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IdRatherBeSleeping85 t1_isul129 wrote

Did it say why? Are people that sleep less just up to no good? Eating more? Watching more tv, using the internet? Thinking about the stresses of life? So sleeping an extra 3 hrs is the cure?

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Myquil-Wylsun t1_isulo1w wrote

Quality sleep is good for you in general. Lack of sleep has been pointed to as a catalyst behind a variety of ailments.

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IdRatherBeSleeping85 t1_isum2yw wrote

But what if those 5 hours (or less) of sleep are great quality sleep?

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mydoghasocd t1_isuopos wrote

your body engages in extensive cellular repair and cleansing while you sleep. If you deprive your body of sleep, you are not getting that regular maintenance on your body. Sleep quality certainly matters, but 4 hours of high quality sleep is not ever going to outperform 7 hours of medium quality sleep. The sleep research is very clear that <5 (and maybe less than 6) is incredibly detrimental for all aspects of health.

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DJSnafu t1_isw65dg wrote

Any data about 4-5 hours supplemented by 2-3 hours in the afternoon?

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mydoghasocd t1_isw87m2 wrote

Yes, napping longer than 60 minutes is associated with increased all cause mortality https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1389945720303658

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DJSnafu t1_iswzh34 wrote

God damn, its a miracle I'm still alive going by those two studies. Appreciate the replies, even if they're very depressing!

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mydoghasocd t1_isxrjz8 wrote

First step is identifying there’s an issue !

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DJSnafu t1_isydmh8 wrote

For sure. Just very tough, I've struggled with more than 5 hours of sleep since I was around 11 and I'm 41 now. Been awake since 6am today (4.5 hours of sleep at night) and your comment this morning has prevented from my daynap today:D Thank you again for taking the time to reply.

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mydoghasocd t1_isyxoa1 wrote

Well, there are some strategies to help with sleeping longer at night. You could read The Circadian Code, which covers a lot of these, although the most important things are 1) not napping during the day, 2) having a set wake up time, 3) don’t eat anything or drink alcohol for 2-3 hours before bed, 4) no caffeine after noon, and 5) increasing your physical activity. I will note that even though everyone consistently finds dramatic effects of sleep on overall health, that actually the most important thing you can possibly do for your health is regular physical activity, the next most important thing is eating a Mediterranean diet (or similar), and then sleep is after that, followed by other general health tweaking behaviors (e.g., fasting, meditation, reducing stress/anxiety). But the most important predictor of health is regular physical activity. So if you just can’t optimize your sleep even after trying everything, instead of stressing about sleep, you should just focus on exercising.   And if you exercise enough, it'll probably fix your sleep problem anyway.

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TLTAGL t1_itbnsbj wrote

I Thought that it was 30 minutes… Thx for that information

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mydoghasocd t1_itc9ahv wrote

It might be. I’m not sure what the consensus is, just that some studies use 60 as the cutiff

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uninstallIE t1_isurswe wrote

Most human bodies need more sleep than that. A few people have genetic abnormalities that allow them to get on with about that or less, but don't assume you're one of those people.

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TinfoilTobaggan t1_isv35fb wrote

I think people who lack sleep tend to gravitate more towards junk food, booze and drugs to compensate... The HALT method seems to come into play here..

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