sleep health concept

There is no "perfect sleep template" that is universally applicable. As long as it adapts to one's own circadian rhythm and does not feel persistently tired after waking up, it is healthy sleep.

A while ago, I helped a friend in the Internet industry adjust her sleep state. Last month, she followed the trend and learned the "elite sleep method". She stuck to a 7-hour clock and set an alarm clock for 5 a.m. to force herself to get up and read in the morning. Even if she worked overtime until 12 a.m. the day before, she refused to sleep for half an hour more. After staying up for half a month, she couldn't persist in reading in the morning, and a pimple broke out on her face. She fell asleep even while sitting in the weekly meeting last week. She also blamed herself for "poor willpower and can't even go to bed early and get up early."

To be honest, this is also the biggest misunderstanding that most people have about sleep health now: they regard "7-9 hours" and "sleeping before 11 o'clock" as iron rules that must be followed. If they fail to meet the standards even slightly, they will become anxious and fall into an endless cycle of "the more they are afraid of not being able to sleep, the more they will suffer from insomnia". The traditional Academy of Sleep Medicine guidelines do recommend "7-9 hours of sleep per day for adults," but this is only a reference value at the group level and never a rigid standard for individuals. In recent years, many scholars who study sleep have also proposed the "natural sleep school" view, which believes that sleep duration is essentially controlled by genes. Born short sleepers with DEC2 gene mutations can stay energetic throughout the day by sleeping only 4-5 hours a day, while long sleepers will still feel sleepy even if they sleep for 9 hours. If they insist on compressing the duration, they will affect cognitive function and metabolic level. There is currently no unified conclusion between these two views in the academic community, but at least it is certain: applying a unified time standard to everyone is inherently anti-scientific.

Having said this, someone must ask, is it healthy if I stay up until 2 o'clock every day and wake up at 10 o'clock in the morning? This issue has been quarreling for many years. Most modern sleep medicine research believes that the core harm of staying up late is actually "irregular work and rest" and "sleep deprivation". If you can maintain a fixed bedtime and wake-up time for a long time, sleep for sufficient duration, and have high sleep quality, even if you have a "day and night" schedule, your health indicators will not be significantly different from those of people who go to bed early and get up early. However, the theory of Ziwu nap in traditional Chinese medicine has always disagreed with this statement. It is believed that the gallbladder meridian is in season at midnight (23:00-1:00) and the liver meridian is in season at Chou hour (1:00-3:00). Entering deep sleep at these two time periods is conducive to the movement of qi and blood. If missed for a long time, it will lead to organ dysfunction. Both statements are supported by research, and there is no absolute right or wrong. You can choose based on your own physical feelings: If you maintain a sleep schedule of 2 a.m. and wake up at 10 a.m. all year round, you will feel refreshed after getting up, and there will be no abnormality in the physical examination. There is no need to force yourself to change your schedule. ； If you still wake up with a bitter taste in your mouth, fatigue, and a dark complexion after sleeping for 8 hours, then you are right to adjust your bedtime as early as possible.

When I was working on a project two years ago, I went to bed at 1 a.m. and woke up at 7 a.m. for more than half a month. At first, I felt dazed when I woke up the next day. Later, I adjusted a few small details and my condition improved a lot: for example, I refused to touch electronic devices with blue light one hour before going to bed. , instead of reading a professional book with no plot, the curtains in the bedroom were changed to completely blackout, the temperature was adjusted to 19-21 degrees all year round, and even the four-piece suit on the bed was replaced with a softer brushed style, falling asleep much faster, and the duration of deep sleep also increased. By the way, don’t believe in the saying that “you can just make up for the sleep you owe during the working day”. This is also controversial: some studies believe that as long as the total sleep time in a week reaches the standard and the fluctuation of work and rest does not exceed 2 hours, there will be no problem. ； However, long-term follow-up studies have shown that people who lack sleep during the week and make up for sleep on weekends have a risk of developing diabetes and obesity that is about 30% higher than those who have a regular schedule. My own feeling is that it is okay to stay up late occasionally and catch up on a nap the next day. If I miss sleep for three or four days in a row, it is really better to sleep for half an hour more every day, which is much more effective than sleeping all morning on weekends.

In fact, after all is said and done, there is really no need to worry about sleep, and there is no need to PUA according to other people's standards. If you can get through a morning's work without drinking two glasses of iced Americano when you get up in the morning, and you won't slump on the sofa when you get home from work without even wanting to cook, then your sleep is healthy. If you really can't sleep or sleep well for more than half a month, don't frighten yourself by searching blindly. Go to the sleep clinic of a regular hospital for monitoring, which is much more reliable than the various "sleep remedies" you read online.