Penza learned why falling asleep before midnight does not guarantee quality rest

Somnologist Maxim Novikov from JSC "Medicine" (Clinic of Academician Roitberg), talking with "Gazeta.Ru", dispelled the myth that sleep before midnight provides the best rest. Midnight is not a magical boundary after which sleep loses its value.

For the body, the regularity of the schedule, sufficient rest duration and the compliance of the regime with the individual biological clock are much more important. Each person has its own biological rhythms that regulate the alternation of activity and rest.

Constant falling asleep in the middle of the night and waking up closer to noon can negatively affect your health, even if the total number of hours of sleep formally corresponds to the norm. Novikov said that systematic falling asleep at three to four in the morning and sleeping until noon will not cause instant problems, but can disrupt the production of hormones that affect sleep and alertness, and worsen the quality of rest.

The doctor urged not to take the installation “to lie down before midnight” too literally, since everyone’s chronotypes are different: someone is easier to wake up at dawn, and someone is more comfortable working in the evening. The main thing is the stability of the regime and sufficient sleep duration. According to Novikov, most often problems are caused not later by falling asleep in itself, and chronic lack of sleep. Regular lack of sleep, attempts to compensate for fatigue at the weekend and constant changes in the schedule negatively affect the nervous system, concentration and general condition of the body.

Novikov noted that many people try to improve their health by just going to bed earlier, but to assess the situation, you need to take into account other factors: how much time a person spends in bed, how often he wakes up at night and whether he feels rested in the morning. To improve the quality of sleep, the specialist recommends gradually building a stable regime, reducing the brightness of lighting in the evening, avoiding intense work before bedtime and creating favorable conditions for a full recovery.

Later falling asleep is not a problem in itself, but a constant violation of the regime can lead to problems with sleep and well-being. The main attention should be paid to the regularity and sufficient duration of night rest.