Beauty Sleep is Important

Skimping on sleep? Stay away from gambling . . . or shopping, or anywhere else you’ll be asked to make decisions that could cost you money. Too little shut-eye and you make bad choices -- and it takes a big toll on the part of your brain that helps you learn from those mistakes.

In fact, not sleeping is like drinking, and way too much alcohol doesn’t make you better at anything, no matter how good you feel (it makes you worse after that too).

Weary people make riskier decisions as they have less activity in the orbitofrontal cortex, an area in the brain that helps you learn from a loss or a bad decision.

Sleep loss short-circuits your brain’s ability to process emotions related to loss and regret. Without that emotional pang, you keep betting or otherwise digging yourself in deeper. What’s not good when you’re gambling is also especially dangerous when you’re dating, trying to ace a new project at work, or just sitting in front of the gallon of mint chocolate chip ice cream that mysteriously jumped into your cart at the supermarket.

Fortunately, getting enough sleep can turn that around and bring you other payoffs. The right amount of sleep helps you stay slim and lowers your risk of developing diabetes, so you feel -- and are -- younger inside. A little extra shut-eye may be the best medicine your mind and body could ever have. Sleep well live well.