How to sleep better in 9 steps

Are you a chronic sleep skimper? Short sleep can throw off your two appetite-regulating hormones (ghrelin and leptin) in ways that make you eat more, gain more, and get more blood-sugar problems, boosting heart attacks and strokes. Missing sleep also increases body-wide inflammation, which gunks up your arteries and fuels cancer. Could it get worse? Yep. Ignoring your body's clock messes with the sleepy-time hormone melatonin, which doubles as a cancer deterrent. So give your body the gift of better sleep—and a RealAge that’s up to 3.4 years younger—with this deep-sleep plan.