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Why 7 Hours Sleep Is Not Enough
Plus: how to make keto bread (video + text recipe)!
The 10almonds Team
January 10, 2024
Today’s almonds have been activated by:
❝Freedom [is] the opportunity for self-discipline❞
⏰ IN A RUSH?
Today’s 30-Second Summary
If you don’t have time to read the whole email today, here are some key takeaways:
Getting only 7 hours sleep per night, for 10 days straight, will leave one as sleep-deprived as if one had gone 24 hours without sleep
3 full nights of recovery sleep is insufficient to fully repay this sleep debt
Sleep efficiency also matters, and should be not much lower (or higher!) than 85% (there are apps for this; see main feature)
We know that 10almonds subscribers like quick, clear, health information and tips.
Today's sponsor, Emma the Avocado, is a weekly 3-minute newsletter with super-quick bitesize health information!
Read on to learn about these things and more…
👀 WATCH AND LEARN
How To Make Keto Bread (9:19)
Low carb, high protein, tastes right:
Prefer text? Click here for the text recipe 😋
Want to watch it, but not right now? Bookmark it for later 🔖
🛌 MAIN FEATURE
How Sleep-Deprived Are You, Really?
This is Dr. Matthew Walker. He’s a neuroscientist and sleep specialist, and is the Director of the Center for Human Sleep Science at UC Berkeley’s Department of Psychology. He’s also the author of the international bestseller “Why We Sleep”.
What does he want us to know?
Sleep deprivation is more serious than many people think it is. After about 16 hours without sleep, the brain begins to fail, and needs more than 7 hours of sleep to “reset” cognitive performance.
Note: note “seven or more”, but “more than seven”.
After ten days with only 7 hours sleep (per day), Dr. Walker points out, the brain is as dysfunctional as it would be after going without sleep for 24 hours.
Here’s the study that sparked a lot of Dr. Walker’s work:
Importantly, in Dr. Walker’s own words:
❝Three full nights of recovery sleep (i.e., more nights than a weekend) are insufficient to restore performance back to normal levels after a week of short sleeping❞
See also: Why You Probably Need More Sleep
Furthermore: the sleep-deprived mind is unaware of how sleep-deprived it is.
You know how a drunk person thinks they can drive safely? It’s like that.
You do not know how sleep-deprived you are, when you are sleep-deprived!
For example:
❝(60.7%) did not signal sleepiness before a sleep fragment occurred in at least one of the four MWT trials❞
Source: Sleepiness is not always perceived before falling asleep in healthy, sleep-deprived subjects
Sleep efficiency matters
With regard to the 7–9 hours band for optimal health, Dr. Walker points out that the sleep we’re getting is not always the sleep we think we’re getting:
❝Assuming you have a healthy sleep efficiency (85%), to sleep 9 hours in terms of duration (i.e. to be a long-sleeper), you would need to be consistently in bed for 10 hours and 36 minutes a night. ❞
At the bottom end of that, by the way, doing the same math: to get only the insufficient 7 hours sleep discussed earlier, a with a healthy 85% sleep efficiency, you’d need to be in bed for 8 hours and 14 minutes per night.
The unfortunate implication of this: if you are consistently in bed for 8 hours and 14 minutes (or under) per night, you are not getting enough sleep.
“But what if my sleep efficiency is higher than 85%?”
It shouldn’t be. If your sleep efficiency is higher than 85%, you are sleep-deprived and your body is having to enforce things.
Want to know what your sleep efficiency is?
We recommend knowing this, by the way, so you might want to check out:
(they will monitor your sleep and tell you your sleep efficiency, amongst other things)
Want to know more?
You might like his book:
…and/or his podcast:
…and for those who like videos, here’s his (very informative) TED talk:
Prefer text? Click here to read the transcript 😎
Want to watch it, but not right now? Bookmark it for later 🔖
Enjoy!
❤️ OUR SPONSORS MAKE THIS PUBLICATION POSSIBLE
Bitesize Wellness
We know that 10almonds subscribers like quick, clear, health information and tips.
Emma the Avocado is a weekly 3-minute newsletter with super-quick bitesize health information to help you optimize your health and build better habits!
You can opt in for free below:
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🤫 A WORD TO THE WISE
 | Foods Rich In CoQ10Did you know that you can boost your levels of coenzyme Q10 naturally, from foods? |
📖 ONE-MINUTE BOOK REVIEW
Discipline is Destiny: The Power of Self-Control – by Ryan Holiday
We've previously reviewed another of Holiday's books, The Daily Stoic, and here is another excellent work from the same author.
We're not a philosophy newsletter, but there are some things that make a big difference to physical and mental health, the habits we build, and the path we take in life for better or for worse.
Self-discipline is one of those things. A lot of the time, we know what we need to do, but knowing isn't the problem. We need to actually do it! This applies to diet, exercise, sleep, and more.
Holiday gives us, in a casual easy-reading style, timeless principles to lock in strong discipline and good habits for life.
The book's many small chapters, by the way, are excellent for reading a chapter-per-day as a healthy dose of motivation each morning, if you're so inclined.
Bottom line: if you've noticed that one of the biggest barriers between you and your goals is actually doing the necessary things in a disciplined fashion, then this book will help you become more efficient, and actually get there.
What did you think of today's newsletter?We always love to hear from you, whether you leave us a comment or even just a click in the poll if you're speeding by! |
May tonight see you well-rested and ready to take on tomorrow,
The 10almonds Team