We all know sleep is important, but few people realize that not getting enough sleep pretty much neutralizes the benefits of healthy eating and exercise.

When we sleep, protein production takes place that provides the necessary building blocks for cell growth and repair: The body recovers from stress damage, damage caused by ultraviolet rays and immunity is boosted.

Without sufficient rest the body is weakened, exposing us to greater risk of poor health.

Lack of sleep also wreaks havoc with our hormones.

In fact, just one night of missed or inadequate sleep is sufficient to make you as insulin resistant as a type 2 diabetic.

Lack of sleep causes persistently high cortisol levels, which can cause a myriad of disorders, including thyroid and metabolic dysfunction, cognitive decline and low serotonin levels – resulting in depression, irritability, anxiety and carb cravings.

Lost sleep affects physiological and cognitive functions like memory and attention, complex thought, motor response and emotional control. It also makes us pretty miserable, irritable and stressed.

You get the picture, sleep is pretty damn important.

So why then are we sleeping so little?

The average night’s sleep decreased from about 9 hours in 1910 to about 7.5 hours in 1975, and is now at an all time average low of 6.5 hours, with many shift workers getting 5 hours or less.

But even more worrying than losing a couple of hours here and there is that a huge number of people are using medication to aid sleep.

An estimated 10% of the American population takes some form of medication to sleep. (Source: National Sleep Foundation).

A study headed up by Dr. Daniel Kripke of the Scripps Clinic, compared 10,529 people that took sleeping pills with twice as many who didn’t.

The study revealed that those taking prescriptions were at a 35% increased risk of cancer compared with the non-prescription group. The study showed that the risk of developing lymphoma, lung, colon or prostate cancer associated with sleeping pills was greater than the effect from smoking.

Pretty shocking, I know.

It’s crazy. Instead of making positive, natural changes to our lifestyle and environment we resort to sleeping pills, wake up pills, caffeinated drinks and other stimulants to get us through the day.

Sure, it’s very challenging to find more time for sleep in an increasingly busy world where we’ve more to do and more to think about.

But the truth is we’ve also become our own worst enemy: We stay up too late, we eat too late, we stimulate the brain with computers and phones all day long, we constantly eat stimulants and we don’t give the brain adequate time to rest, relax and wind down each day before bed.

Sleep is as natural as eating and drinking. So why then are we working against this natural function rather than embracing it?

Our caveman ancestors sure didn’t take sleeping pills. They didn’t worry about getting enough sleep either, or need alarm clocks to wake them up.

Our ancestors slept in alignment with Mother Nature. They went to sleep a few hours after the sun went down and woke with its rise. They ate a diet that complemented their sleep and properly exercised the mind and body to make it sufficiently tired for a good night’s sleep.

The fact is, when it comes to sleep, Mother Nature makes the rules. I mean, it’s no coincidence that melatonin (the sleep hormone) increases in production as sunlight fades, and then lowers again as sunlight resumes.

This is how the human body was designed, and if you continually work against the natural order of sleep, you will disrupt the body’s sleep-wake cycle and suffer negative health effects because of it.

You will experience trouble falling asleep and staying asleep. You will feel fatigued and irritable during the day. You will feel like you need to nap during the day, feel more stressed and more down in the dumps than usual.

Abusing the sleep-wake cycle over a prolonged period can lead to the onset of insomnia, which has serious health risks.

The good news is that it’s easy to improve the quality of your sleep. Most cases of poor quality sleep and insomnia can be cured using six core steps, as documented in Peter Litchfield’s book Six Steps To Sleep.

Litchfield discovered this methodology during his quest to cure insomnia, a condition that plagued his life for 15 years.

His story is pretty remarkable.

==> Read Peter’s story here

Peter’s book has made me look long and hard at my sleeping habits and Identify where I can make valuable improvements. His straight-talking, practical advice really makes you consider just how anti-sleep our lives have become.

Since following his advice, the quality of my sleep has improved threefold. I feel super-energized having followed his six core steps for the past few weeks, and I’ve recommended the book to a number of friends who are always moaning that they “Didn’t sleep well”.

In addition to the book, which is 100 odd pages of insightful advice and personal research, are three meditation audios designed to entrain your brain for relaxation and sleep. I won’t get into the technology here, but I love listening to these audios after those long, high-energy days when my mind just won’t settle down.

If you have trouble sleeping, or wouldn’t mind getting improving your sleep and overall health, I highly recommend Six Steps To Sleep.

==> Click here to read more about Six Steps To Sleep