Research shows that sleep deprivation makes your white-blood cell count decrease, which makes it harder for you to fight off infection, disease and viruses like the flu. Chatelaine magazine cited a study in which people were exposed to the flu virus--those who got less than 7 hours of sleep nightly were 3 times more likely to get sick than those who regularly slept 8 hours or more a night.
Drs. Oz and Rozen say that "shorting yourself on sleep hurts your heart by encouraging you to overeat and throwing off your body's sensitivity to insulin" affecting your heart, arteries and putting you at danger of diabetes.
So turn off the TV at 10 PM and go to bed earlier this fall and winter.
