Social Jetlag: How a Widespread Sleeping Mistake Can Hurt You
Most of us make this capital mistake: Wrong sleeping behaviour triggers “social jetlag” – and also harms our heart!
Sleeping – for many of us probably one of our favourite activities, right? There’s nothing like a cozy night in a warm little bed, wrapped in a soft, warm blanket.
And how bad it is for us when from Monday to Friday the alarm clock rings in the morning and wrenches us from our sweetest dreams … No wonder we like to use the weekend to get a good night’s sleep! But this is exactly what researchers and health experts warn against!
Because: If you make up for all the supposedly missed sleep from Monday to Friday at the weekend, you will very quickly catch a so-called “social jet lag”. Yes, exactly – a jet lag, like after a long trip to another time zone.
This means that if we go to bed early from Monday to Friday and get up early, but stay up late at the weekend and sleep until noon, our entire biorhythm gets upset – our body has no chance of establishing a reasonable sleep rhythm.
Danger also for the heart
The phenomenon of social jetlag has already been medically examined and documented several times. And the experts are certain: Social jetlag can not only disturb our concentration, but also promote heart disease and damage.
Hence the advice: Even if it sounds completely unrealistic for most of us, we should go to bed and sleep in at about the same time every day of the week. Once a regular biorhythm has been established, we will be less tired than if we stay up to the dolls in our feathers at the weekend …