;Resize=(1200,627)&impolicy=perceptual&quality=mediumHigh&hash=e9a093443ae4c38d9bfa6ba86e2e26e4c46b4228c55c34a93fb4ca0e2fbf5806 "That’s how bad it is when you only sleep five hours a night")
Some need more sleep, others less. But if you only sleep five hours a night for a long time, you will sooner or later have health consequences. Read here what happens when your nights are regularly too short.
Every morning, after the alarm clock has rung and roused you rudely from your sleep, you resolve to finally go to bed earlier today.
But that rarely works. Be it the exciting series that still needs to be watched to the end or the thoughts that just won’t stop circling. Something always gets in the way of sleep. This can even become dangerous in the long run.
35 percent of Germans only sleep five to six hours a night
We know that sleep is important to stay healthy and fit. Nevertheless, according to a survey conducted in 2021, 35 percent of Germans only sleep between five and six hours a night.
Only three percent manage to sleep more than eight hours. The reasons for this vary. Some have trouble falling asleep, others work shifts, or are too stressed to go to bed early.
But if you think that time in bed is wasted time, you’re wrong. It is much more vital to get enough sleep.
This is why getting enough sleep is so important for the body
Sleep is not a luxury, it is necessary for the body to recover. While you sleep, the body carries out important processes that are essential for health.
For example, the immune system is strengthened, the breakdown products of the metabolism are excreted and growth hormones are produced for cell renewal. In addition, the brain stores and processes the experiences of the day.
These are the risks of not getting enough sleep
- Weakened immune system: The body needs sleep so that the immune cells are able to fight pathogens.
- Cardiovascular problems: Persistent lack of sleep triggers inflammatory processes in the body. This can lead to calcification of the blood vessels and cardiovascular diseases.
- Depressions: Little sleep leads to a lack of concentration and drive as well as changes in mood, which are also comparable to the symptoms of depression.
- overweight: Lack of sleep has a negative impact on metabolism. People who get little sleep have a higher risk of developing obesity. Several studies confirm this. In addition, people who sleep little have higher concentrations of ghrelin in their bodies. The hormone regulates the feeling of satiety and hunger.
- Poor muscle recovery: With enough sleep, growth hormones are released, which have a positive effect on the formation of proteins. On the other hand, if you don’t sleep enough, you have to reckon with muscle loss.
How many hours of sleep do people actually need?
There is no general answer to this question, since every body needs a different amount of sleep. There is no universally accepted number of hours that a person must sleep.
However, the physician Dr. medical hc Günther W. Amann-Jennson assumes that 90 percent of adults need between seven and eight hours of sleep in order to cope well with everyday life.
Only five percent of people need less than seven hours of sleep. Five percent even need more than nine hours of sleep.
The duration is important, but the quality of sleep should not be underestimated either. Just because you’ve been in bed for eight hours doesn’t mean you’ve slept eight hours. Researchers use the concept of sleep efficiency to measure the quality of sleep. This measures the time that you actually sleep.
An example: If you toss and turn for four hours out of every ten hours in bed, you have a sleep efficiency of 60 percent. That is not much. A good sleep efficiency is 90 percent, according to Amann-Jennson.
Why are we sleeping too little?
The sleep doctor Prof. Dr. Ingo Fietze explains in his book “Germany sleeps badly” why, in his opinion, Germans have such a big problem getting enough sleep.
Fietze assumes that there is above all a “tough demeanor” at management level that causes people to boast about little sleep. Fietze criticizes toxic productivity, also called “hustle culture”. The term describes the phenomenon that it is socially acceptable to work beyond the physical limit. In the long term, however, this can lead to burnout and illness.
In an interview with WirtschaftsWoche magazine, Fietze even says that little sleep makes people more aggressive and less concentrated.