CLOCK WORK
THE KEY TO BEAUTIFUL SKIN AND HEALTHY WEIGHT
by Dr. Perricone
I have often written about the importance of sleep for health and
beauty, including numerous blogs on the Huffington Post.
Providing a wonderful service to readers of her blog, Arianna
Huffington has been very vocal about the importance of sleep.
Right after New Year's, Arianna posted a Sleep Challenge 2010 to
raise awareness about the serious problem of women suffering from
sleep deprivation. Now more than ever, women have tremendous
demands on their time and, as a consequence, suffer greatly from
the lack of sleep. As you will discover, insufficient sleep
seriously disrupts our health, our weight, our sense of
well-being, and our skin.
Sleeping Beauties
As some of the world's most beautiful and talented actresses
converged on the red carpet at the 2010 Oscars, many wondered how
they did it, looking so radiant and wonderful despite the
grueling schedules they keep. This year's nominees included Helen
Mirren, Sandra Bullock, Meryl Streep, Penelope Cruz, Mo'Nique,
Carey Mulligan, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Gabourey Sidibe, Vera Farmiga,
and Anna Kendrick, whose ages ranged from the early twenties to
the early sixties, proving once again how ageless beauty can be.
Regardless of age, each star has her own unique style. And though
I cannot profess to know their secrets, I can share with you some
of my own secrets for radiant skin and a healthy body weight - it
all starts with our internal clock and a good night's sleep.
We humans are creatures of habit, for better or worse. We like to
eat our meals at the same time, go to bed at the same time, and
so on. There is an excellent reason for this. We all need to
follow a daily circadian rhythm - that is, a rhythm based on the
twenty-four-hour cycle, the time it takes the earth to make a
full rotation on its axis.
For thousands of years this was not a problem: humans went to
sleep when the sun went down and arose when the sun came up. But
those days are long gone. It has become apparent that this is not
a positive change, as scientists have discovered that disruption
of this cycle causes us to develop a number of metabolic
discords.
Staying up too late, snacking throughout the day, and skipping
meals all upset the genes that control daily rhythms in the brain
and throughout the body. One important finding is that the
"clock," which scientists thought was only in the central part of
the brain, is also present in the part of the brain that controls
appetite. In fact, biological clocks function not only in the
brain but in many other parts of the body as well. They govern
not only the sleep cycle but also functions including fluid
balance, body temperature, oxygen consumption - and now, it has
been shown, appetite. Researchers at Northwestern University and
the Howard Hughes Medical Institute have identified wide-ranging
molecular and behavioral changes in mice that have a faulty
circadian system. In people, similar changes in body fat and
metabolic activity are known as metabolic syndrome.
Fred W. Turek, a member of the research team, stated that the
study provided new genetic evidence that physiological outputs of
the biological clock, sleep, and appetite are interconnected at
the molecular and behavioral levels.
This research data give new credence to the concept that we are
creatures of habit. Perhaps more important, it establishes the
fact that we need to follow a regimen in our daily lives, one
based on cycles as primary as the rising and setting of the sun,
to which humans have been acclimated since the dawn of
civilization. Though it is not practical to go to bed with the
sun, it does make sense to get up with it (do not agree with
either view on this and have not followed it at all, and if you
just stop and use some common logic and think about sunsets and
sunrising in your area the year round, you will also see it is
rather silly to try and follow the sun for going to bed and
rising from bed - Keith Hunt) and this provides us with a good
excuse not to stay up to all hours and become sleep-deprived. Not
getting sufficient high-quality sleep has been linked to
increased appetite and unwanted weight gain.
(The key is "quality" with correct amount which just about all
experts on health agree today is at least 8 hours - Keith Hunt)
Sleep to Lose Weight
An important study at the University of Chicago demonstrated that
sleep deprivation causes us to overeat, because it disrupts the
balance between two appetite-related hormones - ghrelin and
leptin. When we don't get enough sleep, our levels of ghrelin, a
hormone produced by stomach cells and believed to increase
feelings of hunger, rise. Leptin, a hormone produced by our
fat cells that suppresses appetite and burns fat stores, is
decreased.
Even worse, the most sleep-deprived people in the study craved
fattening, carbohydrate-rich foods, such as cookies, cake, candy,
pasta, and muffins. According to Dr. Eve Van Cauter, the lead
researcher, these cravings are the result of elevated levels of
the stress hormone cortisol. When we are fully rested, our
cortisol levels drop; sleep deprivation has the unfortunate
opposite effect. The study participants also metabolized glucose
less efficiently. Dr. Van Cauter reported that the effects of
sleep deprivation on glucose metabolism are similar to those
found in the elderly. She therefore concluded that chronic sleep
deprivation may have long-term harmful effects on the body - not
the least of which are weight gain and possibly accelerated aging
as well.
As with exercising, we need to establish regular, healthy habits
and regimens. We should strive to get close to eight hours of
sleep per night and learn not to skip meals, including breakfast.
(Skipping meals depends on your age, work, and body metabolism.
After age 40 I could not eat three meals a day as I did up to age
40 - the weight was gaining, which it never did before age 40.
Then after age 60 if was even more so. That is how it worked for
me, you may be different, but I have just one main meal a day
now, and "snack" here and there, if I'm to keep my weight in
check. So this three meals a day stuff must have a "context" -
and the context can change, hence your intake must change or you
could become fat or obese even - Keith Hunt)
Implementing these simple rules will eliminate the
proinflammatory habits we tend to fall into and help us achieve
and maintain optimum weight.
..........
Everyone is different and you must guage your difference at any
age level and adjust accordingly, if you are to maintain your
correct area of weight, based upon your height, bone structure -
large, medium, small, and metabolism, and age. What all agree on is
that we all need about 8 hours of good sleep per day.
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