Why a Good Night's Sleep is Heart Healthy

For some of us sleep is elusive, something we chase, desperately hoping for more. At the same time others eschew it to squeeze more into their day. Commonly, sleep is seen as expendable. We load up on coffee and power through because being productive is highly valued in our society. However, while we might feel we get more done, the effects of not getting enough sleep are wide-reaching.


The truth is if you’re chronically underslept you have a higher risk for cardiovascular disease and coronary heart disease. This is true regardless of your age, how much you weigh, your exercise habits, and whether you smoke.

The 8 Sleep facts you need to know

• Less than 6 hours of sleep per day is associated with low-grade chronic inflammation. Chronic or systemic inflammation is connected to every chronic illness.
• Sleeping less can increase your C-reactive protein (CRP), something your body produces when under stress and inflamed. Your CRP levels are a better predictor of cardiovascular problems than cholesterol levels.
• Poor sleep affects the hormones that regulate your appetite, making you want to eat more calories, and eat more processed foods like candy and chips.
• Six or less hours of sleep per night is connected to worsening insulin resistance, an increased risk for obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.
• Sleeping less than 8 hours a night leads to an increased body mass index (a measure of body fat in relation to height) proportional to the decreased amount of sleep.
• A decrease in sleep from your normal 6, 7, or 8 hours a night, is connected to increased mortality by cardiovascular disease.
• Chronic sleep deprivation is associated with increased heart rate, and increased blood pressure.
• Being underslept makes you tired and sluggish, decreasing your energy expenditure and making it harder to exercise, eat well, or stick to all your healthy intentions.

There is hope though. According to the Heart and Stroke Foundation “8 in 10 cases of premature heart disease and stroke cases are preventable through healthy lifestyle behaviours.” To maintain a heart healthy lifestyle, you need to be getting 7-8 hours of sleep per night.
Nothing else can happen without a good night's sleep!

People who can genuinely thrive on 5-6 hours sleep without negative health consequences are as rare as supermodels. Are you a supermodel? We’re not either, so let’s be honest with ourselves:

• Do you feel refreshed when you wake up in the morning (no snooze button!)?
• Are you fully functioning, at peak performance throughout the day without dips in your energy?
• Can you sit quietly and read a book on the sofa without feeling sleepy?

If the answers to the these questions are ‘no’, then maybe you should start by getting more sleep.

Sleep is often overlooked in our society. We go to bed later and later because we see sleep as expendable, a time that can be better spent doing more “productive” things. But the science is clear, the length and quality of your sleep is fundamental to your cardiovascular health. We recommend making sleep a priority in your cardioprotective lifestyle plan.