In winter, it is always difficult to leave your cozy bed and fight the urge to bury yourself under the duvet to hibernate there for a while. We shouldn’t beat ourselves up so much: although we’re neither bears nor grizzlies, we should sleep longer at this time of year, reveals the Guardian.
A study published in Frontiers in Neuroscience demonstrates that REM sleep is longer in winter, which means that the length of our nights should vary by month. This is essential because REM sleep is, of the five stages of sleep that we know, the one that rests the brain the most.
In this study, this phase lengthens on average by thirty minutes when the cold season arrives. The duration of sleep should therefore be lengthened accordingly to allow optimal rest. The only solution, according to the researchers: advance the bedtime in the evening, because it is more difficult to change the time of the alarm clock. “For many people, wake-up time is regulated by work or school schedules, much more than by the internal clock,” they observe.
Beneficial changes
Although the time change is increasingly disputed, it would in fact be beneficial for our sleep: “It could facilitate the way our body adapts to the season. In winter, changing the clock allows you to be more exposed to natural light during the morning commute», says the research team. And in summer it allows us to recover hours of sunshine in the afternoon and evening, since the night time is reduced.
Sleep disorders are a real social problem: seven out of ten French people are affected, according to a study carried out by IFOP. While the ideal duration of sleep for an adult is estimated between 7.5 and 8.5 hours, a French person sleeps on average between 6 and 7 hours, finding himself in sleep debt. So let’s take advantage of winter to play marmots… and improve our health.
