Sleeping has never been healthier. [b]• It boosts your immune system • It makes you smarter • It helps you look better • It increases concentration • It makes you a nicer person • How to get a good night’s sleep[/b] The alarm goes off and as you fumble groggily for the snooze button, you promise yourself that this evening will be different, and that you will get those blissful eight hours of shut-eye. Yet by 11 pm, you don’t feel that tired, and a really good film has just started on TV… If this sounds like a familiar scenario, it’s time to wake up to the health, beauty and feel-good benefits of sleep. If you’re not snoozing, you’re losing. Even missing a few hours of sleep can have an effect. It accumulates over time and it is estimated that a sleep debt of ten hours or more will affect performance. But there’s no need to overdo it. Doctors discovered that sleeping for nine or more hours a night is not necessarily beneficial. Just like having that second slice of cake, or finishing the packet of biscuits, oversleeping is another manifestation of our inherent greed! Stick to the recommended 7 – 8 hours. [b]It boosts your immune system [/b] Researchers in Germany found that among a group of volunteers vaccinated against hepatitis A infection, those who got a good night’s sleep afterwards showed a stronger immune response to the vaccine. Dr. Jan Born and colleagues repeatedly measured levels of hepatitis A antibodies in the blood of 19 men and women until 28 days after vaccination. Half of the group got a full night’s sleep after being immunised, while the rest were kept awake that night and the following day until evening. Four weeks later, the well-rested group on average had nearly twice the antibody level of the sleep-deprived group, although the sleepless group still had a strong enough antibody response to be effective. (Source: Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine Sept/Oct 2003) [b]It makes you smarter[/b] Got an exam? Getting a good night’s sleep could prove more fruitful than staying up several nights and cramming. We might learn new things during the day but night time is when it all sinks in, as our brains process the information. A recent study by Harvard Medical School found that people who slept after learning and practising a new task remembered more about it the following day than people who stayed up all night learning the same thing. But don’t worry – the occasional poor night’s sleep will not cause any long-term effects. [b]It helps you look better[/b] They don’t call it beauty sleep for nothing! You can spend a fortune on skin creams and watch your diet, but you need your sleep for glowing skin. When you’re fast asleep, the body goes into repair mode and regenerates skin, blood and brain cells, as well as muscles. As we well know, dark circles around the eyes can be one of the first signs of disturbed sleeping patterns. [b]It increases concentration[/b] Those suffering from sleep deprivation suffer from irritability and reduced concentration. You are more likely to make mistakes and have a slower reaction time. [b]It’ll make you a nicer person[/b] The most potent effects of sleep deprivation are on behaviour. Lack of sleep will make you cranky, aggressive and unsociable. Taken to extremes, severe sleep deprivation causes disorientation and paranoia. To sum it all. Sleeping 8 hrs. a day is really healthy. Nice isnt it.