Sleeping is vital to humans and even to animals. It is your body’s means to recuperate and recharge for the next days. Today, it has been made official that sleep is one of the secrets to looking and staying young. Yes, just by sleeping you have the chance to actually get the real taste of an anti-age solution. Unfortunately, the sad fact is — rarely do you get enough sleep. With stress and all other things that bother you, “sleeping like a baby” is one of the most impossible activities to accomplish.

Lack of sleep can have an impact on more ways than one on you and it starts from the superficial human appearance. The toll of lack of sleep can eventually show through puffy eyes, dark circle around the eyes and bad skin.

Aside from that, a decrease in weight is also expected because the body is forced to work and the mind to think even if it hasn’t adequately recuperated. Your metabolism is also directly affected with lack of sleep. If the body and mind is not fully ready yet for the next day then it cannot function as expected. Movements would be sluggish and the mind processing slower too.

Didn’t you notice that the effects of lack of sleep have a domino effect? From a simple matter of physical appearance to a point where mind and body can no longer function. An alarming eye opener right? And no, one night of lack of sleep is still alright but consecutive ones would surely take its toll on you — sooner or later.

Scientists for many years have been fascinated by sleeping and research indicates that it is more than mere resting your mind and body. The suggested sleep time is seven to eight undisturbed hours long. Fewer hours, straight or accumulated may in turn cause the above mentioned consequences aside from irritability and less concentration to the task at hand.

So how is longevity and sleep related to each other? Since sleeping is the main means of the body and mind to repair tissue damage then less sleep would mean less tissues being repaired. During slumber, the body produces growth hormones that repair tissue damage. Aside from that, it’s also the time for the body cells to absorb blood nutrients.

It is also during sleep that the brain stores short term memories. The advantage of this can somewhat be associated to a computer hard drive. During sleep the brain is able to go through the process of defragmentation to make more room for more memories for the next day.

With that being said, does sleeping more beneficial then? Well, unlike Sleeping Beauty, the world can’t pause while you sleep. So the answer is no, not necessarily. Just be sensible about it meaning take naps during the day only when appropriate and badly needed. The most important thing to take note of is to get that seven to eight hours of undisturbed sleep.

Indeed, sleeps plays a vital role in human existence. Your appearance, mood, brain and body functionality, blood pressure and even your depression level are directly affected. So tuck you in, good night and sweet dreams.