Sleeping in on weekends, even if you don't get enough sleep, can lower your risk of heart disease.

Catch up on lost sleep by catching up on sleep on weekends, a study suggests, can reduce the risk of heart disease.

A study by the National Institute of Infectious Diseases in the United States found that catching up on sleep on weekends could reduce the risk of heart disease by 20%.

 

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that adults get at least seven hours of sleep per night, but it's estimated that one in three adults don't get enough.

Sleep deprivation, which is defined as getting less than 7 hours of sleep per night, can negatively impact the immune system and the ability to perform daily activities, and can also lead to cardiovascular problems.

The conventional wisdom among scholars has been that sleeping too much to compensate is not a sustainable alternative to persistent sleep deprivation.

 

Accordingly, a recent research team analyzed self-reported data from over 90,000 UK Biobank participants to evaluate the impact of 'compensatory sleep' on sleep deprivation.

The research team defined sleep deprivation as sleeping less than seven hours a day, and then divided the participants into four cohorts, from the group with the most to the least compensatory sleep time.

 

They analyzed medical records and death certificates while following the participants for an average of 14 years and reported that participants in the cohort with the most compensatory sleep had a 19% lower risk of developing heart disease than those in the cohort with the least compensatory sleep.

 

Experts expressed surprise at how helpful it would be to catch up on sleep by catching up on sleep. They emphasized that even if you were previously sleep-deprived, the body can quickly recover energy and function, so prioritizing sleep over weekends is crucial.

Meanwhile, some argue that while compensatory sleep or weekend sleep may be helpful in the short term, it is not the optimal solution for mental and physical health.

 

Experts warn that the accumulation of stress hormones, metabolic imbalances, and increased inflammation caused by persistent sleep deprivation are not problems that can be easily solved by sleeping a few more hours on the weekend, and that over time, they can lead to serious diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and obesity.

 

Maintaining regular sleep habits and improving sleep quality as much as sleep duration are essential for functional health. Sleep is the foundation for all health-related actions, including nutrition, exercise, and stress management. Therefore, the best strategy to avoid sleep deprivation is to prioritize consistent, high-quality sleep. Sleep helps blood vessels repair and rebuild, and influences processes related to blood pressure, blood sugar, and inflammation regulation.

Therefore, lack of sleep can disrupt the body's circadian rhythm, hindering the smooth production of hormones that help regulate blood sugar, which can lead to insulin resistance and other cardiovascular diseases.

 

Experts say compensatory sleep can lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which rises when sleep is lacking, and normalize blood pressure and heart rate, which rise due to chronic sleep deprivation.

 

However, at the same time, he emphasized that the most essential recovery processes, such as tissue repair, memory consolidation, and hormone regulation, occur during uninterrupted night's sleep, so it is ultimately important to secure quality sleep by developing consistent sleeping habits.

 

 

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That's good news.

If you feel like you're lacking sleep on a regular basis

On weekends, take a nap or at least sleep in

They say that sleeping lowers the risk of heart disease.

 

In my case, Saturday and Sunday are unconditional

I slept in late. Haha, that's good.