If You Want to Be More Attractive & Optimize Your Weight, New Research Says Proper Sleep is Essential
by www.SixWise.com
Who doesn't love a great night's sleep, the kind where you wake up with a clear head and the radiant attitude to go with it? Well it turns out that, beyond providing you the drive to make the best of your day, a great night's sleep can also improve your ability to lose weight and keep it off, and help you look younger, too.
Therefore, if you belong to the 75 percent of Americans who-according to the National Sleep Foundation's 2005 Sleep in America poll -- experience symptoms of sleep problems including difficulty falling asleep, waking during the night, experiencing fatigue during waking hours, or snoring, take heed of the following concise advice for how to more effectively head to bed!
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Getting enough sleep keeps your skin from looking dull and fatigued.
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Sleeping Beauty
There's truth behind the cliché of beauty sleep. "Skimping on sleep makes your skin look dull and fatigued," says Deborah S. Sarnoff, M.D., a cosmetic dermatologist and associate clinical professor at New York University.
That's because sleeping gives your skin (and entire body) a chance to renew and rebuild. If you don't get enough sleep, your body won't have time to conduct all its repairs, which is why when you go through a sleepless night, you wake up with bags under your eyes, sullen skin and a not-so-bright attitude.
According to Nicholas V. Perricone, M.D., many people overlook the importance of a good night's sleep, " ... When you wake up in the morning after a good night's sleep you will look and feel radiant, vibrant, energized and youthful. When you look in the mirror you will notice that lines and wrinkles appear diminished. You will see decreased puffiness around the eyes, and your skin will project the luminous glow that comes with a decrease in age-accelerating, invisible inflammation," he says.
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Trouble sleeping? Try not to go over the day's events right before bedtime.
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Want to Lose Weight? Get Some Sleep
Many people have wished that they could lose weight while they sleep. This wish may not be too far-fetched. According to studies published in The Journal of the American Medical Association and The Lancet, not sleeping enough, or even not sleeping well, affects weight loss in two key ways.
1. Not sleeping makes you hungry. When you sleep, levels of the stress hormone cortisol are kept in check. But, if you don't sleep enough, your cortisol levels increase, which is bad for several reasons.
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It makes you feel hungry, even if you've eaten enough.
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It raises your blood sugar and insulin levels, leading to increased fat around your abdomen.
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It can affect your sleep patterns, leading to problems falling asleep and staying asleep.
- It can adversely affect your endocrine system, including the thyroid gland that regulates metabolism.
2. Adequate levels of growth hormone aren't released. When you sleep deeply, growth hormone is secreted, which is vital for repairing and rebuilding your body tissues. But, it also helps to combat the negative effects of cortisol. Writes Dr. Natasha Turner, vice president of natural medicine with Truestar Health, "Growth hormone naturally decreases with age and also with increased abdominal fat, leading to a vicious cycle of fatigue, excess stress hormone and increased abdominal fat."
How to Get a Great Night's Sleep
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Create a relaxing bedtime routine.
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Keep your bedroom cool, quiet and dark. Sleeping in complete darkness is necessary to optimize your release of melatonin, a hormone that encourages healthy sleep patterns and fights the negative effects of cortisol.
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Once you are in bed, listen to relaxing music or a relaxation or sleep CD, like the highly recommended Sleep Easy CD, to help you "shift gears" and relax into sleep.
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Drink a cup of relaxing tea, like chamomile.
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Massage your feet.
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Stretch a bit before you lie down.
Recommended Reading
Why Do We Need to Sleep? The Latest Fascinating Theories on This Mystery Phenomenon
Stress Keeping You Awake? Stressed Because You Can't Sleep?
Sources
Dr. Perricone's Skin Science Update
WebMD: Can't Shed Those Pounds?
Beauty Sleep
The National Sleep Foundation