Are you productive, healthy and happy on seven hours of sleep? Or does it take nine hours of quality ZZZs to get you into high gear?
“Beauty” sleep is not just an old wives’ tale. The experts agree, if you want healthy, younger-looking skin you need to get at least seven hours of good sleep. It’s important to pay attention to your own individual needs by assessing how you feel on different amounts of sleep. If you sleep poorly at night and you’ll feel it all day long. It’s not a pretty picture. You’ve got brain fog. You’re forgetful. You’re sleepwalking through the day, nodding off at meetings and dozing through evening activities. So yes, not enough sleep can wreck your day…..and your skin.
As you sleep:
- Your body produces the protein collagen that keeps skin strong and elastic.
- Blood flow to your skin increases late at nights, so the creams and lotions you use will absorb more efficiently.
- Your body also rehydrates when you sleep, machining fine lines and wrinkles less visible.
When you don’t get enough sleep:
- Your eyes look dark and puffy after even a single night of poor sleep.
- Chronic sleep deprivation leads to a dull, dehydrated complexion and can wreak havoc on skin prone to acne.
According to experts, many of us have forgotten how to sleep well and now find ourselves in a nightly battle, which is often ‘won’ by waving the white flag of prescription drugs, alcohol or a potentially lethal combination of both. Between our overly-wired lifestyles and all kinds of work and life stressors, it’s easy to understand why few of us are resting easy these days. The good news is that sleep is a skill and with practice, you can master it. In fact, you can fall asleep faster and sleep better at nights with some practice.
Make sleep a priority. Schedule sleep like any other daily activity. Establish good sleep habits that will reinforce a consistent sleep rhythm to remind the brain when to release those all-important sleep and wake hormones. Don’t make sleep the thing you do only after everything else is done, instead stop doing other things so you can get the sleep you need:
- Go to bed and get up around the same time, 7 nights a week.
- Practice a relaxing bedtime ritual.
- Evaluate your bedroom to ensure ideal temperature, sound, and light.
- Invest in a comfortable mattress and pillows.
- Beware of hidden sleep stealers, like caffeine.
- Turn off electronics before bed.
Good sleep habits are essential for living a long, healthy, productive life. But sleep is equally important for beautiful, healthy skin. The amount of sleep you need each day will change over the course of your life. Although sleep needs vary from person to person, like eating well and being physically active, getting a good night’s sleep is vital to your overall well-being.
Resource: Healthy Sleep-at-a-glance by the National Institutes of Health
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To Your Success,
Althea
Althea A. McLeish Wilson, RN, MSN
Educate . Empower . Encourage
Promoting inner health & outer beauty!
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