Sleep like a baby and look youthful !

Sleep is just as important for good health as oxygen, food and water! Did you know that by optimising your sleep you actually look more youthful? Sleep enables you to regenerate your body, and much more:

• improve memory
• curb inflammation that can lead to heart disease, stoke, diabetes, arthritis and premature ageing
• increase stamina
• increase concentration and learning ability
• increase ability for body fat loss
• reduce levels of stress
• assist in decreasing anxiety and depression

 

You’ve probably already noticed that when you skimp on sleep, it shows on your face. Tired skin sags, bags, and loses its luster.

“Lack of sleep causes blood vessels to dilate, causing the look of dark circles,” says dermatologist Sonia Badreshia-Bansal, MD, of the University of California, San Francisco. Sleepily rubbing your eyes doesn’t help those dark rings.

Although its is still not known exactly how sleep works, most scientists agree that sleep is important for restoring physical and mental health. It is know that lack of sleep can cause not only dark rings under your eyes, it also causes fatigue, memory deficit, worsening of blood pressure and cholesterol, as well as poor concentration, reaction time and coordination. More seriously, a study in Belgium by the University of Brussels, reported that due to the metabolic and endocrine effects of sleep deprivation; sleep deprivation can contribute to accelerated ageing, diabetes and obesity.

While you sleep, your body is hard at work, making repairs like construction workers on the nightshift. For example, when you’re in deep sleep, human growth hormone production increases. Your normal release of this hormone plays a key role in healing cells and tissues throughout your body, including your skin. These are the reasons for why I choose to sleep a lot, if I have an opportunity. Do not ever allow anyone to call you lazy if wake up at 12 noon on Saturday. Just tell them that you had your essential beauty treatment 😉

Tips for successful sleep

• Don’t eat at last 3 hours before sleep (which is also recommended for weight-loss).
• Reduce coffee intake and increase water intake (coffee is a nervous system stimulant so it will decrease ability to sleep).
• Have relaxation tea just before you go to sleep such as camomile.
• Have your gym session in the morning rather than evening – exercise can help you sleep sounder and longer and also feel more awake during the day. twenty – 30 minutes of aerobic exercise is sufficient to increase the body temperature, which drops lower than if you hadn’t exercises 5-6 hours later. This lower body temperature is what helps you sleep better.
• Have a hot bath with EPSOM salt, stay in it for at least 30 minutes – this helps you to relax and fall asleep quicker.
• Alternately take magnesium and calcium supplement – both help relax your muscles (having sufficient magnesium in your body does not necessarily guarantee that you will go into a deep sleep quickly and stay there, but insufficient stores of the mineral guarantee that you won’t).
• Avoid alcohol and other stimulants.
• Setting a regular bedtime and waking routine for yourself could also help your body tire and wake on time.

I’m sure would all love to have the youthful skin of a baby! Unfortunately, we cannot acquire that. However, we can do all of these things to ensure we sleep like a baby! And at least when we have adequate sleep our bodies and our skin rejuvenates.