Sleep tight

A few more words on sleep, along with a few more pictures.

Studies have shown that sleep capacity—how long you’ll sleep if you go to bed and get up whenever you want—is about 8 hours and 45 minutes for healthy young males (the group that’s been researched most). In three separate studies, that amount varied less than 30 minutes from person to person.

But most of us get less: 58% of us sleep 5 to 7 hours a night. It’s been mentioned that stress hormones and sleep are related, as are low mood with less sleep. “Positive moods are lower in people with sleep loss,” says Eve Van Cauter, PhD, professor of medicine at the University of Chicago.

Sleep deprivation can also affect how your body handles insulin; insulin resistance puts you at risk for weight gain and diabetes. In a study that’s still under way, Van Cauter and her colleagues are looking at chronic sleep loss in a group of normal-weight men and women under age 30. Over 6 months, those who slept fewer than 6.5 hours a night were more insulin-resistant than normal sleepers who logged 7.5 to 8 hours per night. The short sleepers, the study shows so far, need to produce 30 to 40 percent more insulin to dispose of the same amount of glucose. (http://www.health.com/health)

So, may you sleep tight tonight: knowing that you’re doing your body and psyche good!