Most would agree that a good nights sleep is good for you. One European doctor takes the sage advice to a new level. A lack of sleep makes you "fat, stupid and sick", according to a German scientist.

Sleep researcher Professor Juergen Zulley from the Regensburg University Hospital in Bavaria said: "It makes you stupid because suffering from sleep deficiency diminishes your memory. Sick, because too little sleep can damage your heart, circulation, stomach and intestines. And fat because while we are sleeping are bodies release a hormone that reduces appetite.

"If the release of this hormone is interrupted because we are not getting a full night's sleep then we quickly feel hungry which causes most people to head straight to the fridge," he says.

He also added in order to stay fit and healthy people should regularly have seven hours sleep a night.