Getting More Sleep Almost Certainly Staves Off Colds

Game addictions, all-night crams and television catch-up marathons will probably cost you in Kleenex. That’s according to a recent (and cruel) study that exposed both under-slept and fully-rested people to cold viruses and measured if and when they fell ill.

Photo by sunshinecity.

Your mother, and many mothers before her, probably told you that a good night’s sleep was important for keeping your defences up, but it’s always good to double check folksy wisdom against fairly cold, hard proof. Researchers have recently done just that:

In a recent study for The Archives of Internal Medicine, scientists followed 153 men and women for two weeks, keeping track of their quality and duration of sleep. Then, during a five-day period, they quarantined the subjects and exposed them to cold viruses. Those who slept an average of fewer than seven hours a night, it turned out, were three times as likely to get sick as those who averaged at least eight hours.

Already got the bug, regardless of sleep patterns? Try eating the right foods to win the battle against the sniffles.

Lack of Sleep Increases the Risk of Catching a Cold [NYTimes.com]