Great News! Recent research suggests that catching up on sleep during the weekend could be beneficial for your health. A study found that getting a little extra rest on your days off, specifically around an hour and 27 minutes, is linked to a lower risk of high blood pressure, helping your body recover from the stress of a sleep-deprived week. Don’t set the alarm this Labor Day Weekend! Here’s the scoop:
Look forward to sleeping in on Saturdays? You’re not alone, as the CDC reports that nearly half of US adults aren’t getting the recommended amount of sleep every night, leading a lot of people to try to catch up on the weekends. The thing is, for years, health experts have warned us not to sleep later on days off because a consistent bedtime and wake-up time is better for our internal clocks and is supposed to protect against sleep issues like insomnia. But new research suggests it’s actually good for us to sleep in on the weekends.
Instead of feeling guilty for getting up a few hours later on Saturday or Sunday, it could actually come with some health benefits. A new study finds that sleeping in is associated with a lower risk of high blood pressure.
- Scientists from Korea University analyzed sleep data of 41-thousand adults and found those who slept in on the weekends were up to 9% less likely to have high blood pressure.
- Catching up on sleep helps because not getting enough sleep is known to keep blood pressure from falling at night, which raises the risk of developing high blood pressure.
- But this doesn’t mean you should snooze all day, there’s actually a sweet spot for extra sleep – an hour and 27 minutes, specifically.
- Getting too much extra sleep, like more than four hours, actually puts you at greater risk of high blood pressure.
“Not getting enough sleep puts extra stress on the body. It keeps the heart and blood vessels working harder and can increase blood pressure,” explains study author Dr Nawon Lee. “Getting some extra sleep on the weekend may give the body a chance to recover and reduce some of that stress.”
Source: The Guardian
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