How much sleep does an adult need to sleep? Sleep rate

Sleep is an important and complex process that occurs in the body. A person spends about a third of his life in a state of sleep. It is necessary to renew the forces spent during the day. In a dream, the restoration of the physical and spiritual health of a person occurs. How much sleep does an adult need?

Sleep duration

The required duration of sleep for an adult is a relative concept. It is recommended to sleep at least 8 hours a day. In general, these are statistical data, and not in every case they correspond to reality.

Someone can sleep 6 hours and feel great, but someone does not have enough and 10 hours.

The duration of a night's rest can be affected by age, well-being, physical activity and other factors.

In the first year of their baby's life, parents lose up to 2 hours of sleep per day, which is about 700 hours per year.

Depending on age, the need for sleep varies, so it is recommended to sleep:

  • newborns - at least 15 hours a day;
  • children under 2 years old - 11-14 hours;
  • children from 2 to 5 years - 10-11 hours;
  • children from 5 to 13 years old - 9-11 hours;
  • teenagers over 17 years old - 8-10 hours;
  • adult sleep - 8 hours;
  • people over 65 years old - 7-8 hours.

These data are considered averages, so how much you need to sleep per day, each person decides for himself. The body knows how many hours of nighttime rest it needs. A person can only listen carefully to himself.

The norm of sleep in the elderly is constantly decreasing, periods of sleep and naps are changing, and the duration of night rest is reduced. Therefore, they have a need for daytime sleep.

According to scientists who conducted research on sleep duration, it turned out that people who sleep 6.5 to 7.5 hours a day live the longest.

Principles of healthy sleep

How much sleep does an adult need? In order for sleep to benefit the body, it is necessary to follow these rules:

  • It is better for a person to lie down and get up at the same time. If you break the routine, it can lead to sleep disorders, irritability, mood swings, and in some cases, illness.
  • It is best to get out of bed immediately after sleeping. If a person falls asleep again, this will lead to a deterioration in well-being.
  • The time before a night's rest should pass in a calm environment, without activity and fuss. You can come up with a kind of ritual aimed at preparing for sleep.
  • It is not recommended to sleep during the day, so that there are no problems falling asleep in the evening.
  • The bedroom should not have a computer or TV. The time spent in bed should be spent on a night's rest.
  • Do not eat heavy meals before bed. The last meal of such food should not be later than 2 hours before bedtime. And the best option is 4 hours. You can, for example, eat an apple or drink a glass of yogurt.
  • Physical activity during the day will help you fall asleep quickly in the evening.
  • Before going to bed, it is better not to drink coffee and not to drink alcohol, as well as to smoke.

By giving up a few bad habits, you can get a healthy and sound sleep as a result.

Is daytime sleep necessary?

Is it good for adults to sleep during the day? Short naps, no more than 30 minutes a day, help reduce the risk of heart disease. A person who sleeps during the day 3 times a week feels an improvement in mood, attention and memory.

Useful daytime rest for people who do not get enough sleep at night. Sleeping longer than 30 minutes can lead to difficulty falling asleep in the evening.

What can sleep deprivation lead to?

How many hours should an adult sleep? A systematic deviation from the required norm of sleep can lead to poor health. Trying to make up for the lack of nightly rest on weekends only makes matters worse. may cause:

  • decreased immunity;
  • deterioration in performance;
  • the occurrence of diseases of the heart and blood vessels;
  • overweight;
  • insomnia;
  • depressive state;
  • deterioration in attention and vision.

How much sleep does an adult need per night? In men, lack of sleep can lead to a decrease in testosterone production. This, in turn, leads to a loss of strength and endurance, an increase in adipose tissue and to the occurrence of prostatitis.

Weight gain occurs due to the need to replenish energy with high-calorie foods. Lack of sleep releases cortisol, which is called the stress hormone. And the emerging nervous disorders people often seize.

With insufficient sleep, a person is very often visited by anger, irritability and depression. First of all, the nervous system suffers from the lack of night rest.

This condition can cause high blood pressure and disruption of the digestive tract. Often on the face of a person you can see the consequences of lack of sleep in the form of dark circles under the eyes and puffiness.

Insufficient amount of night rest can lead to disruption of human biorhythms. Some changes in the body lead to irreversible processes that a person cannot solve on his own. In this case, you will need the help of a specialist.

Is long sleep good for you?

Sleep deprivation is known to negatively affect human health. Long sleep for 9-10 hours also does not benefit the body, because the norm of sleep for an adult is about 8 hours. Because of this, the following health problems arise:

  • weight gain;
  • pain in the head and back;
  • depressive state;
  • disease of the heart and blood vessels.

When a person sleeps a lot, he feels constant fatigue. This condition also leads to a violation of the biorhythms of the body.

Oversleeping can trigger a hormonal imbalance. In this state, few hormones are produced for the normal functioning of the body. In large quantities, the production of sleep hormones occurs.

Is it bad for adults to sleep too much? Scientists have found that increasing the duration of sleep leads to a reduction in life expectancy.

Eating before bed

The quality of sleep is greatly influenced by the timing of meals. A person must rationally distribute the diet during the day and leave the right foods for the evening meal.

The existence of restrictions on food intake after 18 pm is not entirely correct, because the hungry are unhealthy and for the duration of sleep.

Before a night's rest, it is better to eat light foods that will not create a feeling of heaviness in the stomach. For dinner, you can use cottage cheese, chicken meat, eggs, seafood, vegetable salad.

How to sleep

There is an opinion that it is better to sleep with your head to the north. This assumption is supported by the Chinese teachings of Feng Shui, according to which the human electromagnetic field is presented in the form of a compass: the head is north, and the legs are south.

Therefore, if a person sleeps with his head to the north, then his sleep will be strong and healthy, and it will be easy to wake up.

How to learn to wake up early?

When a person wakes up early in the morning, he can do a lot of urgent things, because the working capacity at this time is the highest.

Initially, it should be determined: how much sleep does an adult need per day? It depends on what time you go to bed in the evening in order to wake up in a cheerful mood in the morning.

When the sleep schedule is determined, the person will determine the motivation for getting up early. Some people use this time to solve problems of a production nature, while others use it to play sports.

How to wake up correctly:

  • it will be easier to wake up in a room in which the optimum temperature is observed;
  • you can wake up with the help of an alarm clock, to which you should overcome a certain distance;
  • some people ask family or friends for help in waking up early with a phone call;
  • after getting up, you should take a shower and drink a cup of coffee, which will eventually develop into a certain ritual;
  • awakening should occur at the same time.

The habit of waking up early can be formed within 2 weeks and will help you solve previously planned tasks.

How much should an adult sleep to get enough sleep?

Considering the harm from lack of sleep or prolonged sleep, we can conclude that the rate of sleep for each person is individual. If he sleeps no more than 5 hours a day, while he feels great, then you should not worry.

It's important to listen to your body. One of the conditions: after a night's rest, you need to feel cheerful and fresh.

Sometimes life situations arise when a person can sleep for several hours a day and feel great. After a while, he returns to his usual sleep and rest routine.

During illness, the duration of sleep increases. Doctors advise to sleep more during this period.

Such a concept as the quality of sleep largely depends on the duration and time when a person falls asleep. It is well known that people are divided into "larks" and "owls".

Each person can choose for himself the optimal sleep regimen, in which he will get enough sleep and feel good.

The norm of sleep for women is at least 8 hours, and for men, 6.5 - 7 hours is enough to stay alert.

Each person should determine how much and when to sleep for himself, then he will not have problems associated with poor health.