A New Reason To Sleep In: A Healthy Heart
The American Heart Association updated their Life's Essential 8 Checklist for Heart Health to now include sleep duration. Let's talk about sleep and how it might not only affect how many cups of coffee you decide to drink that day.

If you're someone who tends to compromise on your sleep duration first when life gets busy, you may want to start to reconsider putting sleep first for your long-term heart health. The body of evidence on the link between sleep and heart health is growing, yet sleep had not been included in the American Heart Association's (AHA) guidelines for cardiovascular health until this past week.
The AHA's guidelines are updated every year, taking into consideration relevant research when making recommendations. Last year's checklist: the Simple 7 included nicotine exposure, physical activity, diet, weight, blood glucose, cholesterol and blood pressure. Changing the name of the checklist to "Life's Essential 8", the AHA included components of recommendations for optimal cardiovascular health, which were divided into two categories: health behavior and health factors. Health behaviors include diet, physical activity, nicotine exposure (vaping & smoking) and sleep. Health Factors include body mass index, cholesterol levels, blood sugar and blood pressure.

So how many hours should I be sleeping for optimal heart health?
Measured by average hours of sleep per night, the ideal level is 7-9 hours daily for adults. Ideal daily sleep ranges for children are 10-16 hours per 24 hours for ages 5 and younger; 9-12 hours for ages 6-12 years; and 8-10 hours for ages 13-18 years.
Are you getting enough sleep every night?
0%I get about 7-9 hours a night
0%I sleep less than 7-9 hours a night
0%I have no idea
Although these recommendations are in line with what physicians already have been recommending, it's important to note that this addition to the Life's Essential 8 will now make it more vital to pay attention to your duration of your sleep for heart health, not just overall well-being. In fact, the importance for these recommendations is growing as the first study using the Life's Essential 8 recommendations found that only 1 in 5 people in the United States have optimal heart health.
Look, I understand that life can get very fast-paced and busy. When trying to "be healthy", you may feel overwhelmed with everything to think about: meal prep, grocery shopping, getting enough sleep, enough water, meditating, exercising, self-care, etc. If you feel that you're confused on where to start, let me help! The "Your Health Matters Nutrition Coaching" with me, takes into consideration your lifestyle, not just a one-size-fits-all-approach. Email me today to get started!
Комментарии