Sleep 101: The goldilocks effect
Just like Goldilocks and the 3 bears, you have to get just the right amount of sleep, not too much, not too little. If you spend too much time on either end of the sleep window, the health effects are significant.
Some of the health risks that come from not getting enough sleep are accelerated aging, higher risk of diabetes, early death, and higher risk of heart disease and stroke.
Risks of too much sleep include an increased risk (higher than not enough sleep) of coronary heart disease, obesity, diabetes, anxiety.
How much sleep is enough but not too much? Well that depends on your age but here are the recommendations from the National Sleep Foundation:
Newborns: 14-17 hours
Infants: 12-15 hours
Toddlers: 11-14 hours
Preschoolers: 10-13 hours
School-aged children: 9-1l hours
Teenagers: 8-10 hours
Young adults: 7-9 hours
Adults: 7-9 hours
Older adults: 7-8 hours
With in these ranges, sleep amount and sleep times are different for each individual. In order to optimize our sleep, we not only need to get enough sleep, but also get sleep in the window that works best for our individual body. Next week we’ll go over a 5 day strategy to find your individual sleep window which will minimize your risk of insomnia and maximize your quality of sleep.
