A Simple Cure for Insomnia–Lose the TV

More than 40% of Americans say they don’t get enough sleep, and the culprit could be watching TV in bed. A new study by the National Sleep Foundation found that 95% of people polled had used some sort of electronic device less than an hour before bed the previous night. Exposure to electrical light between dusk and bedtime strongly suppresses melatonin levels, and light -emitting TVs, smart phones, computers and video-game players can do just that, making it difficult to sleep.

One of the main reasons to get enough sleep is to facilitate and enhance complex cognitive skills such as decision-making. One reason for your sleepless nights might be a bad boss. The solution: If you can’t get a new job, get revenge! According to a new study, retaliating against one’s boss is more acceptable to employees if the retaliation is an act of omission or inaction, rather than an active effort to harm an unfair boss.

If you’re a student, it could be that upcoming exam. You can combat that anxiety and improve your performance by writing about your worries immediately before the exam or interview begins. Sleep researcher Edward Pace-Schott says, "There is something to be gained from taking a night to sleep on it when you’re facing an important decision. We found that the fact that you slept makes your decisions better." And a new study found that men who slept less than five hours a night for one week in a laboratory had significantly lower levels of testosterone than when they had a full night’s sleep. It’s all a matter of freeing up your brainpower: Researchers found that students who were prone to test anxiety improved their high-stakes test scores by nearly one grade point after they were given 10 minutes to write about what was causing them fear. The writing exercise allowed students to unload their anxieties before taking the test and accordingly freed up brainpower needed to complete the test successfully.

Watching TV in bed is also bad for kids. A small study of Hispanic children found that those with TVs in their bedrooms were more likely to be overweight. Adults too: Several studies reveal that watching television for 2-3 hours per day or more is associated with a higher risk of Type II diabetes, fatal and nonfatal cardiovascular disease and DEATH. If you (or your kids) have diabetes, lack of sleep can make it worse, since melatonin helps regulate that too.

One person who suddenly realized that was HER problem is Anne Strieber, (who sometimes has trouble sleeping as well) and who found her clothes were getting too tight and thought they had all shrunk, until she realized she had gained weight due to Type II diabetes, a genetic condition that manifests in late middle age and makes it easy to gain weight and hard to lose it. She not only discovered WHY some of us have this gene, but what to do about it, and after three years of diet and exercise, she managed to lose 100 pounds–and YOU can too! This isn’t an advice book written by a doctor or celebrity, it’s a diet book written by a REAL DIETER, who sympathizes with what you’re going through that has helped thousands of people to shed those unwanted pounds.