HOW MANY HOURS OF SLEEP DO WE REALLY NEED?

How much should a person sleep per day? What time do you have to go to bed to sleep?

INNA CODRU , OCTOBER 25, 2017

Sleep is absolutely essential to our health. But, when time is running out, we often sacrifice sleep first of all. This is unfortunate because good sleep is just as vital to good health as eating healthy food or getting enough exercise. How many hours does a person need to sleep? What causes lack of sleep?...

SLEEP IS THE BASIS OF GOOD HEALTH

Sleep is more than just a rest time for your body and mind. In fact, while you sleep, your body is working hard. During this time, your body regenerates the muscles you used during the day and cleanses the blood of harmful plaque and waste that is produced in the body.

These are vital processes that keep your mind and body working properly. Your mind also processes and reacts to the important emotions and experiences of the past day and commits them to memory.

Sleep is also essential for regulating your emotions. In fact, depriving yourself of sleep for just one night can increase your emotional response to negative feelings by 60%.

Not to mention, lack of sleep makes it difficult for your body to regulate important things like appetite control, immune system, good metabolic function, and of course your ability to maintain a normal body weight.

Lastly, sleep plays an important role in regulating your circadian rhythms, or internal clock. This internal clock runs on a 24-hour schedule and regulates when you feel alert and sleepy. And it helps regulate things like metabolism and immune function.

Not sleeping long enough, sleeping at different intervals or in bright lights at night can all reset your internal clock and greatly affect many of the processes it regulates.

While you may think you're getting enough rest, not all sleep is created equal. It’s not enough just to sleep well every night, it’s important to give yourself quality sleep. However, there is no universal definition for sleep quality.

However, you can determine how long it takes you to fall asleep, how often you wake up during the night, how rested you feel the next day, or even how much time you spend in different stages of sleep.

Since good sleep is essential for many aspects of good health, it must be prioritized. From here you can determine for yourself: what time you need to go to bed; and how much sleep you need to sleep, for me personally.

INCORRECT ATTITUDE TO SLEEP WILL CAUSE SERIOUS HARM TO HEALTH

It is estimated that almost one third of adults and two thirds of high school students are sleep deprived. Unfortunately, this can cause much more harm than just feeling tired.

If you deprive yourself of sleep, you are less able to make the right decisions, less creative, and just have every chance of being involved in a creative car accident, or even saying goodbye to life at an early age.

This may be partly due to the fact that not getting enough sleep can be detrimental to your cognitive performance. Often a good sleep, or lack thereof, affects the condition of a person's skin, the condition of his hair. By the way, many doctors associate the lack of quality sleep at night with hair loss .

One study found that getting just five hours a day for several nights in a row reduced mental performance to the same extent as a blood alcohol level of 0.06 ppm.

That's not all, poor sleep can make you feel overwhelmed, sometimes more aggressive, and always less productive at work.

Worse, poor or lack of sleep increases your chances of developing chronic diseases such as obesity, heart disease, or diabetes.

And because you shorten the time it takes for the body to clear debris and harmful plaque from the brain vessels, it may increase your chances of developing Alzheimer's.

RECOMMENDATIONS HOW MUCH TIME A PERSON SHOULD BE SLEEPING

Each person has unique needs and preferences, and the answer to how much sleep you need can vary. However, the amount of sleep you need per night is largely determined by your age.

How much sleep do you need to get enough sleep (table). The table gives average values, but you can determine, for example, how much a child should sleep at 1 year old, or how much a child should sleep at 7 months, etc.

The official sleep recommendations are broken down by age group:

• Newborns (0-3 months) : 14-17 hours


• Infants (4-11 months) : 12-15 hours


• Toddlers (1-2 years) : 11-14 hours


• Preschoolers (3-5 years old) : 10-13 hours


• Schoolchildren (6-13 years old) : 9-11 hours


• Teenagers (14-17 years old) : 8-10 hours


• Adults (18-64 years old) : 7-9 hours


• Adults (65+) : 7-8 hours

However, some people may need more or less sleep than is usually recommended, depending on the following two factors.

1. Genetics. Genetics is the first determining factor in how many hours of sleep you need at night. Certain genetic predispositions can influence how long you need to sleep, what time you prefer to fall asleep, and how you respond to sleep deprivation. For example, some people get enough sleep for about six hours, while others need at least eight.

There are people genetically predisposed to respond more negatively to sleep deprivation or lack of deep sleep. Unfortunately, your genetic makeup is not something you can change and there is no real way to know what you are more prone to. Therefore, it is important to simply pay attention to how you feel in this or that case in order to determine whether you are getting enough sleep.

2. Quality of sleep. The quality of your sleep can also affect how much sleep you need. If the quality of sleep is poor, you may suddenly find in the morning that for some reason you feel tired, despite the fact that you slept "their" 8 hours. And vice versa, you seem to have slept less than usual, but thanks to the quality of sleep, you feel great.

Many studies have shown that insufficient sleep duration, as well as its poor quality, are responsible for many of the negative effects in the body. Therefore, it is important not only to focus on the duration of sleep, but also on a sufficiently good quality of it.

In addition, many common sleep disorders can have negative consequences, such as sleep apnea. If you regularly feel sleep deprivation or feel very tired despite long sleep, then it is a good idea to make an appointment with your doctor.

TIPS TO IMPROVE YOUR SLEEP

Because quality is an important part of good sleep, make sure you get a good night's sleep. And here are some tips:

• Stick to your schedule: Going to bed at the same time every day helps regulate your internal clock. If you go to bed on the principle of "when you have to", then this will have a bad effect on the quality and duration of a night's rest.


• Create a soothing environment: Taking a relaxing routine before bed can help you relieve stress. For example, listening to soothing music has been shown to improve sleep quality.


• Make yourself comfortable: Sleeping in a quiet, dark room at a comfortable temperature helps a lot. Light, noise and too warm ambient temperatures are the main enemies of good sleep.


• Minimize your caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine intake: Virtually all studies on caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine use before bed show a dramatic decrease in sleep quality. Try to avoid caffeine not only in the evening, but also in the afternoon


• Cut down on electronics: Don't "hang out" with your phone or tablet in bed, this will guarantee poor sleep quality. In principle, exposure to any bright light source in the room before bedtime (TV for example) can negatively affect your sleep.


• Get active: Studies have shown that being less active during the day is directly related to poor sleep at night, and conversely, a good half-hour workout during the day improves your night's rest.


• The most comfortable sleeping positions: Find the most comfortable position for yourself, and try to use it. You can read all about this a little later, in the article BEST POSES FOR SLEEPING.

The amount of sleep you need depends on each individual and on several of the factors discussed above. However, for most adults, 7-9 hours a night is the optimal amount of sleep. Pay attention to how you feel throughout the day to determine if you are getting enough rest time.

If you sleep enough, you will feel refreshed and energized for the whole day. If you find yourself feeling lethargic or feeling tired often, you may need to take more time to sleep.

To make the most of your sleep time, develop healthy habits, such as cutting down on caffeine and alcohol, following your regular schedule, and creating a comfortable environment for your sleep.