HEALTHY LIVING Giving is good for you

For the sake of your health, focus on giving more than on getting. Happy holidays!

I’LL SLEEP WHEN I’M DEAD! Well, you’ll get there sooner if you skimp on sleep, says Professor Matthew Walker, director of the Centre for Human Sleep Science at the University of California, Berkeley, and author of Why We Sleep: The New Science of Sleep

and Dreams (Allen Lane): ‘The shorter your sleep, the shorter your lifespan.’

He says the WHO has declared a lack-of-sleep epidemic among industrialised countries, and he’s advocating for doctors to prescribe sleep for health (not sleeping pills, though – they’re contra-indicated). A SOLID NIGHT’S SLEEP HELPS: • boost your immune system: it fights malignancy and prevents infection • regulate insulin balance, glucose circulation, and your appetite • keep your ticker on track • gut biome maintenance And here are two interesting effects of too little sleep: during childhood, it ‘significantly predicts’ early onset of drug and alcohol use when the child is a teen, and across your adult life, it ups your risk of developing Alzheimer’s. BRAIN A BIT FOGGY? Neurologist Dr Joel Salinas offers three tips to help those neurons along: 1. SAY THAT AGAIN If you’re trying to recall someone’s name, or whatever information you want to remember, repeat it aloud. Dr Salinas says this gives your brain a chance to encode the piece of info. 2. WORK THE NEW FACT INTO A (SILLY) SEQUENCE Dr Salinas says our brains are good at sequences, and the more ridiculous the better. ‘I needed to buy eggs, milk and butter on the way home last night. But typically, when I get to the shop, I miss one thing. Create a silly story, and it will stick.’ How’s this? Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, drinking a glass of milk. He hopped off and slipped on a pat of butter. It really does work! 3. SPLIT WODGES OF INFO INTO MANAGEABLE BITS Say you’ve got to give a speech. Instead of memorising the whole thing, take a couple of sentences at a time. WORKS FOR ME If you don’t think you’ll be able to retire at 60, especially given that life expectancy is increasing, take heart: a study published in the Journal of

Occupational Health says if you keep working to some degree, you’re less likely to take ill with a major disease. The Health and Retirement Study followed 12189 people between 51 and 61 years old, looking at blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, lung and heart disease, stroke and mental issues.