Sleeping better may help you fight off illness. In a study over a 2-week period, a group of people were given nasal drops with the virus that causes colds. They found that those who slept less than 7 hours were almost three times more likely to develop a cold than those who slept 8 hours or more.

In a study of 68,000 women conducted at Harvard Medical School revealed that women who sleep five hours a night are 32 percent more likely to gain more as they get older than women who sleep seven hours or more. The study, conducted over a 16-year period, revealed that even when the women who slept longer ate more, they still gained less weight than women who slept less.

Sleep is important for various aspects of brain function. Researchers say you need to take a 26-minute nap to boost job performance by 34 percent. Studies show that one nap of up to 90 minutes between the hours of 1:00 and 4:00 P.M. will reduce your sleep debt, invigorate your day, boost your job performance, and not affect night sleep, says experts.

According to a study at Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas, an extra 2 hours of sleep burns almost 300 calories! Go to bed at the right and same time each night so you get the proper amounts of good and deep sleep. If you do not experience REM sleep, you are not sleeping deeply enough to burn optimum calories

Experts say that insufficient sleep can impact your immune function. Studies have also shown a link between sleep deprivation and increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Lack of sleep affects your health, concen­tration, problem-solving skills, memory and mood. Sleep experts say that sleep is connected to alertness, productivity, performance and reaction times.

When you have little or no sleep, you make poor food choices. You tend to crave high-carb and high-sugar foods. Lack of sleep decreases insulin sensitivity, putting the sleep-deprived at higher risk for developing type 2 diabetes.

People who don’t get enough sleep can become depressed, and that causes insomnia. Inversely, more and better-quality sleep can make you feel happier.

We always look terrible after a sleepless night. Why?  When we are in our deepest and most restorative sleep, growth hormones are secreted into your system. When you have high levels of the hormone, you have muscle mass, better skin. You want to keep your growth hormone as high as possible, and the number one way to do that is sleep, say experts.

Eight hours is the normal amount of time that most people sleep. It’s the amount of sleep that allows you to wake up refreshed and be able to stay awake during the day, say experts.