Jennifer Lopez says sleep is her biggest beauty secret
Jennifer Lopez is dishing about all her beauty secrets.
In her latest On the JLo newsletter, the superstar, who announced that she would be sharing all her beauty tips with her followers, said that getting enough shut-eye is her most important beauty secret of all.
"We don't value sleep," Lopez wrote. "We value grinding and working hard -- and admittedly, nobody gets caught up in that rat race more than me. I've found, however, that sleep to me is the most underrated beauty secret out there."
The "Jenny from the Block" singer said she gets at least 7 to 9 hours of sleep each night, and it's part of her tenets of JLo Beauty and what she calls her five S's: sunscreen, serum, supplements, sano (what she calls "vivir," which translates from Spanish as "to live") and sleep.
Lopez said she became more cognizant of her sleep schedule after experiencing a panic attack "brought on by exhaustion."
"One day, I was sitting in a trailer, and all the work and the stress it brought with it, coupled with not enough sleep to recuperate mentally, caught up with me," she wrote. "I went from feeling totally normal, to thinking about what I needed to do that day and all of a sudden I felt as if I couldn't move... I was completely frozen."
She continued: "I had made my work such an all-consuming priority and let my own self-care needs go completely (even as simple as sleeping or taking 10 minutes to just relax). I found myself feeling physically paralyzed, I couldn't see clearly, and then the physical symptoms I was having started to scare me and the fear compounded itself."
Lopez said she was taken to the doctor who told her that she needed to sleep more. Since then, she's tried to catch as many hours of sleep as she can, and she also embarked on a wellness journey.
The National Sleep Foundation recommends 7 to 9 hours of sleep for adults. Teens should get between 8 and 10 hours, and children from ages 6 to 13 should get between 9 and 11 hours.
Doctors say poor sleep can affect your health.
"Sleep is when our body recharges, restores, resets, repairs," ABC News' chief medical correspondent Dr. Ashton said. "It is a necessity."
For Lopez, sleep has helped her tremendously. She's also seen the positive effects of longer sleep on her skin.
"As I slept more and took care of myself, I realized it was about pro-living versus anti-aging," she said. "Sometimes I wake up and say, 'Wow! I just lost 10 years off my face!' That's what a good night's sleep can do for you, and it accumulates over time. ... So go get your sleep!"
