-deprived individuals will consume more calories each day compared to their well-rested counterparts. Scaling up this extra calorie consumption means that individuals are consuming more than 70,000 extra calories a year, which translates to 10 to 15 pounds of weight gain.