As time goes by, science proves that sleep is no longer just something to fill the time when someone is in an inactive state. In fact, sleep alone involves a lot of activity and it has a lot of influence on health.
Various studies were conducted to see how the effects of sleep on the body found that sleep is related, among others, to the increase and decrease in body weight, to the risk of death in the future.
A study conducted by the University of Wincosin, USA found that the duration (duration) of a person's sleep can affect the Body Mass Index (BMI). The study was conducted on 1024 volunteers aged 30-60 years. In this study, less than 7.7 hours of sleep habits associated with increased BMI, both in children, adolescents, and adults. Why does this happen? Apparently, after examining the levels of hormones in the study sample, found that sleep is associated with changes in hormone levels called leptin and ghrelin.
Leptin is a hormone derived from fat cells that reduce appetite. While Ghrelin is a peptide derived from the stomach that actually increases the appetite. The decrease of sleep time from 8 hours to 5 hours on average at night time predicted decrease of leptin level equal to 15,5% and 14,9% increase of ghrelin level. If there is a lack of leptin levels and high levels of ghrelin, then the appetite will increase and can cause obesity or overweight. Obesity is a high risk for heart disease and blood vessels that ultimately increase the risk of death.
Research on the duration of sleep is also supported by research conducted earlier by Kripke, et al in California, United States who found that the risk of death increased at bedtime 8 hours or more, or sleep less than 7 hours. Research involving more than 1 million individuals found that sleeping for 8, 9, 10 or more hours may increase the risk of dying from heart disease and blood vessels in both women and men. The frequent use of sleeping pills to control insomnia is also associated with an increased risk of death. Well, then how long is the best time to sleep? In this study the lowest mortality rate was found in women and men who had a duration of sleep of 7 hours, or more precisely between 6.5-7.4 hours per night.
From these various studies, it is clear that a good and healthy sleep is enough sleep, which is about 7 hours a day. If you have trouble sleeping, do activities that are as natural as possible, such as a hot bath, drinking a cup of warm chocolate, or reading light reading can relax your body muscles making it easier to fall asleep.