(Click here for 6 strategies for successful sleeping.)

Sleep nourishes us in different ways. For example, in REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, your brain processes information and comes up with creative ideas and problem solving strategies. Of the big three sleep stages–stage two, slow-wave, and REM—slow-wave sleep is the most restorative, says sleep researcher Sara Mednick, assistant professor at University of California, San Diego, and author of Take a Nap! Change Your Life (Workman, 2006).

Getting enough slow-wave increases natural growth hormone, which helps bone growth, muscles development, skin elasticity, and memory consolidation. Unfortunately, the length of time we spend in slow wave sleep decreases across our lifespan. “Even as early as age 40, there’s a correlation between age-dependent decreases in slow-wave sleep and some performance decreases across cognitive tests,” says Mednick. For example, we’re less able to process and remember basic information, but not necessarily skills. “Like if I tell you something once, it will be harder for you to remember it again,” she explains.

Getting enough slow-wave sleep is also important to help ward off obesity. That’s because this stage of sleep decreases cortisol, a stress hormone that serves a purpose but tends to linger unnecessarily, leading to increases in the kind of abdominal fat associated with heart attacks and strokes. Skimping on sleep, in general, disrupts a group of hormones called leptins and grehlins that tell you when you’re hungry and when to stop eating.

No matter what your age and what the cause, poor sleep can mess with your metabolism, says Helene A. Emsellem, MD, director of the Center for Sleep and Wake Disorders in Chevy Chase, Maryland, and author of Snooze… or Lose!: 10 “No-War” Ways to Improve Your Teen’s Sleep Habits (National Academies Press, 2006). Whether you have underlying sleep apnea (temporary, often repeated, cessation of breathing during sleep), chronic insomnia (inability to sleep or to remain asleep throughout the night), or just aren’t giving yourself enough time in bed, the tendency is to steadily gain weight and not be able to lose weight if you’re trying.

As for substituting caffeine for sleep when you’re tired, Mednick’s latest study shows it helps with alertness, but caffeine doesn’t clear the cobwebs out of your memory like a good afternoon siesta. “Everybody in the caffeine group showed decreases in performance compared to the nap and compared to placebo,” she says.

1. Shoot for 7 to 8 hours. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine says we need eight hours of sleep per night. Most people get fewer than six hours, although some log in more than nine. Studies show that both sleeping too little and sleeping too much increases your risk of obesity.
2. Take regular naps. Research now finds that healthy people can improve their odds against heart disease by taking regular naps. “If you nap twice a week, you have a 12 percent decrease in heart disease. But the best part is if you nap three times a week, you have a 37 percent decrease in coronary heart disease,” says Mednick.
3. Manage your medical problems. Chronic diseases, arthritis for example, can make sleeping more difficult. Careful disease management can help improve sleep quality. On the other hand, poor sleep can make these health matters worse. “People tend to deal with the biggest thing on their bulletin board, so they might say, ‘I can’t deal with my insomnia until my arthritis is better.’ But boy if you don’t deal with your sleep problem, you may not get enough restorative sleep to heal your arthritis,” says Emsellem.
4. Check your medication. Many medications are associated with sleepiness and insomnia. When your doctor prescribes a new drug, watch what’s going on with your sleep. If you’re experiencing these symptoms, talk to your doctor about changing your prescription.
5. Manage your blood sugar. If you have diabetes and have difficulty controlling your blood sugar despite following your doctor’s instructions, treating your sleep problems may help. “Control of blood sugar is intimately related to adequate sleep and good breathing and oxygenation at night,” says Emsellem.
6. Practice good sleep hygiene. Pay attention to comfort and room temperature and turn all the lights out when you sleep. Keep a regular sleep schedule so you’re in synch with your brain’s programming. Avoid sleeping on down pillows and comforters because of the allergy issues.

• Sleep on schedule. Timing affects your circadian rhythm, so if your weekday and weekend bedtimes differ by more than two hours, you may have trouble falling asleep on weeknights.
• Avoid big meals before bedtime. Overloading the digestive system after 8 p.m. takes energy away from restorative tasks that occur during sleep. And go easy on alcohol, which can disrupt sleep in the second half of the night.
• Turn off lights, computers, and blinking Blackberries. The sleep hormone melatonin is sensitive to even low levels of light.
• Get regular exercise, preferably in the afternoon. Research shows an afternoon workout improves the quality of nighttime sleep. And a fit body sleeps better than an unfit one, says sleep center director Helene A. Emsellem, MD, although results may take several weeks to kick in.
• Learn to relax. Wind down with a warm bath, some quiet music, a good book, or a few yoga stretches just before you climb into bed.
• Take a nap. Napping won’t interfere with bedtime sleeping, says Sara Mednick, PhD, of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, “as long as you don’t nap longer than an hour and a half and you leave a two-hour buffer between waking from a nap and going to sleep at night.

Sleep spas provide a tranquil setting, give people a break from their usual routines and help them identify the unconscious patterns that contribute to troubled sleep. “We help people see the benefits of living with not getting things done, or with delegating more, or cutting out what’s not essential so they can add more sleep,” says Koffler.

As you would expect, a sleep spa experience feels more like a retreat at a swanky hotel than a typical doctor’s visit. At Canyon Ranch, for example, you can order a sleep enhancement/insomnia relief package; a snoring/sleep apnea evaluation; or an all-night polysomnography (a formal overnight study to assess problems such as multiple awakenings, snoring, sleep apnea, and daytime sleepiness). For anywhere from $140 to $2,275, a staff of sleep professionals will attempt to decipher your every dozing dilemma.

Cosmetic and toiletry brands have gotten in on the act too, launching an array of products to lull you into lullaby land. Although few of these have been tested for effectiveness, many contain lavender (Lavandula augustifolia), a proven treatment for insomnia, according to recent studies.

“These products are for busy people who want to pamper themselves to sleep but don’t necessarily want to spend too much money or go to a lot of trouble,” says Jill Phipps, co-owner of Joy of Sleep (www.joyofsleep.com) in Portland, Oregon. Phipps says her husband Martin founded the web-based company several years ago when he realized he wasn’t the only insomniac surfing for sleep support. Whether or not sleep products actually work, the marketing trend seems to be growing, says Phipps.

Catching enough z’s may not be easy, but it’s one of the best-and cheapest-ways to enhance your health and, consequently, your appearance. “You can almost think of sleep as an alternative form of medicine,” says Emsellem. No matter what strategy you choose, make time to nurture yourself with a good night’s sleep.

“It sounds counter intuitive because you think you’re burning more calories by staying awake and active,” says Helene A. Emsellem, MD, director of the Center for Sleep and Wake Disorders in Chevy Chase, Maryland, and author of Snooze… or Lose!: 10 “No-War” Ways to Improve Your Teen’s Sleep Habits (National Academies Press, 2006). “But you need to sleep to properly metabolize the calories you take in during the day.”

Although not an official disease, chronic sleeplessness carries an annual health care cost of $16 billion and costs $50 billion in lost productivity. With numbers like these, an entire industry has emerged to treat the estimated 70 million sleep-deprived Americans. The big news in the snooze trade? The hottest sleep peddlers aren’t pharmaceutical companies or sleep clinics, but destination spas.

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