{"id":33543,"date":"2024-09-20T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-09-20T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.saatva.com\/?p=33543"},"modified":"2024-09-18T19:05:15","modified_gmt":"2024-09-18T19:05:15","slug":"sleeping-in-on-weekends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saatva.com\/blog\/sleeping-in-on-weekends\/","title":{"rendered":"The Surprising Benefit of Sleeping Late on the Weekends"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A new study<\/a> of more than 90,000 people finds that \u201ccatching up<\/a>\u201d on sleep over the weekend can actually lower the risk of heart disease by nearly 20% in people who regularly experience inadequate sleep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using self-reported data over a median follow-up period of 14 years, UK Biobank project researchers at the State Key Laboratory of Infectious Disease in China reaffirmed the harmful impact of regular sleep deprivation\u2014defined as less than seven hours\u2014but confirmed that sleeping in and making up even some lost sleep on weekends can have a significant positive effect on\u00a0heart health<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Below, we look at the study findings and offer a few tips for how to sleep in on weekends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The health benefits of sleeping in on weekends <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Sleep deprivation can contribute to a variety of health problems that lead to cardiovascular issues. The researchers of this new study were interested in finding differences in cardiovascular events including ischemic heart disease, atrial fibrillation, heart failure, and stroke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The study found that, for both women and men, getting extra sleep on weekends for those who don\u2019t get adequate sleep during the week was associated with a lower chance of having heart disease compared with individuals who don\u2019t make up for their lost sleep time on weekends.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those with sleep deprivation who had the most weekend compensatory sleep had approximately 20% lower likelihood of cardiovascular events than those who slept less over the weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSufficient compensatory sleep is linked to a lower risk of heart disease,\u201d said Yanjun Song, of the State Key Laboratory of Infectious Disease, Fuwai Hospital, National Centre for Cardiovascular Disease in Beijing, China, in a press release. \u201cThe association becomes even more pronounced among individuals who regularly experience inadequate sleep on weekdays.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zechen Liu, another of the researchers, said this in the press release: \u201cOur results show that for the significant proportion of the population in modern society that suffers from sleep deprivation, those who have the most \u2018catch-up\u2019 sleep at weekends have significantly lower rates of heart disease than those with the least.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to sleep later on weekends <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Now that you have this information, what can you do to catch up on sleep on the weekends? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Raj Dasgupta<\/a>, MD, chief medical advisor for Sleepopolis, suggests the best way to get extra sleep on weekends is to follow the same steps for getting a good night\u2019s sleep during the week:<\/p>\n\n\n\n