‘You snooze, you lose’ might be the expression, but a growing body of research suggests the opposite is the case for women.

Researchers from Loughborough University’s Sleep Research Centre recently concluded that women need about 20 minutes more sleep than men each night because their brains are more complex.

“Women tend to multi-task – they do lots at once and are flexible – and so they use more of their actual brain than men do,” Professor Jim Horne, director of the research centre, told Metro UK.

“The more of your brain you use during the day, the more [time it] needs to recover and, consequently, the more sleep you need.”

These findings are corroborated by a December 2013 study that linked inadequate sleep to greater risk of heart disease and diabetes in women. The study also found women are more likely to experience stress, anxiety and depression than sleep-deprived men. MORE…