A recent survey confirmed what we’ve always thought…
Those who are well rested have a clearer and brighter completion and often less wrinkles
How many times do we have a friend or relative say ‘you look tired?’ ‘hard day at the office?’
Let’s face it - this really isn’t a compliment!
And if I’m anything to go by it’s usually due to puffy eyes and lack lustre skin meaning I often respond with ‘I’ve not had much sleep’…
Doctors agree that a good nights sleep gives us a healthier appearance.
A surveyby Sealy in the UK found that well-rested people reported having brighter eyes (42 percent), a brighter complexion (21 percent), clearer skin (20 percent), fewer wrinkles (17 percent) and improved skin condition (11 percent).
So why does lack of sleepaffect how we look and ultimately feel?
“Sleep is incredibly important for physical appearance,” Dr. Mikhail Varshavski, aka Dr. Mike (as well as “Instagram’s Hot Doctor”), an osteopathic doctor tells NBC News Better. “Sleep is a regenerative process where we heal and where our neurons build strong connections. It’s like a fountain of youth that we dive in to every night.”
This fountain of youth phenomenon cannot happen while awake, because, as Dr. Jeffrey Durmer, neurologist, systems neuroscientist, sleep medicine physician and chief medical officer of Fusion Health explains, it requires the highly active process of sleep.
“When you sleep, you’re going through choreographed cycles of REM and non-REM [states] that can’t happen when you’re awake — even if you’re lying down with your eyes closed,” Dr. Durmer says, adding that it’s largely during non-REM sleep (about four of eight hours of sleep, and usually experienced in the early onset of a deep sleep, he adds), that this skin-repairing process occurs.
SLEEP IS NATURE’S ANTI-INFLAMMATORY
Ever twist your ankle, ice it, then go to bed and find the next day the swelling has subsided? The ice may have helped, but the sleep was also crucial, because sleep reduces anti-inflammatory agents.
“You make anti-inflammatory cytokines while you sleep, which help heal and reduce the impact of damages done throughout the day,” says Durmer, citing sun exposure and pollution as typical daily skin damagers.
We produce anti-inflammatory cytokines while we sleep, which help heal and reduce the impact of damages done throughout the day.
OUR FACE TAKES THE BRUNT OF SLEEP DEPRIVATION BECAUSE IT’S SO VASCULAR
It’s amazing how much we spend on beauty products and yet if we simply made more time for sleep we possibly wouldn’t need the expense of lotions and potions that promise miracles
So is it time to make more of an effort and add sleep to our beauty regime?
Data source NBC News Jul.2018