Normally, advice for lowering heart disease risk isn’t always fun to hear, whether it’s limiting certain nutrients, such as fat and sodium ; drinking less alcohol or exercising more . But sometimes, it is. In today’s edition of incredible news, recent research says that catching up on sleep on the weekends—yes, seriously—is the ticket that can lower your risk of heart disease by nearly 20 percent.
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What To Know about the Recent Study
This research study , shared by the European Society of Cardiology, looked at the sleep schedules of over 90,000 individuals, considering almost 20,000 to be sleep-deprived. Interestingly, while you may have heard adults need six to eight hours of sleep a night, the participants who were categorized as “sleep-deprived" were those who got less than seven hours of sleep a night.
Individuals who got extra weekend Zzz’s slept anywhere from an added 1.28 hours to 16.06 hours. To get the “nearly 20 percent” (19 percent) number, researchers then used hospital records and cause of death information to diagnose cardiac diseases, such as ischaemic heart disease, heart failure, atrial fibrillation and stroke.
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A 2010 literature review in Current Cardiology Reviews found similar results, concluding that sleep deprivation is associated with hypertension, coronary heart disease and diabetes mellitus.
The Intersection of Adequate Sleep and Health
But how are sleep and heart health related ? Actually, in many ways. Essentially, sleep is needed to reduce stress on the heart and allow it to recover from the day. During non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, your heart rate slows, blood pressure drops and breathing stabilizes—all good, helpful things.
Further, fragmented sleep can cause cardiac stress, sleep deprivation contributes to inflammation and the hardening of the arteries, and more. So there you have it: Sleep has benefits beyond just boosts in mood, productivity, immunity and pleasure (although those are all great perks).
For the best possible night of sleep, adhere to sleep hygiene practices such as winding down before bed , calming your mind and playing white noise or brown noise .
What might this look like on a larger scale? Perhaps consider a later-in-the-day workout class on Saturdays or turning breakfast outings into brunch outings. Not being afraid to take a nap. Hitting the sheets, and staying under them. These are all options your heart will love.
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