LIVE WELL FOR LONGER

We take sleep for granted as a fundamental, but have you ever considered why we actually need to sleep at all? All creatures need sleep – to rest and recharge – but research suggests it’s actually much more important than this, and is inextricably linked to how well we age. Human bodies and behaviour may have adapted over time, but sleep remains a constant necessity, as it’s one of the few bodily functions we simply cannot ever do without.

According to neuroscientist Matthew Walker, whose brilliant book is the result of a 20-year-plus research career (starting as a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School), getting a good night’s sleep is the key to wellbeing. Over the course of his research, he found the effect that sleep has on general ageing (and brain health in particular) alarmingly more health-relevant than even