The Promise Of A Good Night’s Sleep

We know that we’re sleep deprived, and the research shows it. 25% of the U.S. population does not get enough sleep. We stay up too late, work past reasonable bed times, sometimes we even work in bed, we play on our computer and FaceBook and Twitter and email, and it’s endless. We think that sleep isn’t that important; we can get by with less. And we can.

The problem is: we’re just getting by. We’re not doing our best work. We’re compromising our ability to do better. Since when is mediocrity good enough?

According to the latest issue of SLEEP (a journal by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and Sleep Research Society), sleeping less that 7 hours per night on a regular basis is not good news for your health. You kind of knew that, didn’t you? It leads to weight gain and obesity, diabetes, hypertension, stroke, heart disease, depression, and the big one: increased risk of DEATH. If that weren’t bad enough, a regular routine of sleeping less than 7 hours increases your chances of impaired immune function, increased pain, pitiful performance, more accidents and lack of clarity in thinking. Less sleep does you no favors. And you feel like crap the next day. Still, we persist in thinking it’s a waste of time. We could be working and playing more. Disillusioning ourselves that we feel like crap, but it’s ok.

We need sleep. It allows our brain to rest, recover, and process the day. Some hormones only function during restful sleep, and without them, we put our health at risk. See the part about DEATH up above.

Sleeping more than 9 hours a night doesn’t seem to buy us anything, unless we’re sick, catching up on sleep deprivation, or 8 years old. Darken and cool down your bedroom, turn off electronic devices an hour before bedtime, try some relaxing tea or hot chocolate (not alcohol), or read something useful. You become smarter, and reading may put you to sleep, so you get some rest, so you are healthier and live longer.

That’s Aging Intelligently.