Turn Off Your Television Now!!!!!!!!!!!

watching television

An Australian study recently released a shocking finding: every hour of television a person watches shortens their life by an average of 22 minutes. 

Looking at the behavior of 11,000 participants, the Queensland scientists found that people who watched around 6 hours of TV each day lived an average of almost 5 years less than people who never watched TV. 

This research corroborates another recent study from Harvard. The Harvard team found that TV watchers are at a significantly greater risk for type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and early death than people who don’t watch TV.

Perhaps the most sobering statistic cited by the Australian team: if TV didn’t exist, the average life expectancy for women would be 1.5 years longer for women and 1.8 years longer for men.

Before you throw your TV out, consider this aspect of the finding: it’s probably not the TV itself that’s causing the problem- it’s the fact that because you’re watching TV, you’re not doing other, more active things. 

The researchers in both studies agree that watching a lot of TV is strongly correlated with reduced physical activity and poor eating habits. So if the only TV you watch is at the gym while you’re on a treadmill, this finding may not apply to you.

Not sure what to do now that your TV is off? Visit our Shirsa.me to learn quick brain fitness tips and to learn more about how to choose daily activities that boost your brain instead of draining it.

- Team Shirsa

Why You Need It So Badly - Sleep!!!

I came across recent studies and articles about the importance of sleep, so I thought it is very good topic to share with you guys! After writing this, I think I’ll definitely be getting a good night’s sleep tonight–if I can stop worrying about all the sleep I’ve lost to date!

Sleep affects your ability to do a good job at work. A study published in The Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine found that people with insomnia or insufficient sleep showed worse productivity and performance on the job. Lack of sleep can have serious consequences on and off the job

A study published in JAMA found that surgeons who worked a night shift and got less than 6 hours of sleep had more complications in the surgeries they performed, compared to others. Another study showed that sleep-deprived medical residents were more likely to crash their cars and make more mistakes on the job.

Poor sleep in kids and teens leads to poor performance in school. studies have shown that kids and teens who get up during the night or don’t get enough sleep do worse in school than their sleep-sound schoolmates. They have problems paying attention and equals more depression and suicidal thoughts in teens. A study on parent-mandated bedtimes found that adolescents who went to bed at 10 PM had significantly lower rates of depression and suicidal thoughts versus those who went to bed at midnight.

Sleep-deprived people don’t realize how impaired they are. Harvard sleep expert Charles Czeisler has been quoted as saying “Like a drunk, a person who is sleep deprived has no idea how functionally impaired he or she truly is. Most of us have forgotten what it really feels like to be awake.”

Lack of sleep combined with alcohol is far more dangerous than you think. Says Cornell expert James Maas, “One drink on six hours of sleep, in terms of your ability to drive a car, is the equivalent of six drinks on eight hours a sleep.

Poor sleep can make you fat and also leads to higher blood pressure. People who sleep less are hungrier and consume more calories–perhaps because they’re looking for food to perk them up. This leads to hormonal changes that make you crave more carbohydrates and make you feel less like exercising.

Beauty and  sleep is not a myth. people were considered to be less attractive and less healthy after sleep deprivation than when they had gotten a full night’s sleep. Lack of sleep can’t be repaired in just one night. Many people believe that one good night’s sleep is sufficient to make up for previous poor sleep, but research has found that chronic sleep loss has residual negative effects, particularly when sleep is lost during the Circadian “night.”

Lack of sleep can literally kill you. People who sleep fewer than six hours a night are 12% more likely to die prematurely than people who sleep between six and eight hours. Another study showed that an average of 7 hours a night for older women was correlated with the best chance of longevity.

- Team Shirsa