5 Surprising Reasons To Get More Sleep

Of course, ia a less busy world we'd all grad extra shut-eye. But it could have more effect on your health than you think.

It Could Make You Thinner

Research in Virginia has found that the less sleep you get, the higher your body mass index tends to be. A Bristol study may have the explanation: people who sleep five hours a night were found to have 15% more ghrelin (a hormone that boosts hunger) in their bodies and 15% less leptin (which suppresses it) than those sleeping eight hours.

It Could Boost Your Memory

Sleep plays a key role in making new memories stick in the brain. A Harvard experiment showed that subjects taught complex finger movements like a piano scale recalled them much better after 12 hour's sleep than 12 hour's wakefulness. Another study showed that working into the night slowed thinking skills, both at the time and during the next day.

It Boost The Immune System

A study erderly people suffering depression found that those with disturbed sleep had fewer disease-fighting cells in their blood. Moreover, melatonin produced when you sleep is a cancer-fighting antioxidant. Night shift workers whose may have up to 70 times greater risk of breast cancer.

It Can Slow Down Ageing

Persistent sleep debt has been shown to affect carbohydrate metabolism and hormone function in a way that may increase the severity of age-related chronoc disorders. In fact, a large scale study concluded that people who sleep 6-7 hours a night lived longer than those sleeping less than 4-5 hours.

It Could Keep You On The Straight And Narrow

If you're a child, that is. The depression and low self esteem often associated with just being a teenager actually correlate with sleep shortage. And young kids who sleep poorly are more than twice as likely to take to drink and drugs in adolescence.

Source: RD Asia