Sleep often takes a backseat to our busy schedules, however, neglecting your sleep can have detrimental effects on your mood, daily functioning, and even your heart health. 

On the flip side, consistently getting enough sleep plays a vital role in safeguarding your heart, boosting your mood and promoting overall health.

“Many people today neglect their sleep, believing they’re too busy for bedtime,” says cardiologist, Kanika Mody, M.D. “They might rethink that if they realized skimping on sleep might harm their heart.”

The Impact of Inadequate Sleep on Heart Health

People who consistently don’t get enough sleep are more likely to develop:

• High blood pressure
• Obesity
• Diabetes
• Sleep apnea
• Heart disease

Understanding the Importance of Sleep

Sleep doesn’t just feel good, it’s restorative for your body. Along with good nutrition and regular exercise, sleep helps keep you healthy.

While you sleep, your body recovers from the day’s stresses and repairs itself. If you sleep fewer hours than recommended, your body won’t fully recuperate overnight.

Experts recommend getting 7 to 9 hours of sleep nightly. But 35% of Americans get less sleep than that, according to a recent survey. 

“Missing out on enough sleep may prompt you to develop unhealthy lifestyle habits. These practices may increase your risk of certain health conditions,” says Dr. Mody.

How Chronic Sleep Deprivation Affects Heart Health

Chronic sleep deprivation may make you more likely to:

• Eat unhealthy comfort foods, which may contain saturated fats or sugar
• Overeat, since your hormones controlling hunger and satiety are off balance
• Be less motivated to exercise, remaining sedentary
• Develop depression or other mental health conditions
• Experience inflammation throughout the body

These habits may contribute to high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes or sleep apnea. Each of these conditions is associated with heart disease: 

• High blood pressure can make your blood vessels stiffen, slowing blood flow to the heart. When the heart doesn’t get enough oxygen-rich blood, heart disease may arise.
• Obesity makes your heart work harder, and the condition is associated with high cholesterol. It also increases your risk of diabetes and high blood pressure.
• Diabetes may lead to damage of blood vessels, due to high blood-sugar levels. Damage to blood vessels may contribute to heart disease.
• Sleep apnea makes you periodically stop breathing in your sleep, degrading your sleep quality. You awaken tired, increasing your risk of obesity, diabetes and heart disease.

Tips for Achieving Better Sleep and Protecting Your Heart

Well-rested people are more likely to exercise, eat healthily and honor their bedtimes. These healthy lifestyle habits lower a person’s likelihood for heart disease.

“Sleeping enough also lowers your risk of inflammation and keeps your appetite hormones balanced. You’ll be less likely to overeat, gain weight or develop diabetes or heart disease,” says Adrian Pristas, M.D., pulmonologist and corporate medical director, Centers for Sleep Medicine at Hackensack Meridian Health.

To get a heart-healthy amount of sleep:

• Do some calculations to create a useful bedtime. Count backwards 7 or 8 hours from the time you need to wake up.
• Say no to late-day commitments or late-night doom-scrolling and go to bed. Set a bedtime alarm on your phone if you need a reminder.
• Create a relaxing bedtime routine that you look forward to every night. Consider a warm shower, dim lighting, soft music and/or reading a paperback in bed.
• Get exercise during the day, so you feel tired at bedtime. If possible, walk outdoors before going to work, to expose yourself to morning sunlight.
• Honor similar bedtimes and awakenings on weekends; don’t deviate by more than an hour. Staying up late or sleeping in can throw off your weekly sleep routine.

“It isn’t too late to adopt a healthier sleep schedule,” Dr. Pristas says. “If you can get 7 or more hours nightly, your heart will thank you.”

Next Steps & Resources:

• Meet our sources: Kanika Mody, M.D., Adrian Pristas, M.D.
• To make an appointment with a doctor near you, call 800-822-8905 or visit our website. 

The material provided through HealthU is intended to be used as general information only and should not replace the advice of your physician. Always consult your physician for individual care.