How many hours should we sleep a day?

The answer to this is actually individual, meaning it can vary according to health status, age and environmental conditions. But if we make a generalization, we should say 6 hours. We mostly hear 8 hours suggestions, but if we optimize the sleep-related conditions, we see that this period is 6 hours at most.

What are these conditions?

First of all, we have to organize our bedtime and make it a habit of sleeping at the same time every night. While doing this, we must consider our biological clock. What we call the biological clock is a thousands of years old mechanism and it concerns our nervous system, immune system, hormones and various cells. It is actually a physiological process. And according to this, our body should go to rest when it gets dark. If we make a generalization considering the summer months when the weather gets dark lately, it is ideal to go to bed at 10 or at the latest at 11 o'clock.

Likewise, changing some of our evening habits will affect our sleep time and quality. Eating and drinking habits come first. We have to stop intake of food and beverage except water in the pre-sleep hours. Meat dishes, fatty foods and alcohol are already out of the category. Thus, we give our body a chance to regenerate and rest, especially the digestive system organs.

Another important issue regarding sleep is environment. Our bedroom should be visually, aural and energetically isolated. When we sleep, there should be no sounds in our room, including relaxing music, no light including night light, any electronic device, especially computers and mobile phones. We should relax our nervous system and brain by providing a kind of sensory hygiene.

Our sleeping materials such as beds, quilts and pillows should naturally be of high quality and ergonomic, and room should be a clean, tidy and peaceful environment. For example, it should not be too hot or cold, wall paints should be in soothing tones such as blue and green.

After a while, our body will find its own balance, and we will not need to set an alarm to get up in the morning after that, because after 5-6 hours of sleep, our eyes will open  themselves with our body rested.

Dr. Emin Ali Tutuncu - 07.02.2021 - Antalya

( instagram: @eminalitutuncu – wa.me/0905443097978 )