If you’re not getting enough sleep at night, you could be depriving yourself of lots of health benefits that are completely free, do not involve taking medication and have long term effects on your wellbeing. Experts recommend that you get betwween 7 and 9 hours of z’s every night for best results and here are some very good reasons why you should pay attention.

Heart disease and diabetes

A study has shown that people who get less than 5 hours of sleep at night are 500 times more likely to develop hypertension than those who got more sleep. They were also 3 times more likely to develop diabetes.

Fight colds

Not getting enough sleep lowers your immmunity so that your body finds it difficult to fight off disease. People who get less than 7 hours of sleep are 3 times more likely to catch colds than people who get more sleep.

Be kind to your waist

Lack of sleep throws your hormones out of whack. This affects the ones that regulate apetite so you tend to eat more. It also increases the stress hormone called cortisol which increases the fat that’s laid down around the waist. People who get enough sleep tend to be slimmer than those who don’t.

Some simple tips to help you get more sleep

• Stay away from the tv and computer before you sleep.
• Do some stretching exercises or meditate .
• Have a winding down routine – dim/turn off some lights about an hour before bedtime, have a shower, cleanse and moisturize your face, read a book e.t.c.
• Go to bed 15 minutes earlier each day until you reach your target of 7-8 hours of sleep each night.
• Put a few drops of lavender oil on a cotton ball and put inside your pillowcase.
• A cup of camomile tea can also help get you off to sleep.

A good night’s sleep does so much for you that it’s worth making the effort to make sure you get one.