Welcome to Zoe, Science and Nutrition, where world-leading scientists explain how their research can improve your health.

We all know how good it feels to drift into deep sleep, to explore the land of dreams,

take stock of the day's experiences and wake up refreshed.

The positive effects of a good night's sleep stretch into every aspect of our lives.

We feel energetic, focused and ready to take on the day's challenges.

But the long-term effects of bad sleep are less known.

And it turns out they have a huge impact on our health and even how long we live.

Alzheimer's, cancer, obesity and diabetes are all linked to poor sleep.

So what is the latest science tell us about how we can improve our sleep, to give us more energy and better health.

And is it true that how we sleep changes how our body responds to food?

To find out, we're joined by Sleep Expert Matthew Walker, professor of neuroscience at UC Berkeley and founder of the Centre for Human Sleep Science.

Matt and his team are currently working with Zoe scientists to research the link between sleep, nutrition and health.

The first scientific paper from our work together has just been published by Nature Communications,

explaining why you feel energetic or tired when you wake up. You can find the link in our show notes.

Matt's best-selling book, Why We Sleep, transformed my own attitude to sleep.

Five years later, I still follow much of his guidance. I hope you will find Matt's actionable advice as powerful as I have.

Thank you for joining me today. I really enjoyed your book, You know, Why We Sleep,

which I first read quite a few years ago now when it first came out. And I have to admit, I am not sure I said this to you before,

but I drove my wife crazy, turning our bedroom into a cave afterwards.

So she definitely knows who you are, even though she hasn't yet met.

Probably for all the wrong reasons, but at least I annoyed you as a sleep ambassador for what you've been doing.

Well, thank you. I think as always, it's a bit like with Zoe and nutrition.

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