If we spend more money than we earn, in the end we have an overdraft in our bank account. Something similar happens with sleep. When night after night we sleep fewer hours than our body needs to recover, the damage accumulates into something called sleep debt.
This accumulated sleep deficit has physical and mental consequencesincluding decreased concentration, mood changes, weakness in the immune system and increased risk of chronic diseases such as diabetes, obesity or cardiovascular problems.
One of the myths about sleep debt is that you can make up for sleep lost during the week by sleeping more on the weekend or taking naps, something that different studies have proven to be almost impossible. In one made with more than 12,000 people It was found that naps and extra sleep during the weekend only compensated for the accumulated sleep debt in one in four subjects.
It’s easy to understand why. If we assume that eight hours of sleep are necessary and we lose one hour of sleep from Monday to Friday, that is five hours in total. It is unlikely that we will be able to sleep ten and a half hours on Saturday and Sunday. In an analysis of the students dream According to PubMed, it was concluded that with a loss of one hour of sleep per day, it was necessary to have opportunities to get enough sleep up to nine days later to eliminate the sleep debt.
for the doctor Diego García-Borregueroneurologist and medical director of the Sleep Institute, this deficit is a consequence of the so-called jet lag social: “Stress has not changed quantitatively in the last 100 years, what has changed is the influence of artificial light and the irregularity of schedules in today’s society, and this has a very direct effect on the centers of dream,” he explains.
Although a single night of bad rest It may not seem so serious, it can trigger immediate effects on the body, such as alterations in mood, reduced ability to concentrate, weakness in the immune system and metabolic changes. These negative effects can become chronic when the deficit is prolonged over time.
Although a single night of poor rest may not seem so serious, it can trigger immediate effects on the body, such as mood changes, reduced ability to concentrate, weakness in the immune system and metabolic changes.
Lack of sleep causes an increase in cortisol, the stress hormone, and with it the inflammation. It also does decrease leptin levels and they increase ghrelin, hormones that regulate satiety and appetite, respectively. This contributes to the feeling of hunger and, often, the desire to consume foods rich in carbohydrates and sugars, as the body seeks a quick source of energy to compensate for fatigue. All of this, in a sustained manner, can lead to weight gain.
How to manage fatigue the next day
Recovering quickly from a bad night’s sleep is important for physical and mental performance, but also for not continuing to accumulate sleep debt and making the situation worse. The measures begin the next morning, to ensure that the next night’s sleep is restful and lasts long enough. The first recommendation is to expose yourself to natural light early in the morning.
Sunlight is essential to regulate the circadian rhythm, which is the body’s internal clock. Light when waking up helps reduce the production of melatonin, the hormone responsible for inducing sleep, and promotes the secretion of cortisol, which, although usually associated with stress, is necessary in the morning to wake us up and be alert. But also, the light in the morning makes the Melatonin increases and cortisol decreases at nightwhen we need to rest.
In addition to light exposure, physical exercise in the first half of the day can also help you catch up on sleep at night. It doesn’t have to be an intense session. Gentle exercise, such as walking or stretching, can increase energy levels without excessively increasing physiological stress and make us more awake, despite a bad night. This was proven in a study with sleep-deprived pilots, for whom just 10 minutes of exercise increased their alertness.
Food and hydration also help with recovery. During sleep, the body loses water through breathing and sweat, and dehydration can exacerbate the feeling of fatigue and make it difficult to concentrate in the morning, something we can solve by drinking a couple of glasses of water as soon as we wake up. A breakfast rich in proteins and healthy fats, such as eggs, yogurt or nuts, helps stabilize blood sugar levels, avoiding ‘crashes’.
Caffeine and naps
Caffeine can be a temporary ally to improve alertness, but excessive consumption, or if consumed after noon, can interfere with sleep the following night, worsening sleep debt. A cup of coffee or tea in the morning can be helpful, but you have to stop drinking caffeine at least eight hours before bedtime, and up to 13 hours if it is a sports supplement with a higher dose of caffeine.
Another relevant strategy is to take short breaks throughout the day, also known as power napsor short naps. These short naps of between 10 and 20 minutes are useful for reducing fatigue and improving attention without entering a deep sleep that can make it difficult to sleep at night. A study with astronauts found that a 26-minute nap, called the Nap NASA improved performance and attention by 34%.
Light when waking up helps reduce the production of melatonin, the hormone responsible for inducing sleep, and promotes the secretion of cortisol, which, although usually associated with stress, is necessary in the morning to wake us up and be alert.
It is important not to exceed 30 minutes to avoid falling into a deep sleep phase, which could cause a feeling of grogginess when waking up and interfere with the night’s sleep. In this sense, a 10-minute mindful meditation, such as practicing yoga nidra, even if you do not fall asleep, can also help offset the negative effects of poor sleep without interfering with a night’s rest.
If we sleep poorly, it is tempting to stay in bed longer to compensate, whenever that possibility exists, but it can work against us. According to Dr. García-Borreguero, reducing time in bed can help you sleep better the next night: “Given the decrease in time in bed, the brain tends to occupy the time we give it with deeper sleep.”
Studies suggest that it is best to try to reestablish the usual sleep schedule so as not to alter the circadian clock, the one that insists on waking us up at the same time even if we have not slept enough. Patience is the best strategy, schedules that allow you to maintain a regular sleep rhythm are more effective in minimizing the cumulative effects of this deficit than trying to sleep straight through a single night, something that probably won’t work.
It must be taken into account that in people with recurrent sleep problems, these strategies do not replace a professional diagnosis. In these cases, the help of a health professional will allow you to identify and treat the underlying causes, since chronic sleep deprivation is not a joke, but something that can cause serious long-term health problems.
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