You already know that sleep is one of the most important habits in our lives. Sleep has been shown to do all of the following:
- Improve learning, creativity, and memory
- Boost alertness and mood
- Support a healthy body weight
- Reduce the risk of diseases such as Alzheimer’s and dementia
These are just some of the benefits of sleep that Dr. Mike Dow talks up in his New York Times best-selling book, The Brain-Fog Fix.
And while these benefits of sleep likely don’t surprise you, it could be eye-opening to learn that we are sleeping an hour less per night now than we did just a generation ago, and nearly three quarters of Americans report not getting enough sleep. In fact, a recent survey showed that Americans average just 6.5 hours of shut-eye per weeknight, which is less than all but one of the other countries included in the study (only Japanese slept less).
If that stat of 6.5 hours per night seems pretty good, Dr. Dow says to think again. He asserts that we need to be getting about 8 hours of sleep per night, and anything less just won’t suffice.
If you want to establish a healthy relationship with sleep, a good first step is to prioritize it in your life instead of always staying in overdrive. The experts…
