Is the 8-hour sleep theory right for everyone? How many hours of sleep is appropriate for people over 50?
"Son, don't stay up late to work anymore. It's already 11 o'clock in the evening. You have to go to work tomorrow morning. Go to bed earlier."
"It doesn't matter, I won't get up until 7:30 tomorrow morning, and I'll go to bed at 11:30. It's enough to sleep eight hours a day ."
"Who says 8 hours of sleep is enough? I sleep about 9 hours a day."
"Sleep habits like yours are unhealthy. Sleeping too long is not good for the body . In fact, 8 hours of sleep a day is enough. This is based on scientific evidence."
This is a conversation between a mother and son. When it comes to the best sleep time, the first thing that comes to mind may be to maintain eight hours of sleep every day, but where does this statement come from, and is it correct?
- Is the 8-hour sleep theory really correct? is it for everyone
Many people believe in the 8-hour sleep theory, but this statement is not absolutely correct.
Experts from the American Sleep Foundation have conducted research on the topic of sleep time required by the human body every day .
The results of the study show that the amount of sleep required for each day is also different for different age groups. For example , infants and young children before the age of six are recommended to sleep more than ten hours a day.
At this stage, the various organs of the child's body are not fully developed, and the physical quality is relatively low. Adequate sleep is conducive to physical development and metabolism.
If you don’t get enough sleep every day, it may affect the development of the body, such as slow physical development and easy illness .
Children aged 6 to 13 are recommended to sleep 9 to 10 hours a day. Adolescents aged 14 to 17 are recommended to sleep about 8 to 10 hours a day.
If children don’t get enough sleep every day, it may affect the detoxification of organs and slow down their physical development; if teenagers don’t get enough sleep, it is easy to affect brain development, such as memory loss and learning ability decline .
Young people between the ages of 18 and 25 are recommended to sleep about 7 to 9 hours a day. If young people have insufficient sleep time and poor quality of sleep for a long time, it may lead to endocrine disorders and disorder of hormone levels in the body, thereby affecting physical fitness.
It will also affect the skin condition, with symptoms such as poor complexion, dull skin, and acne on the skin surface.
The recommended sleep time for adults aged 26 to 64 is also 7 to 9 hours a day . The American Cancer Society has conducted research on adults in this age group.
The results of the study show that if adults sleep less than 7 to 9 hours a day, the risk of coronary heart disease, hypertension and other cardiovascular diseases will increase. If adults get less than four hours of sleep a night, lifespan is also affected.
According to the above research, we can conclude that the eight-hour sleep theory is not absolutely correct, it is only suitable for some people.
The sleep time suitable for different age stages is different, so it is recommended that you allocate sleep time according to your actual age.
Second, after the age of 50, what is the best sleep time?
According to the research of the above-mentioned experts of the American Sleep Foundation, it can be concluded that the optimal sleep time after the age of 50 is 7-9 hours.
A scientist in the United States once conducted research on middle-aged and elderly people aged 50 to 79 for ten years. The results of the study found that people after the age of 50 who sleep more than nine hours a day are 60% to 70% more likely to develop the disease than those who sleep seven hours. Therefore, sleep time is not as long as possible, but to maintain appropriate.
Secondly, too short sleep time is also harmful to the human body. Studies have shown that if women sleep less than five hours a day , their risk of colon cancer increases by 36% . If men sleep less than 6.5 hours a day , the risk of developing lung cancer increases by 112% .
Therefore, sleeping too long or too short is not beneficial to the human body. The 8-hour sleep theory is not completely correct, the one that suits you is the best. In addition, after mastering the right sleep time, you also need to master the correct sleep habits.
- After the age of 50, remember "3 don't" to sleep
There are three do not sleep, namely: do not sleep upside down, do not eat supper before going to bed, do not do strenuous exercise before going to bed.
First of all, don’t sleep upside down means: don’t stay up late at night and sleep during the day. Under normal circumstances, it is recommended that you fall asleep at 10:30-11pm and wake up at 6:30-7am.
Night is an important time for the body to detoxify. After the liver enters the night, it will continue to detoxify , expel harmful substances and garbage from the body, so as to maintain the normal function of the body.
If you often stay up late, it will affect the liver detoxification, cause a large amount of toxins to accumulate in the body, and reduce the body's immunity. And staying up late for a long time will cause the patient's mental state to be affected.
For example, in patients who stay up late for a long time, the sympathetic nerve is in a state of excitement for a long time at night , so the mental state during the day is easily affected, and symptoms such as lack of energy, memory loss, and unresponsiveness appear.
Often staying up late can also easily affect women's menstrual stability . Staying up late will lead to a decline in the function of women's hypothalamus and ovary , and the hypothalamus and ovary are the main organs that dominate women's menstruation. Therefore, when these two organs are affected, it will lead to women's endocrine disorders, and symptoms such as menstrual cycle disorders and low menstrual flow will occur.
Second, don't eat a late night snack before going to bed .
Under normal circumstances, it is recommended to have dinner around 5 to 6 o'clock in the evening . After dinner, you can do some exercise such as slow walking to promote gastrointestinal digestion. It is not recommended to eat other foods before going to bed at night, because most of the organs in the body need to enter a state of rest at night, as does the stomach.
If you eat a late-night snack before going to bed, the burden on the stomach will increase, and the digestive ability will also decline, and symptoms such as indigestion, bloating, and constipation are easy to appear. After eating a late-night snack, the stomach may also transmit tension to the brain, making the cerebral cortex in a state of excitement , which is easy to cause insomnia .
Therefore, it is recommended not to eat supper before going to bed, and drink a glass of hot milk before going to bed to improve sleep quality. It is not advisable to drink irritating drinks such as coffee, strong tea, beer, etc. before going to bed to prevent insomnia.
Also, strenuous exercise is not recommended before going to bed .