We are all aware that the average person requires eight hours of sleep every night to function at their best. Most experts suggest that eight hours of sleep is an ample amount of rest for the body and brain to regenerate itself. Without sleep, our bodies may not work as properly as it should, which could lead to tiredness, fatigue, or worse, we could catch a disease due to a lower immune system.
Sleep is a vital part of our lives, and we do every day or night ever since the day we were born. As kids, sleep is essential to promote human growth hormones and develop our body systems. As we grow older, sleep becomes a necessity for healing and repairing damaged nerves, tissues, and blood vessels in our bodies. With all of these factors, we can say that sleep is an essential natural task, not just for us humans, but for most living organisms on the planet.
However, curiosity starts to arise as to how we can achieve the same healing effects of eight hours of sleep, even without sleepingfor hours straight. One of the realities in the world we are living in today is the fast-paced environment. People work for hours and often spend at least half of the day outside their houses – like in the office, school, or other field activities.This busy schedule of the modern world sometimes deprived us of the recommended amount of sleep that we need. That is why some people find other ways to sleep more efficiently.
What are the effects of 8 hours of sleep?
Let us further look into the benefits of having eight hours of sleep. As mentioned earlier, it is normal for many people in our modern world to sleep for less than the required amount. Furthermore, some people even manage to sleep for only four hours or less, and some could also carry on without sleeping for more than a day. As this may sound interesting at first, it produces adverse effects on the body even without us noticing.
Recent scientific studies show that sleep for less than the required amount, mainly four hours or less, could lead to obesity, diseases, and other harmful effects in the body.
If we sleep for eight hours a day, our bodies could repair itself and undergo procedures to promote health in our system.
Some of the benefits of an ample sleep cycle are the strengthening of the immune system, which could avoid further risks of adverse health conditions, manage hunger levels, prevent obesity,and helps keeps our brains healthy and retain memory.
Researchers emphasized the idea that an adult should sleep for an average of seven to eight hours each day. These numbers should not be more or less than seven to eight hours. As mentioned above, we already know the effects of sleeping for less than eight hours a day. Studies show that sleeping for more than eight hours each day could cause a higher risk of harmful body effects, including diseases and premature death. That is why we should maintain the consecutive eight hours of sleep to keep our bodies healthy and for longevity.
Segmented Sleep
Now that we already know the effects of sleeping for eight hours a day let us look into one of the studies made by experts to achieve the same benefits without following the regular sleeping pattern.
The irregular sleep pattern, also called segmented sleep, is a common practice during ancient times. Ancient people tend to sleep for two shifts instead of one. They often wake up late at night and spend a few hours doing chores and other activities. Researches said that this is standard practice, and this method of sleeping is pretty much how animals sleep as well. Furthermore, studies stated that sleeping in two shifts is a feature hardwired into the human brain. However, this is not possible most of the time during our modern world, where people tend to work atleast eight hours a day, with only limited break schedules in between.
Another form of segmented sleep is the Uberman Sleep Schedule. The Uberman method is a sleep cycle done throughout the day. Instead of sleeping for eight hours straight, the Uberman cycle suggests that a person can only have a series of twenty minutes naps throughout the day. Initially, the Uberman cycle consists of six twenty minutes of naps per day, which is equivalent to two hours of sleep. Furthermore, the traditional six naps per day increased to eight naps per day, totaling two hours and forty minutes each day.
Only a few numbers of people managed to adapt to the Uberman cycle. These people claimed to be more alert and perform better after practicing the Uberman sleep cycle. However, no study shows the long term effects of adapting to this sleep schedule. Furthermore, people who managed to sustain this schedule for more than a year haven’t experienced any serious health issues.