What is the best time to sleep? Experts worked out the maths

Doctors and scientists have been unanimously emphasising for years that an adult should sleep from seven to eight hours every day. This portion of sleep provides us with adequate rest, regeneration and efficient metabolism. It is also an excellent prevention of diseases of the heart, brain and endocrine system. The time we go to bed is equally important.

The time you fall asleep matters

For sleep to bring proper regeneration, it must not only be long enough, but it must also start at the right time in our body's circadian clock. This is very important and if you don't keep an eye on it, your sleep will not be full-fledged and you will wake up tired and sleep-deprived.

So what's the best time to fall asleep? Neuroscientist Dr Andrew Huberman from Stanford University explained this in his Twitter post, "Does your afternoon energy dip occur at 2:30 pm, 3 pm? In all likelihood, the ideal time to sleep is six to seven hours after this drop."

This means that if you feel tired or sleepy around 3 pm, you should go to bed between 9 pm and 10 pm. Thanks to this, around 5:00 to 6:00 in the morning you will be rested and full of energy to act the next day.

The golden hour for the heart

It is best for our body to fall asleep between 10 pm and 11 pm. This is what scientists from Great Britain believe, who conducted research on a group of over 100,000 people between 2013 and 2015.

"The body has a 24-hour internal clock, called the circadian rhythm, that helps regulate how the body functions, both physically and mentally. Our research suggests that going to bed early or late may be more likely to disrupt our body clock and negatively impact our cardiovascular system," said Dr David Plans from the University of Exeter in the UK, one of the authors of the analysis.

British research has proven that people who go to bed at midnight or later have a 25% lower risk of cardiovascular disease, higher than in those who go to bed between 10 pm and 11 pm. A slightly lower risk, at 24%, occurs in people who go to bed before 10 pm. However, people who fall asleep between 11 pm and midnight have a 12% risk of developing heart disease.

Sleep routine is important

Dr Max Kirsten, a sleep expert at Hypnotherapy NLP Wellbeing Clinic in London, approaches this topic slightly differently. In his opinion, the ideal bedtime depends on whether you are a night owl or a morning person. Regardless of whether you prefer to work late at night or get up early in the morning, you must remember to plan everything so that you get enough sleep.

"Ideally, we should go to bed at a time that allows us to get seven to eight hours of sleep before we need to wake up in the morning. It's best to do this at the same time every time, because regularity is the key," Dr Kirsten explained.

Take care of your sleep quality

In addition to the length of sleep and the time of falling asleep, proper preparation for sleep is also important . Before you go to bed, try to eliminate factors that make it difficult to fall asleep and worsen the quality of sleep. Try to relax before bed. Take a warm bath, read a book, do a crossword, listen to music or do some light exercise. Do something that makes you happy and forget about the stress that accompanied you during the day.

It is worth planning this relaxation before bed, away from the smartphone, laptop or TV, whose screens emit the so-called blue light, stimulating the brain to be constantly active. This results in impaired secretion of melatonin, a hormone that facilitates falling asleep and regeneration. This hormone is also responsible for lowering blood pressure, glucose levels and body temperature so that the body can fall asleep peacefully.

Eat a light dinner in advance, avoid alcohol and smoking in the evening, and avoid large amounts of caffeine during the day. Also remember to air the bedroom before going to bed and ensure the appropriate temperature there. It is best to sleep in a room where the temperature is 18-20 degrees Celsius.

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This article was originally published on Onet Woman.