Quick Tip-An Easy, Free Way to Feel Better and Even Live Longer!

Sleep!

Yes, it is something we all know, but bears repeating. We don’t sleep enough as a country. This point was driven home to me last night when I had a migraine and went to bed at 800 pm. This morning I feel FANTASTIC. Better than I’ve felt in weeks.

Coincidence? I think not.

I searched the internet to find some hard facts to back up my claim, and found this article from the Washington Post. The article (emphasis mine) says:

“Beyond leaving people bleary-eyed, clutching a Starbucks cup and dozing off at afternoon meetings, failing to get enough sleep or sleeping at odd hours heightens the risk for a variety of major illnesses, including cancer, heart disease, diabetes and obesity, recent studies indicate.”

“Scientists have long known that sleep disorders, such as sleep apnea, narcolepsy and chronic insomnia, can lead to serious health problems, and that difficulty sleeping may be a red flag for a serious illness. But the first clues that otherwise healthy people who do not get enough sleep or who shift their sleep schedules because of work, family or lifestyle may be endangering their health emerged from large epidemiological studies that found people who slept the least appeared to be significantly more likely to die.”

“Physiologic studies suggest that a sleep deficit may put the body into a state of high alert, increasing the production of stress hormones and driving up blood pressure, a major risk factor for heart attacks and strokes. Moreover, people who are sleep-deprived have elevated levels of substances in the blood that indicate a heightened state of inflammation in the body, which has also recently emerged as a major risk factor for heart disease, stroke, cancer and diabetes.”

Of course, all studies are up to interpretation, but the article cites several different studies from varied and respected sources, to include the Mayo clinic. The entire article is worth a quick read.

So think about it-how many things are as simple and easy to do as going to bed just a bit earlier and have such a potentially big payoff? I know that sometimes the simplest things are the hardest to implement-if it is too easy it seems like it couldn’t possibly work.

Like the story in the bible of Naaman (Kings 5:1-14) we seem to resent doing something easy. In that story when Naaman is told that to cure his leprosy all he has to do is bathe in Jordan river seven times he gets angry. He wanted someone to come out to him and put on a big, flashy production to cure him. But his servant says: “if the prophet had told you to do something extraordinary, would you not have done it? All the more now, since he said to you, ‘Wash and be clean,’ should you do as he said.”

Going to sleep an hour or two earlier isn’t flashy, it isn’t glamorous. It may leave you with a pile of laundry unfolded, or the dishes undone. But if it can not only make you feel better, but possibly could help lower your risk of obesity, heart disease and cancer isn’t it worth it?

Give it a try. Join with me for a week of going to bed earlier and see how it works. And hey, cause this is a frugal blog, remember it won’t cost you a thing.