How much sleep do we need ?

 

You can have the best diet in the world, have the best exercise program and be free from emotional stress, but if you aren't sleeping well, for whatever reason, it is virtually impossible to be healthy.

 

There is no perfect answer to this question because like everything else, the answer depends on a large number of highly individual factors. The general consensus seems to be that most people need somewhere between 7 and 9 hours of sleep each night.

 

There's compelling research indicating that sleeping less than 6 hours may increase your insulin resistance and risk of diabetes. And recent studies show that less than 5 hours of sleep at night can double your risk of being diagnosed with angina, coronary heart disease, heart attack or stroke. Interestingly enough, the same appears to be true when you sleep more than nine hours per night.

 

Insufficient Sleep Puts Your Health at Risk

 

It's important to differentiate between occasional lack of sleep, and a chronic pattern. Everyone loses sleep here and there, and your body is typically resilient enough to allow for that. However, when poor sleep becomes a constant, there's no question your health may be at risk.

 

Guidelines on Optimal Amount of Sleep

The recommendation is to simply sleep "enough hours so that your energy is sustained through the day without artificial stimulation, with the exception of a daytime nap."

There's solid data showing the connection between insulin resistance and sleep. When participants slept three or four hours less than normal for just a couple of days in a row, they saw a dramatic spike in insulin resistance.

 

Napping ?

According to Dr. Rubin Naiman, we're actually biologically programmed to nap during the daytime, typically in the middle of the afternoon. Some European countries still adhere to the daily siesta and close shop for a couple of hours in the middle of the day when the heat is also at its most pressing. Most employers in Western countries, however, do not accommodate daily snoozing, so when the natural tendency to get drowsy sets in, you may try to alleviate it with coffee, or simply fight the urge to take a nap.
 

Sleep Timing—Does it Matter?

Roughly the first third to first half of sleep is when we get most of our true deep sleep. We spend most of the first part of the night truly sleeping, most of the latter part of the night dreaming. In Chinese medicine, they say the best time to get to sleep is roughly 9:00 or 10 pm, roughly a couple of hours after sunset, when there have been enough melatonin raised in our brains that will naturally put us out.

 

The most important aspect of sleep timing appears to be the consistency of going to bed at the same time every night.

 

How Shift Work Affects Your Health

 

The data is quite clear on this point: Engaging in shift work dramatically increases mortality (you're basically turning day and night upside down). According to Dr. Rubin Naiman, shift work can decrease your lifespan by about seven years on average! Gastrointestinal disorders are also more common among shift workers.

 

Preliminary data shows that if you increase your melatonin levels during your night shift—effectively turning it into an artificial day—you can minimize some of the detrimental effects of working during the night (you can find melatonin supplements, in every health food store).

 

Source: National Sleep Foundation, www.mercola.com