Sleep less, live longer?

Neill S. Occhiogrosso · 01-28-2007, 08:45 PM

Interesting study indicates that the healthiest amount of sleep is between six and seven hours.

work / family safe:

http://health.ucsd.edu/news/2002/02_08_Kripke.html

Gorm Laursen · 01-29-2007, 12:54 AM

Sleeping is practice in dying, so the less you practice, the worse you get at it ;)

Michael Bruce Mailman · 01-29-2007, 04:40 AM

My partner expouses the exact same theory. I'd hate to live on 6 hours. She says you can sleep when you die, but I reckon you need to sleep to live!

Josh Brehm · 01-29-2007, 09:49 AM

So, is this study accurate? Would y'all think that someone doing the Rx'd WOD would need more sleep, or no?

Kevin Stricker · 01-29-2007, 09:55 AM

Thought I would point out the obvious...If you only need 6.5 hours of sleep to maintain health surely you need more to sustain fitness.

Roger Harrell · 01-29-2007, 10:45 AM

Ok, it correlates, but is it causal? Ok, maybe more people that sleep >8 hrs have a higher "hazard rate", but could that simply be because of other factors in their lifestyle that also correlates with sleeping more? Folks that are terribly out of shape tend to sleep more for many reasons, so they will weigh in on that side of the statistic. I'd be interested in results from a study on this run differently with controls etc. Trouble is that would take 40-60 years to get the data :-).

In my opinion a fit person getting a good 8 hrs will live longer than a fit person getting 6 (assuming all other factors the same, some people just need less sleep). I know I don't recover as well, function worse, etc on less sleep.

David Aguasca · 01-29-2007, 12:25 PM

i agree with roger, on his first point.

personally, i FEEL better when i get 8-9 hours of sleep. i think clearer, have more patience, i'm more resistant to the cold/hot weather, and i don't feel drowsy driving. to me, that's a worthwhile trade for a few years off my life (if the study is even accurate to begin with)

Mike ODonnell · 01-29-2007, 12:30 PM

"She says you can sleep when you die, but I reckon you need to sleep to live!"

Then again....do you want to die at 50...or be healthy into your 90s....who knows...but I know sleep=recovery....so the more you workout, the more you need sleep. Plus going to bed at 10pm is much more different than going at 1am for quality of repair and hormones.

Nick Cummings · 01-29-2007, 12:31 PM

I used to buy into the sleep less higher health theory. Now I sleep as much as I can and nap when tired. There are so many other things that have a clear effect on ones health and are not as subjective. Perhaps the people who sleep more have a "negative" reason for doing so. In this case the ammount of sleep would be the symptom and not the problem. While I have a lot of respect for medicine, frequintly they seem to treat the symptom and not the cause.

Steve Liberati · 01-29-2007, 12:45 PM

Since I'm bias towards our natural evolutionary patterns, this study means nothing to me. In fact I'll go far as to call it junk science.

The healthiest amount of sleep is as many hours as you would in nature according to seasonal light exposure. So in winter, sleep alot and summer sleep less. The more the better as mother nature intended.

As the Native Americans use to say, "Change the environment and the environment changes you."

The message was made abundantly clear in "Lights Out."

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01-28-2007, 08:45 PM	#1
Neill S. Occhiogrosso Member Profile: Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Philadelphia PA Posts: 177	Interesting study indicates that the healthiest amount of sleep is between six and seven hours. work / family safe: http://health.ucsd.edu/news/2002/02_08_Kripke.html

01-29-2007, 12:54 AM	#2
Gorm Laursen Member Profile: Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Copenhagen ... Posts: 274	Sleeping is practice in dying, so the less you practice, the worse you get at it ;)

01-29-2007, 04:40 AM	#3
Michael Bruce Mailman Member Profile: Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Auckland New Zealand Posts: 165	My partner expouses the exact same theory. I'd hate to live on 6 hours. She says you can sleep when you die, but I reckon you need to sleep to live!

01-29-2007, 09:49 AM	#4
Josh Brehm Member Profile: Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Dallas Oregon Posts: 560	So, is this study accurate? Would y'all think that someone doing the Rx'd WOD would need more sleep, or no?

01-29-2007, 09:55 AM	#5
Kevin Stricker Member Profile: Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Evergreen CO Posts: 21	Thought I would point out the obvious...If you only need 6.5 hours of sleep to maintain health surely you need more to sustain fitness.

01-29-2007, 10:45 AM	#6
Roger Harrell Affiliate Profile: Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: San Rafael CA Posts: 2,318	Ok, it correlates, but is it causal? Ok, maybe more people that sleep >8 hrs have a higher "hazard rate", but could that simply be because of other factors in their lifestyle that also correlates with sleeping more? Folks that are terribly out of shape tend to sleep more for many reasons, so they will weigh in on that side of the statistic. I'd be interested in results from a study on this run differently with controls etc. Trouble is that would take 40-60 years to get the data :-). In my opinion a fit person getting a good 8 hrs will live longer than a fit person getting 6 (assuming all other factors the same, some people just need less sleep). I know I don't recover as well, function worse, etc on less sleep.

01-29-2007, 12:25 PM	#7
David Aguasca Member Profile: Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Nyack NY Posts: 828	i agree with roger, on his first point. personally, i FEEL better when i get 8-9 hours of sleep. i think clearer, have more patience, i'm more resistant to the cold/hot weather, and i don't feel drowsy driving. to me, that's a worthwhile trade for a few years off my life (if the study is even accurate to begin with)

01-29-2007, 12:30 PM	#8
Mike ODonnell Member Profile: Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Atlanta GA Posts: 1,566	"She says you can sleep when you die, but I reckon you need to sleep to live!" Then again....do you want to die at 50...or be healthy into your 90s....who knows...but I know sleep=recovery....so the more you workout, the more you need sleep. Plus going to bed at 10pm is much more different than going at 1am for quality of repair and hormones.

01-29-2007, 12:31 PM	#9
Nick Cummings Departed Profile: Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 1,023	I used to buy into the sleep less higher health theory. Now I sleep as much as I can and nap when tired. There are so many other things that have a clear effect on ones health and are not as subjective. Perhaps the people who sleep more have a "negative" reason for doing so. In this case the ammount of sleep would be the symptom and not the problem. While I have a lot of respect for medicine, frequintly they seem to treat the symptom and not the cause.

01-29-2007, 12:45 PM	#10
Steve Liberati Affiliate Profile: Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Pennsauken NJ Posts: 1,649	Since I'm bias towards our natural evolutionary patterns, this study means nothing to me. In fact I'll go far as to call it junk science. The healthiest amount of sleep is as many hours as you would in nature according to seasonal light exposure. So in winter, sleep alot and summer sleep less. The more the better as mother nature intended. As the Native Americans use to say, "Change the environment and the environment changes you." The message was made abundantly clear in "Lights Out."