Start with sleep

Advice about how to be healthy is everywhere. It is overwhelming to decide what to focus on and even where to start. What should you eat? Should you be taking any supplements? How often should you exercise? What’s the best type of exercise? Is it okay to pee in the shower?

Let me make the decision easy for you.

Start with sleep.

The science is compelling: sleep is the foundation for the proper functioning of your body and brain.

Here are just four examples.

1. Inadequate sleep leads to poor food choices. When you don’t get enough sleep, the body produces more ghrelin, a hormone that makes you feel hungrier. Poor sleep quality also reduces the chemical leptin, which sends signals to the brain that you are full. Short sleep will increase hunger and appetite, compromise impulse control within the brain, increase food consumption (especially high-calorie foods), decrease food satisfaction after eating, and prevent effective weight loss when dieting.
2. Inadequate sleep adversely affects the immune system. In one study, researchers separated healthy young adults into two groups: one group was restricted to four hours of sleep per night for six nights, and the other group was allowed to have seven and a half to eight and a half hours of sleep. At the end of six days, all participants received a flu…