{"id":59040,"date":"2017-05-30T08:15:09","date_gmt":"2017-05-30T12:15:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/?p=59040"},"modified":"2017-06-01T12:23:34","modified_gmt":"2017-06-01T16:23:34","slug":"can-you-catch-up-on-sleep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/lifestyle\/can-you-catch-up-on-sleep\/","title":{"rendered":"Can You Really Catch Up on Sleep?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Can
Photo: Twenty20<\/a><\/i><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We\u2019ve all been there: We\u2019re up crunching for an exam or can\u2019t catch a wink of sleep<\/a> on a cross-Atlantic flight. We frequently tell ourselves it\u2019s OK \u2014 we\u2019ll crash soon. But can snoozing 10 hours one night make up for the four hours you got the night before?<\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/strong>7 Bedtime Rituals to Help Banish Your Insomnia<\/a><\/p>\n

While You Were Sleeping\u2026The Body and Brain<\/h3>\n

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)<\/a>, adults ages 18 to 60 need at least seven hours of sleep per night. That\u2019s because sleep helps your body and mind restore from the stresses of the day. It might even help your brain consolidate memories. \u201cSleep specialists no longer think sleep serves a single function,\u201d says Michael Scullin, Ph.D., the study co-author and director of Baylor’s Sleep Neuroscience and Cognition Laboratory. \u201cIf we sleep eight hours a night for our whole lives, it must do more \u2014 otherwise that\u2019s a really bad use of our time.\u201d<\/p>\n

By monitoring brain activity, researchers have found that the brain stays active while it sleeps, though not in the same way across the entire night. You might be familiar with rapid eye movement (REM) \u2014 the stage of sleep when you\u2019re dreaming.\u00a0We complete a cycle of all stages of sleep NREM (non-REM) 1, NREM 2, NREM 3 and REM every 60-90 minutes, Scullin says.\u00a0\u201cThose stages are also really important in terms of cognitive functioning, consolidating memories and refreshing your brain,\u201d Scullin explains.The duration of each sleep stage changes through the night. So if you’re only getting four hours of sleep, for example, you’ll get very little REM sleep.<\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/strong>5 Relaxing Yoga Poses to Do Before Bed<\/a><\/p>\n

Why It’s Basically Impossible to Catch Up on Sleep<\/h3>\n

If you sleep poorly one night, you\u2019ll feel most of the effects the next day, says Scullin. That said, we\u2019re not always the best judges of our own tiredness. \u201cSometimes you\u2019ll feel really alert and think you didn\u2019t need sleep at all. But what\u2019s really happening is you\u2019re paying attention to a moment in your circadian rhythm when you\u2019re more awake than normal,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s because there are changes in hormone levels throughout the day, especially melatonin and cortisol\u00a0\u2014 the hormones that control sleep and stress. Your body temperature and blood pressure also change during\u00a0a 24-hour period.\u00a0\u201cBecause of the fluctuations in these biological rhythms, you could see alertness peak or plummet for a couple of hours at different points during the day,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n

The effects of just one bad night of sleep can last longer than just one day \u2014 even after a full night of zzz\u2019s. Scullin points to one study<\/a> from 2006, where researchers looked at peoples\u2019 brains following one night of sleep deprivation and one night of catch-up sleep. They found that the prefrontal cortex (the area involved in solving complex tasks, attention, memory and sympathy) was impaired.<\/p>\n

Another small\u00a0new study found that students who slept fewer than seven hours three or more nights a week, and caught up on sleep on other nights, had a harder time paying attention, remembering information and being creative. \u201cIt\u2019s better to have seven hours consistently than bouncing back and forth between four hours and 10,\u201d says Scullin.<\/p>\n

In the short term, poor sleep has also been shown to slow down your metabolism<\/a> and increase your appetite. What\u2019s worse, it can make you more likely to reach for higher-calorie junk foods<\/a> \u2014 even after just one night<\/a>. Lack of sleep messes with your mood, too. (Forget not being a morning person.) Some research<\/a> found that one week of poor sleep makes people more stressed, angry and sad.<\/p>\n

That said, all is not lost: If you miss out snoozing you can get back on track. \u201cIt\u2019s not that people should never try to catch up. It\u2019s that they should avoid equating cutting back and catching up averages out to be the same, because it doesn\u2019t,\u201d says Scullin.<\/p>\n

Here are four scenarios where you might miss out on sleep \u2014 and tips on how to get back on track.<\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/strong>Is Your Sleep Schedule Wrecking Your Metabolism?<\/a><\/p>\n

4 Sleep-Loss Scenarios, and What to Do About Them<\/h3>\n

1. You stay up super-late working or studying.<\/h3>\n

If you\u2019re up late grinding out work, how long does it take to get back on schedule? The occasional sleepless night is like emptying your gas tank. \u201cOne night of bad sleep is probably going to have some negative impact on you the next day, whether you recognize it or not,\u201d Scullin says.<\/p>\n

What to do: <\/strong>Get two full nights of good sleep. Just one snooze session will only fill you up about three-quarters of the way to normalcy. You won\u2019t be running at full capacity until you get at least one more night of good, consistent sleep, Scullin says. \u201cThink of one bad night of sleep as a sunk cost. You can\u2019t control how you slept last night, but you do have control over how you sleep tonight,\u201d says Scullin.<\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/strong>6 Ways to Sleep Better and Avoid Jet Lag on the Road<\/a><\/p>\n

2. You\u2019re traveling internationally and can\u2019t sleep on the flight.<\/h3>\n

So you finally booked that Euro trip. The problem is you can\u2019t sleep on the plane. Then, there\u2019s also the time zone<\/a> issue. While exactly how long it takes to feel normal again varies, Scullin says it takes at least a few days \u2014 but you should be back on track within one week. \u201cIt\u2019s really tough to switch several time zones and feel perfect the next day. Our bodies weren\u2019t designed that way,\u201d says Scullin. \u201cYou\u2019ll adapt, but it takes time, some longer than others.\u201d<\/p>\n

What to do: <\/strong>When you\u2019re dealing with a time change, your first instinct might be to sleep the next day away. But it\u2019s better to get as much natural sunlight as quickly as you can \u2014 especially in the morning \u2014 and follow the current time zone\u2019s schedule immediately. The night you arrive at your destination, make sure you\u2019re sleeping in a dark, quiet room. Avoid alcohol and caffeine, eat healthy foods and drink lots of water on the flight over, he adds.<\/p>\n

Scullin says you can also try to \u201cphase advance\u201d<\/a> your sleep schedule several days before you travel. So if you normally go to bed at 10 p.m., start shutting down at 9 p.m. If that works, snooze another hour earlier at 8 p.m. the following night, and then 7:30 p.m. \u201cI did that a few years ago before traveling to Switzerland,\u201d says Scullin. \u201cI think I was able to phase advance two and half hours, and it really helped me.\u201d<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong> The Hidden Ways Sleep Deprivation Can Lead to Weight Gain<\/a><\/p>\n

3. You go out with friends all night on Friday and Saturday.<\/h3>\n

That case of the Mondays could actually be a case of the weekends. That\u2019s because even if you slept in on Sunday after going out all night on Friday and Saturday, your body will be hard-pressed to catch up, says Scullin. \u201cStaying out abnormally late is variability in your sleep schedule, which affects your REM and non-REM sleep, And that changes your circadian rhythms<\/a>,\u201d Scullin explains. Even if you add a couple of hours on Saturday and Sunday mornings, you\u2019ve shifted your body\u2019s natural sleep rhythms. This can make it harder to fall asleep Sunday night because your body thinks it needs to go to sleep later.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s more, consuming too much alcohol<\/a> impairs your REM sleep, resulting in what Scullin calls an \u201cREM rebound.\u201d Your body will try to make up for lost REM sleep at night, but most REM sleep actually happens in the morning.<\/p>\n

What to do: <\/strong>This doesn\u2019t mean you can\u2019t have fun on weekends. \u201cDon\u2019t start the night at midnight and have a dozen drinks,\u201d says Scullin. \u201cThink of sleep as one of the core health behaviors along with eating well and exercising<\/a>. No one would tell you to eat really well for four or five days of the week but pig out for two or three days. Or exercise regularly for five months but take two months off. Consistency is key for all of these, including sleep,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/strong>13 Tips for the Best Nap Ever<\/a><\/p>\n

4. You\u2019re a new parent and your baby keeps you up all night.<\/h3>\n

If you\u2019ve got a newborn in the house, there\u2019s obviously little you can do \u2014 at least for a few months. \u201cAs the father of an infant, I know all about that!\u201d says Scullin. \u201cBeing a new parent means not sleeping well, so just sleep when you can.\u201d<\/p>\n

What to do: <\/strong>Scullin says napping<\/a> (if and when your baby dozes off) can be really helpful. While most sleep specialists emphasize that naps can\u2019t make up for nighttime sleep in the long run, \u201cnaps can confer some benefits to cognition. Some studies have shown benefits for fatigue and moodiness,\u201d Scullin says. So hang in there and nap when you can. This, too, shall pass.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Snoozed only four hours last night? Find out how to catch up on sleep, whether napping works, and how to get your circadian rhythm back on track.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":105,"featured_media":59043,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,12,13,15],"tags":[28,280,282,341,408,174],"class_list":["post-59040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","category-mental-health","category-sleep","category-stress","tag-alcohol","tag-sleep","tag-stress","tag-tax1living-well","tag-tax2sleep","tag-travel"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/105"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59040"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59040\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}