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Restorative Sleep

Meaning

Restorative Sleep is a clinical concept describing the essential quality of sleep necessary to facilitate optimal physical repair, cognitive consolidation, and metabolic reset, moving beyond mere duration to emphasize the depth and efficacy of the sleep architecture achieved. True restoration critically involves sufficient time spent in slow-wave sleep (SWS) and appropriate REM cycles to allow for tissue repair and memory encoding. Compromised restorative sleep directly impairs metabolic flexibility and disrupts the healthy diurnal rhythm of cortisol secretion.