What does your sleep length say about you
20-01-2014
Most of us get around 7 hours of sleep a night, though that is just the average and there is actually a huge amount of variation across the country and world. While some people will only sleep for a few hours a night others may clock up ten or more hours when they put their head on the pillow. At Ergoflex we are fascinated by how long people sleep for, sleep is our trade after all, and we found this research on sleep lengths really interesting. We want to share with you what your average sleep length means to you and what you can eat to help.
O to 2 Hours
If you get 2 or less hours of sleep quite frequently then you are at the very extreme end of the sleep spectrum and should be very aware of the dangers this poses. There are few people who sleep this little each night on purpose with most doing it out of necessity, due to their work schedule or some other pressing matter, while for others it is insomnia’s fault. Either way, less than 2 hours a night is a short amount of sleep in anyone’s book and is not recommended for any amount of time.
The person who only sleeps for a few hours a night, be it for a short period or longer, will find that they are more prone to becoming obese or developing diabetes as the limited amount of sleep effects the hormones that help regulate your blood sugar and appetite. To reduce the chances of this happening, you need to eat more antioxidant rich food, such as fruits and vegetables.
2 to 6 Hours
While having between 2 and 6 hours of sleep is better than less than 2, this is still not enough to give you the full benefits of a whole seven or eight hours of sleep. This amount of sleep puts you into the highest risk of calorie consumption and puts you at risk of heart disease and strokes.
You can remedy this by eating more vitamin C and selenium to reduce inflammation and help combat heart disease. While only missing between an hour and four of sleep may not sound like much over time it can have a detrimental impact on your health over a long period of time.
9 or more Hours
It may seem crazy but you can oversleep and while it may seem like something you really want to do, especially in the weekend, the reality is that it sleeping for too long can have some serious impacts on your mental and physical health.
If you have a tendency to oversleep you may be suffering from hypothyroidism. This occurs when your thyroid is not making the necessary hormones that facilitate a satisfying rest and may make you more tired extra fatigue, disrupted metabolism, or limited energy. You need to try to include more choline in your diet, which can be found in and such can be found in foods such as eggs and turkey, as this can reduce chances of hypothyroidism
More stories like this one
