Sleeping Enough is Not Enough. Here’s What You Might Be Missing.
For a lot of my adult life, I was guilty of neglecting my sleep. Even when I was eating healthy and exercising, I’d still stay up too late and then get up early.
Recently, I’ve put a lot of focus on getting more sleep, and it’s working wonders for me. However, getting enough sleep isn’t enough.
It also matters when you sleep.
Circadian misalignment augments markers of insulin resistance and inflammation, independently of sleep loss
In this study, participants were divided into 2 groups, and both groups had their sleep restricted. However, one group also had their sleep delayed so that it wasn’t during the hours they would normally sleep.
Although both groups got the exact same amount of sleep, the group that had their sleep delayed experienced significantly higher insulin resistance and inflammation.
In other words, their bodies rebelled a lot more because they weren’t sleeping at the same time every day.
The more research comes out, the more it appears that sleep may be the single most important aspect of our health, although no aspect (diet, stress, exercise) is dispensable.
Go to bed at a consistent time every night.
This is particularly hard if you travel a lot or do shift work, but it matters, so keep it as consistent as you can.