How long do you sleep? At night only? Deep?

Here is something from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep

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Optimal amount of sleep in humans

 Adult

The optimal amount of sleep is not a meaningful concept unless the timing of that sleep is seen in relation to an individual's circadian rhythms. A person's major sleep episode is relatively inefficient and inadequate when it occurs at the "wrong" time of day; one should be asleep at least six hours before the lowest body temperature.   The timing is correct when the following two circadian markers occur after the middle of the sleep episode and before awakening:  

• maximum concentration of the hormone melatonin, and
• minimum core body temperature.

Human sleep need can vary by age and among individuals, and sleep is considered to be adequate when there is no daytime sleepiness or dysfunction.

A University of California, San Diego psychiatry study of more than one million adults found that people who live the longest self-report sleeping for six to seven hours each night. Another study of sleep duration and mortality risk in women showed similar results. Other studies show that "sleeping more than 7 to 8 hours per day has been consistently associated with increased mortality," though this study suggests the cause is probably other factors such as depression and socioeconomic status, which would correlate statistically. It has been suggested that the correlation between lower sleep hours and reduced morbidity only occurs with those who wake after less sleep naturally, rather than those who use an alarm.

Researchers at the University of Warwick and University College London have found that lack of sleep can more than double the risk of death from cardiovascular disease, but that too much sleep can also be associated with a doubling of the risk of death, though not primarily from cardiovascular disease. Professor Francesco Cappuccio said, "Short sleep has been shown to be a risk factor for weight gain, hypertension, and Type 2 diabetes, sometimes leading to mortality; but in contrast to the short sleep-mortality association, it appears that no potential mechanisms by which long sleep could be associated with increased mortality have yet been investigated. Some candidate causes for this include depression, low socioeconomic status, and cancer-related fatigue... In terms of prevention, our findings indicate that consistently sleeping around seven hours per night is optimal for health, and a sustained reduction may predispose to ill health."

Furthermore, sleep difficulties are closely associated with psychiatric disorders such as depression, alcoholism, and bipolar disorder. Up to 90% of adults with depression are found to have sleep difficulties. Dysregulation found on EEG includes disturbances in sleep continuity, decreased delta sleep and altered REM patterns with regard to latency, distribution across the night and density of eye movements.

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When I get not enough sleep I tend to eat more than I need and feel attracted to more dense foods.

The explanation for this may be this:

People who habitually slept for 5 hours were found to have 15% more ghrelin than those who slept for 8 hours. They were also found to have 15% less leptin. These hormonal changes may cause increased feelings of hunger, leading to a foraging in the fridge for food.

ScienceDaily (Dec. 13, 2004) — The recent rise in obesity may be partly due to the reduced amount of time we spend asleep, according to new research from the University of Bristol, UK.

On such days it happens to me that sweet fruit seems to me unsatisfactory, and the sweet taste in general, and trying something else only upsets me. But I have increased appetite/hunger then and feel like there is nothing for me to eat in the whole world :) As soon as I sleep enough it magically goes away most of the times.

I sleep less now that I am a fruitarian than when I used to eat cooked food and vegetables and when I was a raw vegan... Even if I get few hours of sleep I feel fresh and focused. No headaches or I dont-know-what problems at all. I ve been awake for 30 hours and when I got a bit tired, I ate an apple an energized my body for a couple of hours; they acted like batteries. :) When I was a raw vegan and a cooked omnivorous I just couldnt feel this way. There are some days I sleep 5 hours and feel great; other days I sleep 7 and still feel great. This is my range. These studies are tested on a medium cooked fellow, that means an already half sick person... I dont know if and how much we should rely on such researches..

I don't know either Tanya. But lately I am researching the subject more and more (articles, lecturers), And I already learned that sleep is much more than just resting and rebuilding of the body, it is a very intense and active state, especially in some phases. The scientist started to realize that only in the last decades.

Under-sleeping has immense negative influence on my life, I also tent to get never tired and skip the whole nights of sleep, but the result of such practices I personally don't like. I get irritable, my skin gets dry, and the memory worsens. I tend to have sad thoughts, exactly like after drinking wine.

And my sleeping times was screwed up for many years by caffeine consume (I am going to tell about that in another topic) - it did not feel fine with years.

i can go for 3 or 4 days/nights without sleeping if i'm agitated at all.  i find i typically sleep between 4 and 6 hours a night and if i can sleep i usually fall asleep pretty quickly.  cat-naps are a real problem because i'll get all the sleep i need then and not sleep at night.  i find it's essential not to eat or drink anything well before i try to sleep, otherwise i can't.  i also don't believe in using an alarm clock but prefer to program my mind to wake me up at a given time if i have to.  that way, i can sleep as long as i need to without being disturbed.  i'm given to understand that one should be woken up by the sun rise.  so, leaving one's bedroom curtains or blinds open is allegedy a gentler way to start the day.  i usually use a mantra at night to focus my attention before i go to sleep.  i'll just drift of as i repeat this in my mind.  it also help me with my dreams too.  here it is, for those that might be interested ...

dear god,
please show me,
in my dreams tonight,
so that i can remember,
whatever is necessary,
at this time,
to improve my spirituality.

i find the 4th line to be essential to bringing dreams in to conscious memory.