Too generous nights hide an unsuspected impact on our cells. Here is the precise sleep window to recover as much as possible.
It is the pillar of our vitality, our health and our longevity: sleep. It allows our body to regulate our emotions, consolidate our memory and cleanse the toxins accumulated in our brain. However, a preconceived idea persists: the more we sleep, the better we recover. Error. If “sleep is a fundamental biological process”remind scientists in a new study published in May, excess is just as dangerous for the body as deficiency, and can even accelerate our biological aging.
The researchers looked at data from nearly 500,000 participants, aged 37 to 84. Their goal was to map the relationship between self-reported sleep duration and 23 “biological aging clocks”. To understand how our organs age, they used brain imaging (brain scans), plasma proteomics (the study of proteins in the blood) and metabolomics (the analysis of molecules resulting from our metabolism). By examining these proteins and molecules, scientists have been able to determine how our organs – from the heart to the lungs to the skin – age as we sleep.
According to results published in the journal Nature, if lack of sleep causes direct physiological stress, beyond 8 hours of rest per night, the indicators panic. Systematically spending more than 8 hours under the duvet “accelerates neurobiological aging” according to the researchers. Sleeping too much contributes to chronic inflammation and latent cognitive decline. Worse, this prolonged sleep is associated with an increased risk of systemic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, and all-cause mortality. But then, how much sleep to stay healthy?
According to the data, “the smallest biological age gaps are reached between 6.4 and 7.8 hours of sleep”. Clearly, you need to get between 6 and a half and almost 8 hours of sleep per night. It is during this time frame that the body shows the slowest signs of aging. Researchers recommend stabilizing your sleep schedule around 7 hours per night for proper organ regeneration. The ideal balance point is around 7.7 hours for women and 7 hours for men.
To sleep well without falling into excess, it is advisable to maintain regular bedtimes and getting up times, even on weekends, so as not to disrupt the biological clocks of the liver and pancreas. It is also recommended to avoid excessively long naps during the day which could disrupt your natural rhythm. To wake up feeling refreshed, exposure to natural light as soon as you get up is essential. Knowing your sleep score can also be a good indicator of the quality of your sleep. “Optimizing sleep has the potential to promote healthy aging, reduce disease risk and extend longevity”conclude the researchers.
