Sleeping is one of the prime necessities of life. Sleep rejuvenates our bodies and our minds. It helps our bodies to recover and replenish. People often complain of not sleeping enough, but how much sleep in enough?
Sleep is a fascinating phase in our daily lives. And science is investing more and more every day to find out about it. Researchers are finding out fascinating things and breaking age-old myths about sleep often. Sleep has benefits galore, but too much of it might not be healthy for us.
Researchers have found that spending more time on the bed, can increase many health risks by several folds.
How Much Sleep Is Enough?
Eight hours of sleep, has always been the gold standard of sleep. And nobody has really challenged it so far. But recently, researchers from the National Sleep Foundation, have widened the acceptable spectrum of sleep to seven to nine hours as the normal standard of sleep for the age group of 18-65 years.
Some researchers have been arguing that seven hours is the gold standard of sleep, not eight hours. Professor Shawn Youngstedt from Arizona University said, “The lowest mortality and morbidity rate is with seven hours.”
2% of the population are believed to natural long sleepers, from childhood. Tendency of sleeping more on weekends are also not likely harmful. But the tendency of a person is to sleep more than 9 hours daily can be health red flag.
Oversleeping is increasingly becoming a health concern, as the links between oversleeping and diseases are becoming more clearer.
5 Health Impacts Of Oversleeping
1. Impaired Mental Well-Being
A research using Lumosity brain-training platform data, has found that people who slept for seven hours performed better in three different games. Other studies have also found that more sleep can cause decreased cognitive function.
Many other researches have claimed that long sleep can increase the risk of mental degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s, dementia, etc.
Oversleeping is also said to be a symptom of depression. 15% of people dealing with depression, have been diagnosed with the tendency of oversleeping.
2. Heightened Pain
Sleeping can sooth pain in some cases, but in many other cases oversleeping can increase the pain. Back pain can worsen with less mobility and spending more time on bed with an unsupportive mattress.
“Weekend headaches” have been linked to oversleeping on the weekends, as oversleeping can trigger migraines, etc.
3. Heart Health Risk
Research conducted by National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, have confirmed that coronary diseases risk is higher for people who sleep too little or too much. Sleeping more than eight hours have been linked to heightened risk of angina.
University of Cambridge collected data over 11 years with Europeans to link that people who sleep more than 8 hours are 46% more likely to have a stroke after considering other co-morbid factors.
Hence, prolong sleepers have been found to be more at risk for heart diseases and attacks.
4. Weight Gain
Over-sleepers are more likely to gain weight due to lesser physical activity which results in lower metabolism. Also, over-sleepers have been found to be at a higher risk category for diabetes.
5. Inflammation
Researches have confirmed that over-sleepers have higher levels of inflammation factor, C-reactive protein in their bodies. These proteins have been associated with inflammation, which increase the risk of many diseases from Alzheimer’s to coronary conditions.
Many other health issues like impaired fertility, higher mortality risk, etc. have also been associated with oversleeping.
Healthy Sleep
Since both sleeping less and oversleeping can cause so many problems, it is vital to know right way the amount of sleep that is required for overall well-being. Eating healthy food consisting of theobromine, selenium, etc. can help in sleep. Regular exercise can help us in having good sleep. Follow strict sleep patterns for healthy sleep and get a bit of sunlight for good health. Avoid using phones and laptops excessively before bedtime. More importantly, sleep for seven to nine hours, depending on your bodily need and not more than that.
So, sleep for just the adequate amount of time and eat the right quantity for good overall health.
