When we think about how to improve our heart health, we usually focus on eating right and exercising regularly. But getting a good night’s sleep can make a real difference as well.
“If you’re trying to improve your heart health, think about diet, exercise, and sleep,” says Deepak L. Bhatt MD, MPH, MBA, Director of the renowned Mount Sinai Fuster Heart Hospital.
In this Q&A, Dr. Bhatt explains how insufficient sleep can cause a wide range of symptoms and what steps you can take to remedy that.
Why is sleep important for heart health?
Not getting enough sleep, or not having good quality sleep, can cause increases in blood pressure and blood sugar levels. Chronically insufficient sleep can predispose you to weight gain and obesity. That could be because if you’re up until midnight binge watching and snacking, you might put on some extra pounds. But there are also more fundamental biological pathways by which insufficient sleep can increase cardiovascular risk. One of those might be by inducing inflammation, which is now known to be part of the pathophysiology of heart attacks and strokes.
Deepak L. Bhatt MD, MPH, MBA
What constitutes a good night’s sleep?
Sleeping seven to nine hours is ideal. For adults, more than nine hours isn’t necessarily better; it’s not like with exercise, where more is generally better. However, sleeping less than seven hours is not a good thing. Many people get less than six hours of sleep a night and think that’s sufficient. But with only six hours, you’re probably not as fully functional as you would otherwise be. Over the long term, a pattern of insufficient sleep increases the risk of cardiovascular disease. There is even some emerging data that it might be associated with an increased risk of dementia.
What about interrupted sleep?
Continuous sleep is better. But a lot of people sleep three hours, then get up and walk around, and then go back to sleep. The key is to not start watching TV or check your iPhone or electronic device, because that stimulates the brain. The light makes the brain think it’s daylight and time to wake up. As you go from being a bad sleeper to being a good sleeper, you don’t want to just hop into bed at 8 pm when you’re wide awake. That’s not going to work. Instead, you want to establish good sleep hygiene over time. That means trying to go to bed at the same time and wake up at the same time every day. Ideally, that would extend into weekends as well. It’s difficult to set a good plan for the week if you’re up until 2 am on Saturday night and sleep until 9 am on Sunday. It will make it hard to wake up on time on Monday morning.
How can you help yourself fall asleep?
Avoid excess stimulation right before going to bed, like binge watching TV or late-night snacking, which are bad for your health in any number of ways. Don’t check an email from your boss at 11 pm or binge-watch Netflix at 1 am. Also, you don’t want to eat a heavy meal, then go right to bed. Some people find that relaxation, meditation, and listening to gentle music right before going to bed can help them fall asleep. Exercise can be useful, because you’ve exerted yourself and are tired. But if you exercise right before going to sleep, your adrenaline is surging, and that can backfire. There is also an element of common sense and trial and error to figure out what works best for you. For some people, a glass of warm milk before bed might help—but that’s not going to work if you have lactose intolerance.
What does insufficient sleep do to your body?
Not getting enough sleep can increase your blood pressure, weight, blood sugar, predisposition to diabetes, and inflammation. These can raise your risk of heart problems. Inflammation isn’t often thought of in the context of cardiovascular disease, but the latest evidence shows that inflammation in artery plaque can trigger blood clots—and that’s what leads to the majority of heart attacks.
Does sleep apnea affect the heart?
Sleep apnea is different than having trouble sleeping. If you are not sleeping well, or you wake up feeling really fatigued despite the fact that you’ve been in bed for seven to nine hours, it might be worth getting checked out. People with sleep apnea wake up multiple times a night and have a much higher risk of high blood pressure, elevated heart rate, and heart rhythm problems like atrial fibrillation. Treatment for sleep apnea can really improve your quality of life and reduce some cardiovascular risks.
Can you talk about recent sleep research?
There has been a fair amount of work done on sleep, though there needs to be a lot more research. We still don’t understand a lot of fundamental things about sleep. But we do know that sleep seems to be important for organizing memories. Chronic sleep deprivation can lead to an accumulation of certain types of proteins, like tau and beta-amyloid, which are associated with Alzheimer’s disease. To sum up: Always remember that sleep, in addition to diet and exercise, is crucial to the health of your heart and your overall health.