8 hours ago
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Yabba dabba snooze!
Sleep is essential for physical and mental health — it’s crucial for brain function, memory consolidation, tissue repair, immune system maintenance, concentration, hormone regulation and stress management.
Unfortunately, more than a third of American adults don’t get enough rest. Inadequate sleep has been linked to cognitive troubles, a weakened immune system, weight gain, depression and a higher risk of chronic illnesses like heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure.
Dutch sleep scientist and recovering insomniac Merijn van de Laar suggests that our ancestors may hold the key to sleeping like a rock.
“Sleep has hardly changed since Paleolithic humans snoozed soundly in their caves,” van de Laar notes in his new book, “How to Sleep Like a Caveman.”
“While saber-toothed tigers were their biggest night-time worry, today it’s stress and social media that keep us awake, but the solutions are the same,” he added.
Van de Laar shares four suggestions for getting a better night’s sleep in three weeks — cave not required.
Let go of the eight-hour rule
Experts generally recommend adults snooze between seven and nine hours a night. Van de Laar said it’s OK to get six.
“The average length of subjective sleep is between just under six hours and almost 7.5 hours,” he told The Post. “Sleeping six hours is generally not more associated with health problems when compared to sleeping eight hours.”
Beware the potential risks of catching fewer winks. A 2019 Penn State study found that middle-aged adults with high blood pressure or diabetes who averaged less than six hours a night had twice the risk of dying from heart disease or stroke than those who dozed longer.
People with a history of heart disease or stroke had three times the increased risk of dying from cancer if they clocked less than six hours a night.
Examine your attitude towards lying awake at night
If you lie awake at night, don’t fret. Van de Laar said awake time is normal — it’s only a problem if you’re restless or anxious.
“We have forgotten to lie awake because, in industrialized countries, we are faced with higher sleep pressure due to shorter bed time,” he said.
“In a more natural situation, where even the best sleeper lies awake a lot (such as the Hadza tribe in Tanzania), lying awake takes on a different and less problematic form.”
Discover your personal sleep needs
Van de Laar suggests experimenting with how much time you spend in bed to figure out what feels most restorative.
“If you find yourself regularly awake and restless in the night, institute a shorter bed time to increase sleep pressure,” he said. “The goal at first is not to sleep better, but to have shorter periods of restless wake. This is how you break the negative circle of insomnia.”
To do this, estimate how long you slept on an average night last week and add half an hour. That’s how much time you should spend in bed this week. Don’t go under five hours.
On the flip side, you should consider extending the amount of time you spend in bed if you sleep fairly continuously but feel like you are getting too little sleep.
“If you continue to have restful nights and function better during the day or even feel less sleepy, you know you are on the right track,” he explained.
Respect your circadian rhythm
Circadian rhythm is your body’s 24-hour clock — it regulates sleep-wake cycles, hormone release, appetite, digestion and body temperature. These natural processes are heavily influenced by light and darkness.
“Skip the 6 a.m. exercise class if it does not fit with your natural circadian rhythm,” van de Laar advised. “Try to find out what your biologically determined day-night rhythm is, and try to follow it as much as possible.”
English (US)