Social Jet Lag (SJL) is a term used to describe the practice of sleeping in on weekends in order to somehow "catch up" on your sleep. Seems like a good idea, but some scary new science shows that it may be increasing your chances of getting heart disease.
At the recent SLEEP 2017 conference, Sierra Forbush described an as-yet unpublished study that sought to find out if sleep regularity, despite sleep duration, impacted overall quality of health.
It was found that "the disruption to the body's circadian clock caused by late-night bedtimes followed by later weekend wake times appears to be an independent risk factor for poorer health."
In short, each hour of sleeping in was associated with an 11.1% increase in risk of heart disease. Earlier studies have shown that social jet lag is also linked to bad moods, increased sleepiness, and fatigue.
While the exact mechanisms aren't known yet, we can safely say that disturbances in our circadian rhythms are bad news. The solution? Sleep regularity: getting your golden 7-9 hours a night, every night, consistently.
It only makes sense. We didn't evolve in a world of weekends and weekdays. Our bodies evolved with cycles. So screwing with your circadian rhythm screws you over.
So how do you get on a good sleep rhythm? Practicing good sleep "hygiene" is the first line of defense:
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