Here’s Why You Need Eight Hours of Sleep

Proper diet and exercise are important to a healthy lifestyle but so is getting enough sleep. Just because the clocks lose an hour to Daylight Savings, it doesn’t mean you should too. Poor sleep schedules are linked to weight gain, heart disease, lack of concentration and more. Here are a few reasons to get some Zzz’s.

Sleep Helps With Weight Management When you don’t get enough sleep, you might start to feel hungry even when you’re not. This can lead to excessive snacking and overeating. Additionally, losing sleep means you have less energy and as a result, you’re more likely to rely on sugary, caffeinated beverages to make up for it. Lastly, when you’re well rested, you also have more energy to exercise. Therefore, getting enough sleep means you’ll be more likely to get yourself to the gym. Overall, adequate sleep helps keep those extra pounds off.

You’re Less Likely to Get Sick When we don’t get enough sleep, our immune function suffers. Several studies show that our t-cells decrease when we’re sleep deprived. T-cells are white blood cells that are vital to our immune system’s ability to fight specific pathogens and bacteria. Therefore, getting more sleep may lead to fewer sick days and a reduced chance of catching a cold or the flu.

You’ll Be in a Better Mood Just about everyone has experienced the grumpiness that comes with getting only a few hours of sleep. While it might seem like a no-brainer, getting more sleep puts you in a better mood. Adequate hours of sleep is linked to a decreased risk for symptoms of depression, nervousness and feeling restless. Therefore, sleep has a positive effect on your mental health.

You’ll Live Longer It turns out clocking more sleep might also mean you’ll be clocking more birthdays because people with healthy sleep cycles tend to live longer. Sleep deprivation is linked to major health problems like high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, cancer and other ailments, all of which can take years off your life.

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