Schedules and demands from both work and family sometimes do not allow us to have a restful sleep, something that negatively affects our quality of life. Getting enough sleep is key for our health, but how many hours are enough? How many hours should we sleep at night?
While we sleep, our muscles relax and endothelial function improves, which contributes to lowering blood pressure. Therefore, getting enough and good sleep influences cardiovascular diseases the most important ones, the ones we all want to avoid. Do you want to improve your sleep routine? Discover the importance of getting enough sleep.
The dangers of sleeping little or poorly
For many people it is difficult to fall asleep or not suffer interruptions during sleep from Monday to Friday due to professional and family demands. And obviously, this means that we do not rest enough and affects our health, especially when lack of sleep is habitual and becomes chronic.. These are the dangers of sleeping little or poorly:
- Increases the risk of suffering from: ischemic heart disease, heart attack, angina, stroke, heart failure and atrial fibrillation. Recent studies have shown that people who suffer from insomnia have a higher risk of developing heart failure.
- It is also associated with overweight problems, obesity and high levels of cholesterol and triglycerides.
- It affects the capacity of concentration and brain function in our daily routine. We do not perform as well when we have had a bad night's sleep.
The dangers of sleeping too much
And what happens if we sleep too much? It is a problem that many of us do not have to worry about, at least from Monday to Friday when we are active. But it is important to know that sleeping too much also has its contraindications and they are the following:
- It affects the mood: Prolonged sleep, like lack of sleep, affects the ability to concentrate and brain function in daily life. It is also closely related to disorders such as depression.
- It can raise sugar levels in the blood, increasing the risk of diabetes.
- It may increase the risk of suffering from cardiovascular diseases.
- Excessive sleep reduces physical activity and disrupts meal times, which can lead to weight problems such as obesity.
How many hours should you sleep at night?
What is sleeping too little or sleeping too much? How many hours should we sleep a day to have good general and cardiovascular health? Experts agree that adults should not sleep no more than 8 hours nor less than 7, although many extend these limits to 9 and 6 hours respectively.
However, the number of hours of sleep recommended It is not the same for everyone. For example, preschool-aged children should sleep between 10-13 hours, while school-aged children should sleep between 9 and 11 hours.
What about weekends? Should we also stay within those margins on the weekend? We all tend to sleep more on the weekend and the good news is that it is possible make up for sleep deficit and reduce the risk by sleeping more on Saturdays and Sundays. Yes, it is not something that simply seems logical, but studies confirm it. Of course, as long as we sleep more hours without exceeding the recommended 10 hours for an adult.
These are the general recommendations, but we all know that as our responsibilities increase or our age increases, there are numerous factors that can interfere with our sleep routines, altering both the time we dedicate to sleep and its quality. And that not all of us function equally well sleeping a certain number of hours.
Do you want to improve your sleep routine? Are you willing to adopt new habits that will improve the quality of your sleep? Put away the television and other electronic devices before bed and create a relaxing environment for it. Read the following tips and consider some changes that will reduce your fatigue and your chances of suffering from cardiovascular diseases.