Turns Out 8 Hours of Sleep Might Not Be So Healthy After All

A new study says the previously recommended amount of sleep may actually be more harmful than healthy.

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A recent study published in Nature found an association between sleep duration and biological aging in the brain and other organs.

Researchers reported that people who slept too little or too much showed signs of faster biological aging than those who slept between 6.4 and 7.8 hours each day.

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The study looked at biological age, which measures how quickly a person’s cells, tissues and organs are aging compared with their actual age.

Researchers used data from about half a million UK Biobank participants and 23 aging clocks across 17 organs to study how self-reported sleep duration was linked to biological aging, defining too little sleep as less than six hours and too much sleep as more than eight hours.

The study found that people who reported sleeping too little or too much showed signs of faster biological aging than those who got a moderate amount of sleep.

Noted by researchers that sleep duration alone does not prove cause and effect, but the findings suggest both short and long sleep may be linked to poorer overall health across the body.

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And there you have it! According to the study and report published in Nature, your body may need between 6.4 and 7.8 hours of sleep a night.

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