You Snooze, You Win

Restorative sleep. Beauty sleep.  Good sleep hygiene. Safe and restful sleep…sleep…sleep.  Yeah, yeah, yeah.  We all know:  Sleep is good. And necessary. But how good?  And what – if anything — does sleep have to do to with a counterclockwise life?

Plenty.

And not just the obvious, as in the generalized mental and physical recuperative effects of adequate and good-quality slumber.

Here’s the latest word on sleep –not too much (more than 9 hours) but just enough (7-8 hours):

Sleep promotes and helps maintain sharper cognitive function, especially memory. Researchers have long known that lack of sleep impairs reasoning, problem-solving, and attention to detail, among other effects. However, the mechanisms behind sleep benefits in these areas have been unknown. Now University of Rochester Medical Center researchers have discovered a system that drains waste products from the brain. Cerebrospinal fluid, a clear liquid surrounding the brain and spinal cord, moves through the brain along a series of channels that surround blood vessels. The scientists reported that this brain lymph system can help remove a toxic protein called beta-amyloid from brain tissue. Beta-amyloid is renowned for accumulating in the brains of patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Other research has shown that brain levels of beta-amyloid decrease during sleep.  This is a mouse study…so don’t start jumping up and down (unless you are a rodent). But it is potentially good news.

Sleep contributes to a strong and healthy heart. A new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) links too little sleep (six hours or less) and too much sleep (10 or more hours) with chronic diseases — including coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes, high blood pressure, clogging of the arteries anxiety and obesity — in adults age 45 and older. In another study of more than 30,000 adults, those who slept approximately 7 hours a night were far less likely to develop heart disease that those who averaged 5 hours. Poor sleep appears to increase substances in your body, such as c-reactive protein, that indicate inflammation is a problem. Poor sleep also causes the body to produce more stress hormones, which may contribute to cardiovascular disease.

Sleep assists in weigh control.  Brain scans in healthy adults reveal that a good night’s sleep effects areas of the brain that regulate desire for high-calorie food. University of California/Berkeley researchers found that people deprived of a good night’s rest are more likely experience urges to eat fattening food.  The changes in food desirability encouraged by the sleep-deprived brain may originally have been an important adaptation, they say, adding – unnecessarily – that today they are “maladaptive and no longer benefit our health.”

So there you have it: Sleep as an anti-aging strategy.  Sleep in a cool, dark room.  Do not watch TV or use electronic devices right before bedtime (something about the particular light waves that are emitted).  Progressive muscle relaxation techniquees and deep breathing really work.  Are your eyelids getting heavy?