Chances are you already have some pretty healthy habits; you eat veggies and fruit, get regular exercise, maybe even practice meditation and you don’t smoke.

But do you get enough sleep each night? Chances are most of you don’t. The fact is that most adults need between 7.5 and 9 hours of sleep per night. (According to a 2005 National Sleep Foundation poll, we average just 6.9 hours a night.)

Yup, most Americans are sleep deprived. You don’t just have to be short on the hours to suffer the effects of sleep deprivation: it can also mean having difficulty in falling asleep, staying asleep, waking up too early, or having poor sleep quality (think tossing and turning, getting up to use the bathroom, having a snoring partner, etc.).

Sleep is integral to good health. And lack of sleep rears its ugly head in many ways:

• A weakened immune system. People who sleep less than six hours per night have 50 percent less resistance to viral infection compared to those who get eight hours of sleep (click here for the research in PDF format)
• Weight gain. A lack of sleep lowers leptin levels in your brain and raises ghrelin levels in your stomach. What’s that? They’re the hormones responsible for regulating your appetite. Sleep deprivation brings on cravings of carbs, sugars and junk foods. Less sleep=a higher chance of being obese.
• Diabetes. A lack of sleep can increase the likelihood of developing diabetes by overstimulating the central nervous system, which in turn affects the ability of your pancreas to churn out enough insulin to regulate your body’s glucose levels.

These are just a few ways your body can turn on you for depriving it of sleep.

What to do? Do the thing that only one in three adults will admit to – TAKE A NAP.

Health Benefits of Napping

With a nap come amazing health benefits:

• Naps help you learn, and retain what you learn
• Naps lower your blood pressure and risk for heart disease and stroke
• Naps reduce stress
• Naps boost your mood
• Naps increase your productivity
• Naps speed up the rate at which we learn new information

Yay, naps! They can help make up for an unrestful night. Is it any wonder that many corporations have set aside official “nap rooms” and actually encourage their employees to take a time-out for some restoration? Says James Maas Ph.D, past chairman of psychology at Cornell University and a sleep researcher who coined the term “power nap”: “Stop being a napaphobe … a nap can be a stop-gap measure to get through the day.”

Tips for Successful Napping

• Make it twenty or ninety minutes. That’s because when you sleep, your body goes through five distinct sleep cycles (very light through very heavy). The idea is to wake during a lighter sleep stage, which will help you feel truly invigorated rather than sleepier than when you started.
• Block out light with an eyeshade. Light can interfere with the ability to sleep- it sends signals to your brain that it’s time to wake up.
• Block out noise with earplugs, noise-canceling headphones, a fan, the air conditioner, or anything else that resembles white noise.
• Get as close to a bedtime situation as you can. You don’t have to don PJs, but at least lie down if you can, or lean back in your chair. Make sure your head and limbs are supported so you don’t jerk yourself awake when your head flops forward or your neck snaps back!
• Turn down the heat. According to researchers, optimal sleep temperature hovers between 65-68 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Clear your head. Try to forget everything you have to do. How about writing it all down before you close your eyes?

Here’s hoping you give yourself the gift of a nap. Your body, mind and mood will thank you.

Sheryl Kraft is Health & Wellness Editor at EndlessBeauty.com