How many hours of sleep do we need to start the day fit in the morning? On the one hand, there are people who feel well recovered after just 5 hours, while others have to force themselves out of bed after 8 hours. But how much sleep a day is really healthy? You can find out everything about optimal sleep duration in our new blog post.
Sleep is vital . We spend about a third of our lives in sleep. During sleep, body cells renew themselves, hormones are produced, energy reserves are replenished and information is processed.
Both too much and too little sleep have a negative impact on health
Various studies show that too little and too much sleep have a negative impact on health. In a study from Canada, around 117,000 test subjects from 21 countries were examined. For almost 8 years, the study participants were asked to provide information about their sleep duration, lifestyle and health status.
Late risers who slept more than 8 hours a day were usually more inactive and displayed unhealthy eating behavior. They suffered more often from diseases such as diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular diseases . Subjects who slept for less than 6 hours a day were more likely to have difficulty concentrating, impaired cognitive performance and bad mood . Nevertheless, they suffered almost as often from diseases as diabetes and obesity. One of the reasons for this is that short periods of sleep activate areas of the brain that are involved in regulating food intake. A short sleep duration is also said to result in a increased risk of depression in adolescents.
At the end of the study, the late risers in particular had suffered a stroke or a heart attack . The short sleepers, in contrast, were more likely to be involved in accidents – a sign that they were unable to concentrate due to too little sleep.
The Cancer Prevention Study in San Diego examined the connection in over 1.1 million men and women between sleep duration and mortality. Here, the test subjects who slept more than 8 hours and less than 6 hours had the highest mortality risk.
6 to 8 hours of sleep a day are the healthiest
optimal sleep duration is between 6 and 8 hours . Because according to studies, people with this length of sleep have the fewest health problems. Sleeping 6 to 8 hours a day is therefore associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular diseases. The Cancer Prevention Study shows that participants who slept 7 hours a night had a lower death rate than subjects who had more or less sleep.
It should not be forgotten that not only the length of sleep for the Health is important, but also how well you sleep through the night.
The amount of sleep you need also depends on your age
You do not have to strictly adhere to the sleeping times given above. Because everyone has their own individual sleep rhythm. There are people who can cope with too much or too little sleep and are still healthy. Age also affects how long you sleep. The daily sleep duration decreases with increasing age. It is therefore normal for children under the age of 12 to need 9 to 11 hours of sleep a day to be productive; In comparison, teenagers 8 to 10 hours a day. People over 65 years of age only need 5 to 6 hours to start the day well rested. The optimal sleep duration of 6 to 8 hours therefore only affects adults aged 18 to 64 years.
Note: The need for sleep can only be compensated slightly. So if you don’t sleep much during the week, you can’t make up for it on the weekend. So you should try to get enough sleep every night.
Improve your sleep with our sleep product
Many people resort to sleeping pills, to improve their sleep. However, sleeping pills have various side effects and are very addictive; in contrast, our plant-based sleeping capsules with soothing ingredients such as valerian and hop blossoms. You can find our product here . You can get more information about the products here .
Important: If you cannot sleep well over a longer period of time, please consult your doctor .