Hi there, it's Matt here and welcome back to the show.

Today we're going to do something a little bit different relative to what we've spoken about in the past.

Many of us perhaps think of deep non-REM sleep as the stage that is dedicated to our body for restoration and repair.

Whilst REM sleep, on the other hand, with its fervent and active brain activity, is often seen

as the sole beneficial for the mind. But is that really true? Is REM sleep dream sleep only for your brain

and not for your body? Well, in today's episode, I'm going to challenge that notion and I hope I'm

able to reveal what is the remarkable truth, the honest story of REM sleep,

which is that REM sleep is absolutely and richly necessary for nearly all of our body functions.

And today we're going to explore how REM sleep, far from being just a brain-centric phenomenon,

plays a vical and in fact multifaceted role in maintaining and enhancing nearly every aspect of physical

well-being. And this is going to include the following. Testosterone regulation,

growth hormone secretion, muscle paralysis that gives way to muscle benefits, heart rate

variability benefits, penile and clitoral erections, protein synthesis, and immune system enhancement.

In the previous episodes on REM sleep, I've spoken a lot about REM sleep for the brain,

and we've spoken about things such as learning and memory, creativity, memory association,

and then we've also spoken about how REM sleep provides a separate

role as a form of overnight therapy, a form of emotional first aid. But now let's move south

of the neck, as it were, and let's move into the body. And I'll start with testosterone release. In terms of a basic

understanding, testosterone is a hormone, and it's essential for things like muscle mass,

for bone density, and libido. And it peaks during sleep. But what many of you may not realize is that when it especially peaks in terms of its

concentration is during, drumroll, REM sleep.

Now, testosterone does follow a circadian rhythm, and sleep is crucial for that regulation component.

...