It turns out that you can sleep too much as well
Sleeping too little is very bad for your mental and physical well being so it is really not recommended that you shorten your nights. But did you know that sleeping too much can also be bad for you?
These signs let you know that you get too many hours of sleep.
Sleep deprivation
Someone who constantly sleeps too little can start to suffer from sleep deprivation. It may seem that you can recover that lost sleep by sleeping more in the weekends, but that’s not the case. Sleep deprivation is very difficult to catch up on and can lead to having several physical and mental symptoms. You can experience a drop in concentration, a craving for junk food more often, and a sad feeling. Additionally, your immune system could be so weak that you develop a cold every time it is going around. So it is important to sleep enough, but how do you know whether you sleep too much? These signs could tell you.
1. Headache
You may think that you get a headache from not sleeping enough, but you can also get one by spending too many hours lying down on your soft pillow. Dr. Elizabeth McDevitt explains how that is possible. She says that the fluctuations of nerve impulses can cause a headache when you’re sleeping. When you’re still asleep when you would normally have your breakfast or drink your coffee, you can develop a headache because of the low blood sugar, dehydration or a caffeine deficiency.
2. Everything hurts
Perhaps you think that your body is completely rested when you sleep a lot of hours, but your body can actually hurt as well when you’ve had a long night’s rest. Does this happen to you? Then you know that you’ve been enjoying your warm blanket for a little too long.
3. Brain fog
Brain fog is an odd occurrence for many people. You are physically present and your brain is working, but your head is not in it. It feels like your head is filled with cotton wool that keeps you from thinking clearly. Do you recognize this? Then there is a big chance that you’ve been sleeping too much. Structure your sleeping rhythm by getting out of bed at the same time every day and you will notice that the brain fog disappears.
4. Waking up tired
You’ve slept nine hours, woke up, and realized that you were still tired. Sleeping in to make up for some lost hours during the week may not be such a good idea then. Your biological clock gets confused and causes you to stay tired. Do you really want to catch up on some lost sleep? Go to bed 15 minutes earlier than you normally do. You’ll see that you’re feeling less tired than when you would stay in bed until 11 a.m. on a Saturday.
5. Memory loss
Sleeping too little, but sleeping too much as well, can have negative consequences for your memory. Research shows that women who slept too much were performing worse on certain brain tests than women who slept a normal seven or eight hours per night.
6. Gaining weight
Maybe one of the most negative consequences of too much sleep is gaining weight. Research carried out by the University of Glasgow shows that there is a connection between sleeping habits and gaining weight among people with obesity. The research also shows that people with obesity who have short nights (less than seven hours of sleep per night) or long nights (more than nine hours of sleep per night) experience negative consequences regarding their weight.
The advice? Don’t sleep too little and don’t sleep too much!
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