Most adults need 7 or more hours of good-quality sleep on a regular schedule each night. Getting enough sleep isn’t only about total hours of sleep. It’s also important to get good-quality sleep on a regular schedule so you feel rested when you wake up.
If you often have trouble sleeping — or if you often still feel tired after sleeping — talk with your doctor. Here is the benefit of getting enough sleep or sleeping at 8 hours.
More sleep means a better immune system
If you aren’t getting adequate sleep or good quality sleep, it can drastically lower your immune system and therefore will ultimately cause you to catch illnesses more often than not. When we don’t sleep a full 8 hours, our bodies’ defense mechanisms to ward off sickness become weak and thus, allows for us to catch illnesses and sicknesses more often than not.
Lowers your risk for serious health problems
When you are sleeping a full 8 hours, you are allowing your body to get the much-needed and well-deserved rest that it deserves. Without this rest and time to recuperate for your busy day, it can increase your chances of becoming diabetic or developing heart disease.
Reduces stress and improves your mood
We all know that with the lack of sleep comes a lack of patience and more irritability. When you get 8 hours of sleep, you are able to reduce your stress and that will also improve your mood. More sleep can help you reduce stress in your work or home life by allowing your body and mind time to reset and decompress after a long, hard day at work or running errands.
Drifting off decreases your risk of developing health conditions
It’s a morbid start, but an important one nonetheless. Sleeping, for all its short-term benefits, is also a key way to improve your long-term life. In fact, researchers in Britain studied over one million people and found that those who slept for less than six hours a night were 12 per cent more likely to die prematurely.
Just to be safe, we’d suggest getting your eight hours. And, if you’re struggling to sleep, taking a hot shower before bed is a great way to help yourself drop off. Warming yourself up before stepping into cool air causes your body temperature to drop precipitously, slows your metabolism and prepares you for sleep. And, if you’re going to shower, shower properly — with the finest gels on the market.
Can maximize athletic performance
Sleep has been shown to enhance athletic performance. Numerous studies have shown that adequate sleep can enhance fine motor skills, reaction time, muscular power, muscular endurance, and problem-solving skills.
What’s more, lack of sleep may increase your risk of injury and lower your motivation to exercise. So, getting enough sleep may be just the thing you need to take your performance to the next level.
May strengthen your heart
Low sleep quality and duration may increase your risk of developing heart disease.
One analysis of 19 studies found that sleeping fewer than 7 hours per day resulted in a 13% increased risk of death from heart disease. Another analysis found that compared with 7 hours of sleep, each 1-hour decrease in sleep was associated with a 6% increased risk of all-cause mortality and heart disease.
What’s more, short sleep appears to increase the risk of high blood pressure, especially in those with obstructive sleep apnea — a condition characterized by interrupted breathing during sleep.
In fact, one study found that people who slept fewer than 5 hours per night had a 61% higher risk of developing high blood pressure than those who slept 7 hours. Interestingly, excessive sleep-in adults — more than 9 hours — was also shown to increase the risk of heart disease and high blood pressure.
