Do you think you got enough sleep this past week?
Can you recall the last time you woke up without an alarm clock feeling refreshed, not needing caffeine?
If the answer to either of these questions is “no,” you are not alone.
Two-thirds of adults in all developed nations fail to obtain the recommended eight hours of nightly sleep.
I doubt you are surprised by this fact, but you may be surprised by the consequences.
Routinely sleeping less than six or seven hours a night demolishes your immune system,
More than doubling your risk of cancer
Is a key lifestyle factor determining whether or not you will develop Alzheimer’s disease
Even moderate reductions for just one week—disrupts blood sugar levels so profoundly that you would be classified as pre-diabetic.
Short sleeping increases the likelihood of your coronary arteries becoming blocked and brittle, setting you on a path toward cardiovascular disease, stroke, and congestive heart failure.
And, contributes to all major psychiatric conditions, including depression, anxiety, and suicidality.
Perhaps you have also noticed a desire to eat more when you’re tired? This is no coincidence. Too little sleep swells concentrations of a hormone that makes you feel hungry while suppressing a companion hormone that otherwise signals food satisfaction.
Despite being full, you still want to eat more. It’s a proven recipe for weight gain in sleep-deficient adults and children alike. Worse, should you attempt to diet but don’t get enough sleep while doing so, it is futile, since most of the weight you lose will come from lean body mass, not fat.
Add the above health consequences up, and a proven link becomes easier to accept: the shorter your sleep, the shorter your life span.
The old maxim “I’ll sleep when I’m dead” is therefore unfortunate. Adopt this mindset, and you will be dead sooner and the quality of that (shorter) life will be worse.