There’s nothing more blissful than hitting the snooze button to catch a few extra Zs in the morning.
However, if you oversleep too often, you might actually do more harm than good in the long run.
Feeling well-rested is important, but too much REM sleep is known to increase inflammation and our risk for health complications.
Long story short, getting five more minutes in the morning might shave five minutes off of your life. Over time, this threat adds up.
So what’s the sweet spot? How much REM sleep should you get? How much deep sleep is too much?
Oversleeping stems from many causes, such as sleep debt, depression, sleep inertia, or sleep disorders like obstructive sleep apnea.
Some people may even suffer from hypersomnia, a medical disorder characterized by excessive drowsiness.
On the other hand, some people may oversleep simply due to their love of sleeping in. By now, you’re probably asking yourself, “How much deep sleep do I need?”
No matter the cause, healthy adults should get no more than nine hours of sleep per night, according to the National Sleep Foundation.
So you might be wondering, “How much REM sleep should youreally get?”
While there’s no way to control exactly what sleep phase you experience and how long it lasts, adequate REM sleep should follow if you sleep for around seven hours each night.
If you get between seven and eight hours of sleep per night, around 90 minutes of that total time will be REM sleep, the restorative sleep phase where dreaming occurs.
Any more than that and you’re causing unnecessary damage to your health.
If you've got a seemingly constant need for sleep, science says that you are more likely to suffer from a myriad of health conditions, including obesity.
Those extra pounds might be because of those extra hours spent in bed.
Sleeping too much is linked to weight gain and obesity, as is sleeping too little.
Research shows that people who sleep for 10 hours every night are 21 percent more likely to enter into the “obese” body weight category over a six-year span when compared to people who slept seven to eight hours each night.
While we don’t know the exact cause, the link between obesity and oversleeping may be due to less activity and exercise.
Aside from weight gain, oversleeping is also known to increase the risk of heart disease.
Heart health is important. But even if you’re doing all you can to keep your ticker in check, oversleeping can throw a wrench in your efforts.
According to the American Heart Association, sleeping more than nine hours each night is more closely linked to premature death than not getting enough sleep.
A large group of studies involving more than 3 million people found that those who slept more than 10 hours each night, on average, had a 30 percent risk of dying prematurely in comparison to those who slept less than 10 hours every night.
Moreover, those who slept 10 hours or more each night had a 56 percent higher risk of death from stroke and a 49 percent higher risk of death from cardiovascular disease.
The theorized cause behind this link is elevated levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) caused by excessive sleep.
Over time, a buildup of this protein places the body and heart in a stressed state, leading to heart disease.
This same protein is also known to cause issues with memory.
Too much REM sleep is bad for the brain.
As we know, CRP is an inflammatory marker known to build up as the result of oversleeping or undersleeping.
A recent study found that women who are chronic oversleepers had 44 percent higher CRP levels in comparison to women who were sleeping an average of seven hours per night.
What’s more, a separate study found that CRP levels increase by eight percent for each additional hour of sleep beyond the regular seven to eight hours.
If that wasn’t already convincing enough, sleeping more than nine hours per night doubles your risk of developing dementia within 10 years.
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Be kind to your mind by establishing and maintaining a regular sleep schedule of no more than nine hours each night.
We know how much deep sleep is too much and we’ve answered the question, “How much deep sleep do I need?”
Avoiding sleeping in is vital for improved longevity. That said, putting an end to oversleeping is easier said than done.
If you loathe your alarm, waking up is hard. However, you have to say goodbye to the toxic relationship you have with your snooze button if you want to protect your well-being.
As we’ve learned, oversleeping is linked to a myriad of health concerns including heart disease, dementia, and overall poor health.
The key to putting an end to your chronic oversleeping lies in establishing a predictable sleep routine that you can maintain. This means sleeping for no less than six-to-seven hours and no more than nine hours every night.
To set your routine straight, avoid excessive naps during the day – especially after 4:00 PM. That means no after-work snoozing.
If you do choose to nap in the early afternoon, keep it to 20 minutes only to avoid throwing off your sleep cycles.
Moreover, make sure you’re going to bed at relatively the same time every night. (Yes, that includes weekends!)
Keeping a consistent bedtime ensures that your circadian rhythm remains on course, helping you avoid oversleeping due to a later bedtime.
What’s more: be sure to eat breakfast within 30 minutes of waking up.
Although some people prefer to skip breakfast, research suggests that people who eat breakfast experience a more consistent energy release throughout the day in comparison to those who skip it.
Have blackout curtains? Open your curtains and blinds a little bit before you hit the hay so that sunlight filters into your room first thing in the morning.
Sunlight exposure upon waking is known to help regulate our sleep cycles.
Finally, cut out causes of snoring to ensure non-fragmented sleep. The easiest way to accomplish this? Tape your mouth shut.
Taping your mouth may sound laughable, but it’s an effective and easy way to prevent mouth breathing at night known to cause sleep-disrupting snoring.
When we mouth breathe at night, tissues in the airway fall backward and cause an obstruction. As these tissues vibrate together while we breathe, snoring follows.
If left untreated, snoring disrupts our rest, our sleeping partner’s rest, and may even cause sleep apnea.
Mouth tape offers a quick and straightforward solution to snoring: it blocks the mouth so that nasal breathing is the only available breathing method while we rest.
Our mouths were made for eating while our noses were made for breathing. The nose produces nitric oxide, a vasodilator known to boost health, regulate the immune system, and help the body rest and digest.
Worried about nasal congestion? SomniFix Mouth Strips feature a small breathing vent that allows for emergency mouth breathing if you become congested overnight.
Our strips offer a gel-like adhesion unlike any other tape – you’ll forget you’re even wearing mouth tape, helping you wake up refreshed without sleeping in too late.
Nasal breathe yourself away from the health risks of oversleeping with SomniFix tonight!
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