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(KSL News) Bad news with daylight savings just a few days away-- Sunday to be exact. We're going to lose an hour of sleep and apparently that's a pretty big deal.
Dr. James Maas, "Sleep Guru": "A lot of people treat sleep as a luxury, but it's not. It's a necessity."
Sleep Guru Dr. James Maas says 74 percent of Americans are sleep deprived and the effects are noticeable.
Dr. James Maas, "Sleep Guru": "You're going to be moody, irritable, anxious. You can gain weight. You can't remember things. You're not creative. You don't do critical problem solving, and your golf game, your tennis game, will suffer because your reaction time suffers."
You also increase your chances of heart attacks, strokes and type two diabetes.
So Dr. Maas offers his golden rules:
Golden Rules of Sleep
- Determine & meet your sleep needs
- Have a regular sleep/wake schedule
- Get one long continuous block of sleep
Determine and meet your sleep needs. For most people it's between seven and a half to eight and a half hours a night.
Have a regular sleep/wake schedule. That means going to bed at the same time Monday through Monday.
And, get one long continuous block of uninterupted sleep. Now, how do you do that?
Dr. James Maas, "Sleep Guru": "You don't have caffeine after 2:00 in the afternoon. No alcohol within three hours of bedtime. No smoking at all. Keep your bedroom quiet, dark and cool."
And by cool he means 65-to- 67 degrees.
Dr. Maas also says using over-the-counter sleep medication is perfectly alright.
And if you feel the need for a nap, keep it to 20 minutes. Any longer and you'll be groggy the rest of the day.
