You snooze, you win: new research reveals sleep's non-negotiable health benefits

We buy serums, drink smoothies, and use fitness trackers because we want to stay healthy as we age. But we often overlook one key factor: sleep.

How we care for ourselves at night shapes how we’ll feel the next day, and much of this happens while we sleep (or don’t).

The inaugural Sleep Summit, hosted by Discovery Health, convened leading global experts, scientists, and healthcare professionals.

The event's primary objective was to underscore the vital importance of sleep, elevating its status to that of nutrition and exercise as an essential component of overall health and well-being.

A highlight of the event was the release of "The Sleep Factor: A Data-Led Blueprint for Better Health", a new report showing how much sleep affects our lives.

The report uses over 47 million sleep records and other health data to show that sleep is more than just rest. It is an active process that keeps your body working well. Ignoring sleep could even shorten your life.

We’ve all heard the phrase “I’ll sleep when I’m dead,” but science is proving that this mindset is not only flawed, it's dangerous.

The Sleep Factor data indicate that poor sleep habits significantly increase the risk of early death by 22%. The good news is that sleep is a behaviour that can be changed.

Making it a priority will significantly reduce your risk of developing chronic conditions like diabetes, obesity, and even heart disease.

Dr Mosima Mabunda, Vitality's chief therapeutic officer, says, "Sleep is not a luxury; it's a clinical imperative."

Why does sleep matter so much?

During sleep, your body repairs itself, your brain consolidates memories, and your immune system strengthens.

It’s not just about how long you sleep, but also about the quality, timing and regularity of your rest. The alarming health risks of poor sleep. The numbers are hard to ignore. According to Discovery’s research and other global studies, regularly sleeping less than six hours a night increases your risk of:

• Diabetes by 65%  
• Obesity by 41%  
• Coronary heart disease by 33%  
• Depression symptoms by 20%

And it’s not just physical health that’s affected. Poor sleep is directly linked to mental health challenges, impaired decision-making, reduced productivity, and even an increased risk of accidents.  

According to Nadine Rampf, an associate professor at Stellenbosch University, sleep is active biology that keeps our bodies and minds functioning. Every bodily system suffers when we ignore it.

Sleep and health affect each other. Poor sleep can make chronic health problems worse, and those problems can make it harder to sleep.

This cycle can speed up disease and lower your quality of life. When you chronically skimp on sleep, your metabolic system begins to falter. In controlled sleep-restriction studies, even short-term deprivation leads to:

Metabolism and hormonal balance

• Reduced glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity, your body becomes less efficient at clearing blood sugar, nudging toward insulin resistance.
• Altered appetite hormones ghrelin (hunger hormone) rises, leptin (satiety hormone) falls, making you hungrier, especially for energy-dense foods.
• Increased evening cortisol and disrupted endocrine rhythms elevate stress response and interfere with fat storage, appetite regulation, and tissue repair.

Over time, this trajectory pushes toward obesity, type 2 diabetes, and metabolic syndrome, well-documented links with chronic sleep loss.

Cardiovascular and autonomic strain

Each night, sleep helps reset your circulatory system. If you miss out on sleep often, your nervous system, blood pressure, and blood vessels can start to suffer.

In the long run, these pressures increase the risks of hypertension, atherosclerosis, heart attack, and stroke.

Immune system and inflammation

One of the most significant and underappreciated consequences of sleep loss is its impact on immune dysfunction and chronic inflammation.

• Chronic lack of sleep reduces the ability to respond to illness or injury, impairs recovery, and increases the risk of developing autoimmune or chronic-inflammatory diseases.

Brain and neurorepair

Sleep isn’t just downtime for your brain. It’s when repair happens, memories consolidate, and waste products are cleared. Deny your brain that time, and the consequences accumulate.

• Chronic sleep deprivation can lead to memory impairment, thereby making it difficult for the brain to modify brain networks or absorb new information.
• Sleep deprivation can lead to emotional volatility and decision fatigue. The prefrontal brain circuits degrade first, making you more impulsive, emotionally reactive, and unable to plan or self-regulate.

Evidence now links sleep disturbances and Alzheimer’s pathology, cerebrovascular injury, and risk of cognitive decline.

Expert speaker at the Summit, Nadine Rampf, associate professor in the Division of Clinical Anatomy at the University of Stellenbosch, added: “Sleep is not downtime - it’s the active biology that keeps our brains and bodies running.

When we prioritise sleep, we unlock human potential, safer decisions, stronger health, and greater resilience. Neglecting sleep impacts every system in the body, but protecting it is one of the most powerful predictors of long-term health and longevity.”​

• Chronic lack of sleep reduces the ability to respond to illness or injury, impairs recovery, and increases the risk of developing autoimmune or chronic-inflammatory diseases.

Brain and neurorepair

Sleep isn’t just downtime for your brain. It’s when repair happens, memories consolidate, and waste products are cleared. Deny your brain that time, and the consequences accumulate.

• Chronic sleep deprivation can lead to memory impairment, thereby making it difficult for the brain to modify brain networks or absorb new information.
• Sleep deprivation can lead to emotional volatility and decision fatigue. The prefrontal brain circuits degrade first, making you more impulsive, emotionally reactive, and unable to plan or self-regulate.

Evidence now links sleep disturbances and Alzheimer’s pathology, cerebrovascular injury, and risk of cognitive decline.

Expert speaker at the event, Nadine Rampf, associate professor in the Division of Clinical Anatomy at the University of Stellenbosch, added: “Sleep is not downtime - it’s the active biology that keeps our brains and bodies running.

"When we prioritise sleep, we unlock human potential, safer decisions, stronger health, and greater resilience. Neglecting sleep impacts every system in the body, but protecting it is one of the most powerful predictors of long-term health and longevity.”​