Sleep - Too Little Or Too Much Is Bad For Health
So how much sleep is "enough"? It's a topic bound to stimulate a heated discussion amongst sleep experts, let alone any group of people that is bound to include a) someone who swears they are just fine with four hours a night and b) the Rip Van Winkles who can't function on less than 10 hours of shut eye.
The latest research suggests BOTH these extremes might have a problem - too little or too much sleep could be bad for your health and your chances of living a long life.
So who are the light sleepers? Well, in our own time Madonna, Jay Leno and Donald Trump reportedly do very nicely with four hours a night, continuing a long tradition established by the likes of inventor Thomas Edison and legendary British prime minister Winston Churchill.
However - and it's a big however - Edison and Churchill admitted to needing a lengthy daytime nap.
Who knows, maybe Madonna naps in the recording studio between takes! At the other extreme, renowned scientist Albert Einstein who claimed to need AT LEAST 10 hours sleep a night! While "eight hours a night" has long been the so-called ideal sleep, medical research suggests seven hours may be the new benchmark.
Studies in various countries conclude that people who sleep too little (less than six hours a night), or too much (more than eight hours) live shorter lives than those in between.
Now, the thought of getting just four or five hours decent rest a night is just a dream to many people suffering the misery of insomnia, let alone eight hours.
And millions seem to function well with five or six hours.
Indeed, it's important not to get hung up on quantity of sleep, but the all-important quality of sleep experienced.
That said, an intriguing six-year study from obesity researchers at Laval University in Quebec City, Canada found that people who sleep five to six hours a night and those who slumber for nine or 10 hours gain more weight than those sleeping for seven to eight hours.
The researchers monitored 276 adults aged 21 to 64.
Interesting huh? "Everything that we've seen in the last few years regarding this issue says yes, if you're getting seven to eight hours of sleep at night, you have the best chance of not gaining weight and maintaining your own weight," said Donna Arand, an experimental psychologist with the Sleep Disorders Center at Kettering Hospital in Dayton, Ohio.
"And if you're getting a lot less than that or a lot more than that, you're hurting yourself and it's going to be an uphill battle.
" Exactly why the short and long sleepers gained weight isn't known, but the researchers believe that sleep deprivation disrupts production of hormones that regulate appetite.
Sleep too little and the body produces more of the "hunger hormone" that makes you want to eat..
Sleep too much? Scientists believe you're actually not getting quality sleep - that's why you stay in bed so long.
The effect is the same - your body produces too much of the hunger hormone.
Forgive the pun, but the study adds weight to the importance of overcoming sleep problems so you're getting proper rest every night.
And that, as I point out in my self-help guide Banish Insomnia, requires a complete change of lifestyle.
Reduce your stress, exercise and eat a balanced diet and you've begun the journey to restful sleep every night.
The latest research suggests BOTH these extremes might have a problem - too little or too much sleep could be bad for your health and your chances of living a long life.
So who are the light sleepers? Well, in our own time Madonna, Jay Leno and Donald Trump reportedly do very nicely with four hours a night, continuing a long tradition established by the likes of inventor Thomas Edison and legendary British prime minister Winston Churchill.
However - and it's a big however - Edison and Churchill admitted to needing a lengthy daytime nap.
Who knows, maybe Madonna naps in the recording studio between takes! At the other extreme, renowned scientist Albert Einstein who claimed to need AT LEAST 10 hours sleep a night! While "eight hours a night" has long been the so-called ideal sleep, medical research suggests seven hours may be the new benchmark.
Studies in various countries conclude that people who sleep too little (less than six hours a night), or too much (more than eight hours) live shorter lives than those in between.
Now, the thought of getting just four or five hours decent rest a night is just a dream to many people suffering the misery of insomnia, let alone eight hours.
And millions seem to function well with five or six hours.
Indeed, it's important not to get hung up on quantity of sleep, but the all-important quality of sleep experienced.
That said, an intriguing six-year study from obesity researchers at Laval University in Quebec City, Canada found that people who sleep five to six hours a night and those who slumber for nine or 10 hours gain more weight than those sleeping for seven to eight hours.
The researchers monitored 276 adults aged 21 to 64.
Interesting huh? "Everything that we've seen in the last few years regarding this issue says yes, if you're getting seven to eight hours of sleep at night, you have the best chance of not gaining weight and maintaining your own weight," said Donna Arand, an experimental psychologist with the Sleep Disorders Center at Kettering Hospital in Dayton, Ohio.
"And if you're getting a lot less than that or a lot more than that, you're hurting yourself and it's going to be an uphill battle.
" Exactly why the short and long sleepers gained weight isn't known, but the researchers believe that sleep deprivation disrupts production of hormones that regulate appetite.
Sleep too little and the body produces more of the "hunger hormone" that makes you want to eat..
Sleep too much? Scientists believe you're actually not getting quality sleep - that's why you stay in bed so long.
The effect is the same - your body produces too much of the hunger hormone.
Forgive the pun, but the study adds weight to the importance of overcoming sleep problems so you're getting proper rest every night.
And that, as I point out in my self-help guide Banish Insomnia, requires a complete change of lifestyle.
Reduce your stress, exercise and eat a balanced diet and you've begun the journey to restful sleep every night.
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