How Many Years Can You Sleep Off?

Now this is hilarious: Check out this site and scroll through the slideshow images of famous people we all know (without being plastic surgeons) have had a nip and tuck—or two. The article, which talks about the quest to live longer and look younger, takes a funny stab at the “ugly” pursuit of youth. And I mean ugly!

These days, it doesn’t take much to get a brow lift or a Botox injection. Does your forehead have tracks running across it? Do your cheeks sink in a little? Are your lips on the thin side? Well, there’s a fix for all that… but you won’t necessarily look twentysomething again. I guarantee it. You may fall pray to the “trout pout”; the frozen forehead; the surprised- or sinister-looking browline; and plastic portrait worthy of a wax museum.

Several sites have emerged to poke fun at celebrities’ plastic surgeries gone wrong—or at least they appear to have gone overboard. Sometimes it’s not even surgery that does it, but just too many trips to the happy dermatologist with a needle in hand. Maybe these people actually like the way they look. Who knows. The point is, modern technology can only do so much. And old technology still works: eat well, exercise, take good care of your skin without resorting to weird products and procedures, and get a good night’s sleep.

Ah, but not many people mention this last secret.

What if You Got Enough Sleep?

Here’s something to think about: if you slept like a baby every single night since birth, and got every hour you needed, how would you look at age 70? I know, that’s not going to happen. But it’s a thought. Imagine what you’d look like if your skin were never damaged by the sun. Or you never smiled. Or you never ate doughnuts and fast food. Or you never…lived a real life.

I’m going to take a guess that if truly slept well for the majority of your life, you’d age beautifully and could even take about 5 years off your face by the time you’re 70. We know that sleep is our zone of rejuvenation. It allows us to replenish our cells, spur new cellular growth (like collagen!), and feel refreshed and energetic enough the next day to make healthy choices, such as working out and eating well. All of which bodes well for keeping up appearances.

Besides, those who look like they are “aging gracefully” win my vote. (As an aside, I write this post on the same day that the “exhaustion” factor in the Clinton vs. Obama war is making headlines. The candidates are getting sloppy with speeches, forgetful of past events -- Clinton in Bosnia -- and noticeably haggard. Obama’s hair is grayer now than it was just a year ago. All this before even potentially getting into the White House!)

Unfortunately, there seems to be an inverse relationship happening between sleep and cosmetic surgery. Sleep isn’t very popular these days, and yet cosmetic surgery increasingly is. Nearly 12 million cosmetic procedures were performed in 2007 — a 7 percent increase from 2006 and a 59 percent increase from 2000. These procedures are like Band-Aids on our sleep deprivation.

From the looks of it, at least some Hollywood starlets seem to be getting their Zs. Which ones? Well, I’ll leave that up to you. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I invite you to write back and cast your vote for the “best ager”, and maybe we can ask how many hours of sleep they get each night. I bet they rank sleep high on their priorities.

Comments

[Paul Martin]

This story made me chuckle today. As a professor still fairly new on the job (I started 5 years ago), I've spent years in grad school and in my job working until the wee hours if I'm not pulling all-nighters grading and prepping for class. Although this has gotten significantly better over the last year or two, several years back I was averaging about 3-4 hours a night between September and May. Needless to say, this has certainly taken its toll on my appearance. Last year my wife noted "You've got more wrinkles than my father!" "That," I replied, "is because I've been awake for longer than he has."

I'm looking a bit better these days, but my skin definitely looks older than my 40 years. A lack of sleep really does take its toll.

[frances burch]

Yours is the only comment which addresses the busy mind as the main culprit in insomnia. As soon as I learned to cut off the mind, I could sleep just fine. I rarely talk to insomniacs who understand this. FB

[anonymous]

For some insomniacs, the busy mind is almost impossible to shut off without significant intervention, be it cognitive therapy or pharmaceuticals... believe me, I've been there! Though I'm sleeping fine now, I've gone through several bouts of month-long insomnia with racing thoughts. None of the usual advice -- exercise, relaxation, journaling, meditation, etc. -- has helped in those situations. The only thing that seems to work is to maintain a lifestyle of almost zero stress -- not possible for most people!