What do a Donut Burger (a beef patty between donut halves) and a Cheetos Quesadilla (stuffed with jalapeno-flavored Cheetos and a three-cheese blend) have in common? They are precisely the kind of junk food that can damage your deep-sleep cycle, leading to serious health problems.

Deep sleep, also known as slow-wave sleep, is characterized by long, slow waves of electrical activity. While you're in that zone, your body releases growth hormone and repairs and builds muscle, bones, and tissue.

It also boosts immune system function and may help regulate your glucose metabolism.

You don't want to disrupt those essential benefits.

For a new study published in the journal Obesity researchers put healthy participants on an unhealthy, processed-food diet loaded with added sugar and saturated fat, and compared the quality of their deep sleep while on that diet with the quality of their sleep when they stuck to a healthy diet. They found that when participants ate junk food, they had less slow-wave sleep. 

If you want to wave good-bye to the physical and cognitive problems that come from poor quality deep sleep, ditch junk food and go to bed and awake at the same times daily; aim for seven to eight hours of sleep in a dark, quiet, cool room, with no digital devices for an hour before bedtime; and practice a stress management technique morning and night.

Junk food also causes other horrible health issues by increasing your risk of disability from heart attack, stroke, cancer, and dementia.