Sleep and Age - (or actually don't age!)

A youthful appearance is closely correlated to the number of hours of sleep you get.  So, in my pursuit for healthy aging, sleep has been a reoccurring theme.  Let's get to the bottom of this connection so that we can start to value our sleep and build a better outlook for tomorrow.

As a child, you needed between 10 and 14 hours of sleep.  The 1 year old needs 12-14, then the need decreases and kids ages 5-12 only need 10-11.  Teens need at least 9 and adults 7-8.  The requirement does not change as the hair color goes white.  Seniors, although many sleep quite little, still need 7-8 hours, according to the National Sleep Foundation.

"Good sleep is essential for optimal brain health.  It is involved in rejuvenating all the cells in your body, gives brain cells a chance to repair themselves, and activates neuronal connections that might otherwise deteriorate due to inactivity...As you get older, sleep patterns tend to change and you typically find it harder to fall asleep and stay asleep.  This can speed up the brain's aging process at a time when you really want to hang on to every brain cell you have." (D.Amen, MD)

Sleep deprivation is also correlated to obesity.  Studies demonstrate that sleep deprivation and the consumption of simple carbs (those that quickly break down into sugar in the system) are tied.  When subjects in a University of Chicago study slept only 4 hours per night, they were more likely to eat candy, cake and cookies than fruits and vegetables.  Physiologically speaking, the ratio of 2 hormones (ghrelin and leptin) involved in appetite are controlled by sleep. When this ratio is impacted by sleep deprivation, too much ghrelin is present signaling to the brain that you are hungry and not enough leptin is present to signal that you are full.  Bad combo!   Another study from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition demonstrated that subjects who slept only 5.5 hours consumed an average of 221 more calories in high-carb snacks than when the same subjects got 8.5 hours of sleep.  

The benefits of sleep are many:  weight loss, weight control, prevention of weight related diseases (diabetes, metabolic syndrome), prevention of alzheimer's disease and depression and reduction in symptoms of ADD.  Other benefits include improved mental health, improved pain, and improved skin.  It's no wonder why sleep impacts a youthful appearance.  Given this information, isn't it time you get some sleep?