sleep=bad?

Bigger Stronger Leaner Competitive Bodybuilding
1

Ok, I have been doing some research for my computer science project but accidentally clicked on an article that suprised me to say the least

http://www.neurologyreviews.com/nov02/nr_nov02_toomuchsleep.html

Basically it’s saying that sleeping 8 hours is bad for you and the optimal number of hours to sleep is 7.

I decided to see if this was maybe a hoax but also found the following articles that state the same thing:

so what do you guys think?

p.s. really sorry if this has been covered here before. I remember reading something on sleep but not on ‘too much sleep’

2

Lots of variables to decide on how much sleep is enough, I would think. Alot like saying “2300 calories is all a person needs. Anymore and they will get fat”, is not an accurate statement. Take into consideration activity level, stress level, diet, current health, etc.

3

Cool, and here I was thinking that I wasn’t getting enough sleep. I feel much better now.

4

I’m screwed then, I’m sleeping about 11 hours per day at the moment.

5

My personal experience is that quality of sleep is more important than quantity. I feel much more rested when I have consecutive nights of sleeping the whole night through 6-7 hours, as opposed to sleeping 4-5 hours, getting up to use the bathroom or whatever, then going back to sleep for another 4 or so.

6

You need to check out what the test subjects profiles were…male/female? healthy/diseased? smoker/non-smoker? activity profiles? etc.

All these things factor into the amount of sleep/food/or anything else that is “required” or “optimal”.

Now go get some rest!

7

What I don’t get is this. When they say one person sleeps 8 hours and another person sleeps 6 hours, is each person sleeping until they wake up naturally, or are they setting alarms and “forcing” themselves up?

What I’d like to know is whether someone who “naturally” wakes up after 6 hours if somehow healthier or somehow more likely to outlive someone who “naturally” wakes up after 8 or 9 hours.

When comparing a 6 hour sleeper to a 9 hour sleeper, are we comparing someone with a good job and family who only has time for 6 hours to an unemployed alcoholic who passes out for 9 hours at a time? I want them to control for other variables when reporting statistics like this! There is no way to read cause and effect into these stories.