Do You Have Healthy Sleep Habits?

How much sleep do you have to miss before your alertness is the same as someone who is legally drunk? Watch this video to find out and to understand the key elements of restorative sleep.

While less publicized than the national debt, the national sleep debt is equally troublesome. Adults need about 7-8 hours of quality sleep every night.  If we don't get it, our immune systems and our alertness both suffer.

To many, spending a third of our lives asleep is a waste of time, but adequate sleep can improve both the quality of your life and how long you live. Sleep is the time that the brain cells rid themselves of toxins that build up during the day.

Keep in mind that after 21 straight hours without sleep, your functionality level is the same as the blood alcohol cut off for drunk-driving in many states.

One important factor too often unaddressed is darkness levels, as total darkness improves the quality of sleep dramatically. Darkness devices such as black out curtains can signal your body to stay asleep and transition into deep, restorative sleep.  

Even more compelling, an Israeli study found that people who lived in the center of cities where there was more light actually had higher rates of certain cancers.*

In terms of sleeping pills, I've found that traditional prescriptions often cause more harm than good, and instead often recommend cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, for sleep disorders. CBT allows patients to recognize harmful sleep patterns and help develop new habits.