Bedtime After 11 pm Isn’t Good for Your Health. Here’s Why
According to researchers, going to bed between 10 pm and 11 pm is great for heart health.The recommended bedtime blends well with daylight exposure and circadian rhythms.
According to experts, creating a consistent bedtime routine, together with eating and exercising at the right times, can help you have a restful sleep at a healthy-enough time.
For most people, bedtime refers to whenever they can sleep off.
But researchers have a different view. According to health experts, there is a set time, an ideal time specifically to crawl under the sheets for the sake of your cardiovascular health.
According to a UK study published in the European Heart Journal - Digital Health, if you want to keep your heart healthy, then it is best you go to bed between 10 pm and 11 pm.
According to the study, there is an optimum time to go to bed in the body’s 24-hour cycle, and deviating from this may be injurious to health.
The riskiest time to sleep is after midnight. The reason for this is that sleeping after midnight reduces your chances of seeing the morning light, which resets your body clock.
The human body has a 24-hour clock working internally. This internal clock is known as the circadian rhythm. It helps with the regulation of mental and physical functioning.
What the research says
Over 88,000 people between the ages of 43 and 79 participated in the study. The subjects collected data on their bedtime and wake time over one week. Data was collected using an accelerometer.
The participants completed assessments on lifestyle, demographics, and health.
The researchers monitored the study group over 5.7 years for diagnoses of cardiovascular ailments, such as heart failure, heart attack, stroke, chronic ischemic heart disease, and transient ischemic attack.
According to the results, 3% of the subjects developed cardiovascular disease much later. The incidence was very high among those who slept at midnight or later than that and very low in people who slept between 10 pm and 10:59 pm.
Here’s a summary of the findings:
- Those who slept at midnight or after that had a 25% higher risk of cardiovascular conditions.
- Those who slept between 11 pm and 11:59 pm had a 12% greater risk of cardiovascular disease
- Those who slept before 10 pm had their risk of cardiovascular disease increased by 24%.
Some tips have been recommended by the CDC toward getting sufficient sleep. These include:
- Creating and adhering to a regular sleep schedule
- Going to bed and waking at the same time every day, including weekends
- Exposing yourself to enough natural light, mostly in the day. you can take a walk in the morning or during lunchtime
- Engaging in physical activity during the day.
- Avoid artificial light a few hours before bedtime.
- Sleeping in a cool, quiet, and darkroom