Under normal conditions, six out of ten Spaniards sleep little and badly. What happens is that we are not “in normal conditions”, we are in September: a month in which the return to the routine and the autumnal asthenia They shake hands to immerse ourselves (hopefully temporarily) in a dreams of bad quality.
And yes, that is a problem. Lack of sleep is related to immunological problems, Metabolic, Cardiovascular emotional and cognitive; With disorders such as diabetes or of the obesity. Not just that sleeping little causes us to be more tired and irritablebut Raise our stress levels And it makes us Assume more risks And make more wrong.
But what is “lack of sleep? To get an idea, although optimal amounts change from one person to anotherall medical associations specialized in sleep recommend sleeping between seven and eight hours of sleep every night. Well then, According to the Spanish Sleep Societythe Spaniards sleep an average of 6.8 hours during the week.
In addition, “75% of Spaniards wake up at least once At night, and 3 out of 10 directly affirm that they suffer from insomnia. “And, eye, the scientific evidence available tells us that we tend to think that we sleep better than we really do. Reality, surely, is much worse.
And what do we do? The tips to improve “sleep hygiene” are known:
- Monitor food: A balanced diet, a light dinner and limited consumption of caffeine, alcohol or other stimulating substances.
- Create an adequate space: Quiet, pleasant, little illuminated and with a pleasant temperature.
- Exercise strategically: Fundamentally, playing sports regularly, but always a few hours before sleeping.
- And, above all, establish regular schedules: Go to bed and lift, as far as possible, always at the same time (including weekends).
Although, of course, that leaves us a clear question: When are we going to sleep? That is, if we want to establish a clear and inflexible schedule, we need to know not how many hours we have to sleep, but what is the best time for it.
And yes, this is hardly generalizable. Above all, because sleeping hours collide directly with things like our work, our family life or our leisure habits. However, we have some ideas that can help us.
Let’s go to the data. The best study we have was carried out in 2021. In it, The European Cardiology Society used UK Biobank records, one of the most important medical and lifestyle information repositories in the world (with more than 500,000 volunteers between 37 and 73 years old).
They selected 88,926 adults (with an average age of 61 years) that had taken some type of wrist device capable of registering the physical activity of the person for at least seven days. After analyzing a period of 5.7 years, they discovered that going to sleep between 22:00 and 23:00 at night is associated with a lower risk of developing heart disease (already other related problems).
In comparison, going to sleep between 23:00 and midnight entails 12% more risk of having this type of disease. Risk that rises to 25% for those who go to bed after twelve at night and stands at 24% for those who go to bed before 22:00.
Can we move it directly to Spain? No, the truth is that no. It would be naive to think that the recommended schedules for a culture of copious and early dinners (such as English) are the same as those of a culture of light and late dinners (such as Spanish).
However, they are the best data we have and, as María José Martínez Madrid saysCoordinator of the Chronobiology Working Group of the Spanish Sleep Society, the key relationship “comes mainly because of the mismatch that produces falling asleep late in the biological clock.” Therefore, it is a good indicator to reflect on our sleep guidelines. Especially now that, after summer, the world “starts again.”
Image | Shane
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