Researchers: Weekend sleep-ins do more harm than good
It is not advisable to sleep too late on weekend mornings, sleep researchers warn, as this may mix up our daily rhythms.
Finnish sleep researcher Markku Partinen is in agreement with an American study recently discussed in the SciTech Daily magazine.
The results of the study by UT Southwestern Medical Centre show that sleeping long on weekends does not erase sleep debt – on the contrary.
Partinen cautions against oversleeping during weekends, as catching up on sleep may disturb circadian rhythms.
“Research shows that if we sleep longer on Sundays, this shifts our whole daily rhythm forward. As a result, it may be difficult to fall asleep that evening, and consequently it will be more hard to get up on Monday morning,” Partinen comments.
Partinen advocates catching up on missed sleep by going to bed early, instead of getting up late.
“Of course it’s alright to sleep in on Sundays, but one shouldn’t stay in bed until midday,” the sleep researcher advises.
Sleep specialists from the UT Southwestern Medical Centre in the U.S. recommend going to bed about eight hours before one has to wake up.
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