Get A Good Night's Sleep

What’s the harm in getting by on less sleep? Plenty, according to scientists who are just beginning to understand the importance of sleep.

How Much Sleep Do You Need?
While there’s no magic number, experts recommend that adults get seven to nine hours of sleep a night. If you are drowsy or tired during the day, you might not be getting the amount of sleep you need. Try adding 1/2 to one hour of sleep to your nightly routine and see how you feel.

Sleepy? Meet Grumpy.
Sleep has a powerful impact on mood. In a University of Pennsylvania study, subjects slept only 4.5 hours a night for one week and felt stressed, angry, irritable, sad and mentally exhausted. Their moods improved dramatically when they resumed normal sleep patterns.

Body at Work.
Body tissue repair and muscle growth take place almost exclusively during sleep. Plus, good sleep habits protect you from other health problems. Blood pressure usually falls during the sleep cycle—skimping on sleep can alter that process and lead to high blood pressure and cardiovascular problems. Too little sleep also seems to harm your body’s ability to use insulin, which can lead to diabetes.

Sleep Less. Weigh More.
The risk of obesity goes up if you regularly get less than seven hours of sleep a night. One University of Chicago study found that after a night of not getting enough sleep, people consumed significantly more calories from snacks and carbohydrates than they did after getting eight hours of sleep. Another study found that sleepdeprived people ate 20 percent more food per day than when they were well-rested. Studies show that not getting enough sleep lowers a hormone that keeps your appetite in check and raises a hormone that causes food cravings.

More Sleep. Fewer Colds.
A recent study showed that people who averaged less than seven hours of sleep a night were about three times more likely to develop cold symptoms when exposed to the cold-causing rhinovirus than those who got eight or more hours of sleep.

Take the next step: 8 Simple Steps for Better Sleep.

Traveling across time zones? Plan now to avoid jet lag.

Want to make more positive health changes? See Change 1 Thing.