Fact: A person can die from total lack of sleep sooner than from starvation.
Why? Death would occur after around ten days without sleep, whereas death by starvation takes a few weeks (of course, without water it's a different story - you'd then only survive up to ten days).
Fiction: It takes just four hours for coffee to be digested by your system.
Why? Coffee has a half-life of four to six hours, which means it takes that long for half the coffee to be digested and then another four to six hours for the next quarter to be digested.
Fact: Sleep deprivation can make you fat.
Why? Sleep affects the way our bodies process and store carbohydrates, and also alters the levels of hormones that affect our appetite.
Fact: You have a hormone, known as adrenocorticotropin, which is associated with your body clock that enables you to wake up at around the same time every day.
Why? A burst of this stress hormone reflects an unconscious anticipation of the stress of waking up.
Fiction: Eating cheese before you go to bed will give you nightmares.
Why? This is an old wives' tale and no link has ever been confirmed. In fact, eating cheese may aid sleep, as it contains tryptophan, which has the ability to raise serotonin levels. This, in turn, helps the body regulate its sleeping pattern.
Fact: The internet has been identified as being the greatest sleep distraction.
Why? Because it's available around the clock and we don't seem to be very good at switching off!
Fiction: Hitting the snooze button every morning to get that extra five minutes in bed will make you feel less tired.
Why? Attempting to compensate for a night of disturbed sleep will only disrupt your cycle. Get up anyway and you'll have a much better chance of falling asleep easily when bedtime rolls around again.
Fact: Sleeping in a noisy environment can affect your health.
Why? Even if you don't wake up with the noise, a noisy environment can suppress immune function, especially in the first and last two hours of sleep.
Fact: A lack of sleep influences the effect alcohol has on the body.
Why? After five nights of sleep deprivation, three drinks will have the same effect as six drinks would if you'd had a normal amount of sleep.
The importance of sleep
There are never enough hours in the day, are there? When we have to fit in work, school runs, grocery shopping and lunchbox packing with gym, a social life and the occasional visit to the nail salon, it's too often our hours of sleep that we end up compromising on. When we sleep, the cells in our body repair and restore themselves. Sleep doesn't just help with improved productivity and stress relief, but has also been shown to help with improving heart health, lowering risk of certain cancers, boosting immunity and aiding weight loss.
Doze off
Follow these simple tips to improve your sleeping habits:
>> Go to bed at a set time. Just the way this would be a fixed ritual for children, you should also fix your bedtime to ensure you are not constantly putting off going to bed with yet another little chore that needs to be done - and stick to the time.
>> Start winding down at least 45 minutes before the lights go out. You won't fall asleep if you're all wound up from answering emails or watching an action-packed movie. Create a calming ritual around bedtime such as drinking a cup of herbal tea, listening to music that helps you relax or reading your copy of Aquarius magazine.
>> Write down what's on your mind - especially things to do and unresolved issues, just before you go to bed, as this will allow you to feel like you're in control, and leave the tasks to deal with the next day. If left in your mind to fester, you'll end up restless all night as subconsciously you will be worrying about it.
