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subscribe to beauty blog via RSSOz Garcia’s Plea To Fashionistas Everywhere: Get Your Beauty Sleep
September 13, 2009 10:42 am
This column features weekly tips and advice from a revolving cast of industry leaders, on hand to discuss your beauty dilemmas, from blemishes to Botox. To submit a question, e-mail celia_ellenberg@condenast.com.
My job keeps me pretty busy and I find that I am functioning on less and less sleep these days. How many hours of sleep are required for adequate refreshment and renewal?
Depending on your activity and energy levels, you should be sleeping seven to nine hours a night. One of the problems we have is that the busier we get, the less we sleep. In fact, the busier we get the more sleep we need. A restful night’s sleep helps balance hormones, stabilize weight gain, and can actually slow down the aging process. Our growth hormone, which helps process glucose, is the body’s primary fuel. When we are young, the growth hormone triggers growth. As we pass through puberty, these hormones function as a kind of youth-maintenance device that helps keep tissue healthy, skin tight and bones dense. Without our growth hormone working, glucose begins to be stored as fat and leads to weight gain. In addition, when the brain is deprived of sleep, reaction tests start mimicking the results of someone who is legally drunk. So while you might think that you are being more productive professionally by sacrificing sleep, you’re really causing your body to be less efficient and effective. So put the computer down, turn off the television and get some well needed rest.
A highly regarded nutritional counselor and life extension specialist, Oz Garcia, Ph.D., has been labeled the “Nutritionist to the Stars.” Frequently featured in magazines and on news programs as an expert on health, wellness, and longevity, he is also a best-selling author and the head of health and nutritional services for Equinox Fitness Clubs worldwide.
