Turns out, Sleeping Beauty was onto something! Many restorative and renewal processes take place while you sleep which are essential to your health and wellbeing. Lack of sleep inhibits these processes and can affect your health and your appearance.
According to a Swedish experiment investigating the facial cues for being fatigued, participants that were deprived of sleep were perceived as being less attractive, sadder and less healthy in comparison to their rested counterparts.
The 3 major ways sleep deprivation affects you
You eat more
When you don’t get enough sleep your body reduces the hormone leptin, which suppresses appetite, and increases levels of ghrelin, which makes you feel hungry leading to snacking, over-eating and weight gain. A study from researchers at the University of Colorado found that just a week of sleeping 5 hours a night led to participants, on average, gaining 2 pounds.
You miss out on your repair and refresh cycle
During sleep the body works to repair and refresh cells. Without sleep you miss out on this rejuvenation ritual, and it shows through your skin, hair and muscle health. In the Swedish experiment mentioned earlier, those that are sleep deprived are seen to have hanging eyelids, paler skin, more wrinkles and drooping at the corners of the mouth.
You’re less rational
The amygdala, the area of the brain responsible for emotional processing, is impaired during periods of sleep deprivation. Instead of being able to process what’s important and trivial, everything becomes important and thus reactions to minor inconveniences seem like the end of the world. This is why sleep-deprived people are sometimes described as moody!
To enjoy your beauty sleep, make sure you have everything you need to get plenty of it. Along with being one of the best beauty tips for your body, sleep also has the key advantage of being absolutely free. Why spend a fortune on expensive skin creams, hair treatments and anti-ageing products? Getting a good night’s sleep on a regular basis could quite possibly give you visibly better results!
Better sleep means a better you, but in this instance, it could mean a better looking you too. Do you get enough beauty sleep? Let us know in the comments!
