Good sleep for weight loss

Having a good night's sleep helps people to lose weight most effectively, dieters who had regular sleep patterns found it easier to shed pounds from their waistline.

The most effective dieters sleep between seven hours thirty minutes and eight hours a night. It also allows 90 minutes for the most restorative non-REM (rapid eye movement) sleep which is best achieved before midnight.

Throughout the night, human pass through four stages of sleep several times. The majority of  dreaming during the fourth stage, called the 'rapid-eye movement' (REM) phase.

 Research found that about one in three don’t get enough sleep in general. Missing out on dreaming that occurs during REM-sleep can have particularly dire consequences on mental and physical health.

Poor sleepers (those sleeping for less than seven hours a night) were found to have the most chaotic eating patterns. They were also more prone to diet lapses and were more likely to exceed their weekly limits for alcohol consumption.
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Effects of repeated alcohol comsumption on the brain

Drinking more than one glass of wine a night is enough to kill cells in key regions of a woman's brain. A study on mice found that drinking alcohol is damaging to the subventricular region of the brain, where new brain cells are created to sustain brain function, and protect against tumors and neurodegenerative diseases.

Research showed that female brains displayed more severe deficits after drinking than males, who would need more than 14 drinks a week to suffer significant damage. Prolonged alcohol abuse can cause severe brain damage and neurodegeneration. The number of nerve cells in the adult brain was fixed early in life and the best way to treat alcohol-induced brain damage was to protect the remaining nerve cells.

Research has shown that adult brains produce stem cells that create new nerve cells and alcohol is suppressing that process. Researchers used a technique that allowed them to tag brain stem cells and observe how they migrate and develop into nerve cells over time. This allowed them to study the impact of long-term alcohol consumption on the cells.

The female brains displayed more severe intoxication behaviors and greatly reduced the pool of stem cells in the subventricular zone, where the new cells are generated. The findings show that the effects of repeated alcohol consumption differed across brain regions. And the region most susceptible to the effects of alcohol was one of two brain regions where new cells are created in adults.

Drinking a glass of wine, or five ounces with a 12 percent alcohol content, can lower one's risk of dying from cardiovascular disease, research found. But the report does warn that heavy drinking increases the risk of mortality and the development life-threatening illnesses.
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Neuroticism may postpone death

Having higher levels of trait of the neuroticism may reduce the risk of death for those that hav poor health. An aspect of neuroticism related to worry and feelings of vulnerability was associated with lower mortality, irrespective of state of health.

Being high in neuroticism may sometimes have a protective effect, perhaps by making people more vigilant about their health. People with high levels of neuroticism may experience negative emotions like irritability, frustration, nervousness, worry, and guilt compared with those who have lower levels of neuroticism.

 The link between neuroticism and risk of death may depend on how people rate their health. The protective effect was present in people who rated their health very low or does not really care about what will happen to their health.

Behaviors like smoking, exercise, diet and alcohol consumption did not have any link with vulnerability and mortality risk. Worry and vulnerability to sicknesses and diseases might encourage people to behave in a healthier way and hence lower their risk of sudden death.
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