Is there "sleep of beauty" ?
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free skin care · Mon Jan 19, 2009 1:17 pm

I`ve heard that one should be sleeping during the hours of 11 p.m. and 4 a.m. if she/he wants to get the full benefits of a healthy sleep including staying young longer. The reason for that is that our cells are the most active dividing during these hours so the body can rejuvenate itself. If a person is awake however, the process is somewhat slown down.

so it`s not only important how many hours you sleep, but also when you sleep?
so - if I`m a night owl and cannot fall asleep before 1 a.m., I`m going to age quicker than if I were an early riser?

what do you think of it?

free skin care · Mon Jan 19, 2009 1:26 pm

LOL well there is some truth to it, but its very complex but let me explain it the way it was explained to me.

During sleep, our cells are effected by the gravitational pull of the moon and go through a process whereby potassium and sodium (which is inside the cells) push magnesium and calcium to the outside. During the day this is reversed, magnesium and calcium enter and penetrate the cells pushing potassium and sodium in I think (but its a little hazy), but at night its a definite cycle. Think of the moon effecting the tides..... well it effects the water and nutrients of our cells in the same way.

Now from memory, the reason they suggest 11pm, is so your brain can enter the Delta waves stage... as if the brain is active at any point, or thinking or worrying over things... its eating into the fuel thats available for your body to do that exchange.

free skin care · Mon Jan 19, 2009 1:33 pm

I don't have a scientific response here, but, I have noticed that the people in my life that are the night owls are not aging as well as those in my life that sleep long and well. Just an observation from the small sampling in my life.

free skin care · Mon Jan 19, 2009 1:35 pm

I heard another explanation. Very Happy

Different body parts do different functions at different times. For example, your liver gets rid of bad stuff around midnight during your sleep. So it is suggested that you go to sleep before then.

I don't know whether this is true. But for me, when I sleep does matter.

free skin care · Mon Jan 19, 2009 1:42 pm

LOL I know Chinese Medicine has a wonderful theory that different organs become activated at different times... so for example if you found yourself constantly awakening at a certain time each night, the accupuncturist would check the chart to see which organ was under stress... but I think it changes every hour as to the organ.

lunathefinal wrote:

I heard another explanation. Very Happy

Different body parts do different functions at different times. For example, your liver gets rid of bad stuff around midnight during your sleep. So it is suggested that you go to sleep before then.

I don't know whether this is true. But for me, when I sleep does matter.

free skin care · Mon Jan 19, 2009 1:43 pm

very interesting explanations, SeanySeanUK and lunathefinal! but unfortunately no good news for night owls Sad

charis, do you mean night owls in your life are aging slower than people who sleep early?

free skin care · Mon Jan 19, 2009 1:52 pm

Aiva wrote:

very interesting explanations, SeanySeanUK and lunathefinal! but unfortunately no good news for night owls Sad

charis, do you mean night owls in your life are aging slower than people who sleep early?

No, I meant that the night owls in my life (pretty much across the board) are aging more quickly. It's actually a pretty stark contrast. When I stopped to think about it, I was pretty surprised. These differences didn't show up in such a dramatic way until their 40's. That being said, I bet there are some night owls out there that look fantastic!

free skin care · Mon Jan 19, 2009 1:58 pm

When it comes to aging, I'm pretty sure the amount of sleep you get is a lot more important than when you sleep.
A person going to bed at 11pm and getting up at 7am their entire life and another person going to bed at 4am and getting up at noon will age the same IMO.

free skin care · Mon Jan 19, 2009 2:07 pm

Magica wrote:

When it comes to aging, I'm pretty sure the amount of sleep you get is a lot more important than when you sleep.
A person going to bed at 11pm and getting up at 7am their entire life and another person going to bed at 4am and getting up at noon will age the same IMO.

well, that is exactly what I want to know - amount of sleep versus time of sleep! and scientists say - NO... they say it`s not the same thing hmm

but anyway there is no way for me to go to bed at 11pm Rolling Eyes

free skin care · Mon Jan 19, 2009 2:14 pm

Kassy_A is a night owl. She looks really good for her age. I am a night owl too, and don't look too bad for my age, either.

Bottom line: Don't worry, Aiva. I agree with Magica; I think it's the amount of sleep that counts the most. Wink

free skin care · Mon Jan 19, 2009 2:14 pm

Aiva, where did you read that it matters WHEN you sleep. I had always thought like Magica that it was the amount of hours rather than the precise time of night.

free skin care · Mon Jan 19, 2009 2:24 pm

Septembergirl, I haven`t seen a pic of you Wink

but have seen photos of Kassy_A and she really looks great for her age. So I feel better now Very Happy

charis, the question was about timing of sleep, not amount. That`s understandable when people age faster because they are deprived of sleep, but the question was if not, if they get enough sleep in hours, but sleep later.

free skin care · Mon Jan 19, 2009 7:14 pm

In Chinese Medicine, it's better to sleep at 11 p.m., because the gall and liver metabolize between 11 p.m. and 3 a.m.

free skin care · Tue Jan 20, 2009 12:50 am

I'm not sure about specific sleep hours, but I do know I look worse on 6 hrs sleep and look much much better with 9 hrs sleep.

free skin care · Tue Jan 20, 2009 1:25 am

Me too. I feel I look good with over 8 hours of sleep, but if I am sleep deprived, I feel gross, my eyes get dry, and I look terrible. Is it in our heads or do we really look as bad as we feel when we do not sleep much? Sometimes I feel I look horrible but others say they can't tell the difference Laughing

free skin care · Tue Jan 20, 2009 1:37 am

humans respond to circadian rhythm which is photosensitive, temperature sensitive etc (factors which indicate time of day), so if you switch your sleeping hours around (ie sleep in day, active at night) it upsets the body and mind significantly.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circadian_rhythm

so there is actually some sort of underlying "body clock" which governs physical processes, and if they are out of balance, like sleeping patterns do not match time of biological processes when they ought to take place during sleep, then surely this would lead to some sort of accelerated cell degeneration.

free skin care · Tue Jan 20, 2009 3:14 am

Great post and link miranets. So it is timing of sleep thats important as well as the amount. You know I remember reading somewhere that if a person has too much sleep that can be equally as damaging as too less sleep (but can't recall where!).

free skin care · Tue Jan 20, 2009 6:52 am

I don't have the final answer, but I know that we humans are adaptable, and to add to what others have said, Melatonin is an internal factor affecting the circadian clock. Melatonin is produced by the pineal gland and it has a day/night function. It peaks during darkness and lowers during the day. Melatonin has been shown to shift biological rhythms. There is a correlation with the circadian rhythm so Melatonin can be used to shift the rhythm in terms of therapeutic measures.

As one who in the past has had some problems sleeping, I've been taking 2.5 mg of sublingual Melatonin at bedtime for the past 15 years or so, and it helps me to sleep predictably. Our bodies produce less Melatonin as we age, and this stuff is so adept at setting my sleep cycle that on occasion when I wake up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, it's likely that for the next few nights I'll wake up at exactly that time, which can be sort of a nuisance.

If you would like to fall asleep at an earlier hour, you might give Melatonin a try. It doesn't work as well for everyone. My sister says it does nothing for her, but she has been taking a prescription sleep aid for years, and I think it can't compete with the effect she gets from meds.

free skin care · Tue Jan 20, 2009 7:04 am

I don't know... I really hope that it's the amount of sleep that matters. I do think it's valuable to a have a predictable pattern of sleep- if you just catch up on all of your sleep on the weekend my hunch is that that's not as valuable as getting a regular amount of sleep every night, and going to bed and waking up at approximately the same time.

free skin care · Tue Jan 20, 2009 11:55 am

I heard you need to go to bed by 10 pm so that you'll get in to a deep sleep mode by 10:30 pm during which time your HGH is released.

Tue Jan 20, 2009 12:00 pm

I would think that the amount of sleep you get is most important here, but I'm not an expert. However, I will say that I am a night owl and have been told that I look a lot younger than I am.

free skin care · Tue Jan 20, 2009 12:02 pm

littlejess wrote:

I would think that the amount of sleep you get is most important here, but I'm not an expert. However, I will say that I am a night owl and have been told that I look a lot younger than I am.

How old are you?

free skin care · Tue Jan 20, 2009 2:30 pm

ruk1 wrote:

I heard you need to go to bed by 10 pm so that you'll get in to a deep sleep mode by 10:30 pm during which time your HGH is released.

I don't think I've been in bed by 10 since I was 9 years old. Laughing

Don't see it happening anytime soon either!

free skin care · Tue Jan 20, 2009 2:31 pm

Magica wrote:

ruk1 wrote:

I heard you need to go to bed by 10 pm so that you'll get in to a deep sleep mode by 10:30 pm during which time your HGH is released.

I don't think I've been in bed by 10 since I was 9 years old. Laughing

Don't see it happening anytime soon either!

Yes, I hear you. Surprised

free skin care · Tue Jan 20, 2009 2:47 pm

Yup I also heard that it's true the best time to sleep at night is between 10-4 cuz that's the prime time for the cells to repair themselve. If you sleep beyond those time, your body doesn't repair itself as good and is also disturbing other cycles. I also read somewhere that those that don't sleeep at night or is exposed to some sort of light is more prone to developing cancer cuz some sort of transmitter can't be produced in your body when there's light around.

So I definitely think that sleeping early at night and waking up at around the same time each day for at least 8-9 hrs would be beneficial to our body. Sleeping late will lower your immune system thus causing all sorts of health issues. Smile

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