Can less sleep slow down aging?

We've always been told eight hours of sleep is what we should be aiming for every night. However, new research shows less sleep might actually be better when it comes to aging.

The study, published in Nature, analyzed self-reported sleep data from half a million participants in the U.K. Biobank — a major long-term study — and compared it with data about their biological age.

The results showed that between 6.4 and 7.8 hours of sleep is optimum for our health. More or less than this could "accelerate biological aging" of multiple organs — including your skin.

Key takeaways:

• 6.4 to 7.8 hours of sleep is best for healthy aging
• On average, women need slightly more sleep than men
• Less than six hours of sleep was associated with increased cardiovascular diseases
• More than eight hours of sleep was associated with increased mental health disorders

Researchers found sleeping for 6.4 to 7.8 hours a night was associated with the slowest biological aging across multiple organ systems.

This includes the brain, liver, lungs, immune system, skin, adipose tissue, and pancreas.

Less than six hours of sleep a night was strongly linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases, like heart failure, type 2 diabetes, and mental health issues like anxiety and depression.

And while many of us believe the 'more sleep the better,' the study found that sleeping for over eight hours was associated with major depressive disorder, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, alcohol dependency and ADHD.

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Interestingly, a gender difference was also identified.

The optimal sleep time for women was 6.48 hours, while for men it was 6.42 hours. This confirms previous study results that women need more sleep than men.

However, it's important to be aware of a potential limitation of the study. The research relied on a self-reported, questionnaire-based sleep duration measurement.

This could mean some people misremembered or misreported their sleep duration.

It's also important to note that everyone has different sleep needs. Some people naturally need more sleep, while others thrive on less. This is determined by factors like:

• Your age
• Your gender
• Underlying health conditions

And it's not all about sleep duration.

A recent study, published in Sleep, has shown that sleep regularity — going to bed and waking up at the same time every day — might actually be more important than duration when it comes to our health.

In fact, they found sleep regularity was a stronger predictor of all-cause mortality than duration.

So keeping a regular bedtime and wake-up time, even on the weekends, will also help "healthy aging."