Sleep and Heart Health: Protect Your Heart with Rest

You skipped your 7 to 8 hours of sleep one night, then another, and unfortunately, now it has become a habit. You give excuses to yourself, like there’s too much work and fewer hours, or that you simply don’t require that much rest. But honestly, you’ve just forgotten what real, complete sleep senses or feels like.

When you cut back on rest, you’re being somewhat unfair to your body. Sure, you probably feel okay while your heart is silently paying the price. During deep, non-REM sleep, your pulse and blood pressure fall, offering your heart and blood vessels a chance to rest and recover. In your deep sleep, your body clears out toxins and makes you ready for the next day. So tonight, give your heart what it truly deserves, i.e., those full, healing hours of sleep.

What Happens to My Heart When I Sleep?

There is a large correlation between your sleep and heart health. Adequate sleep helps your heart in the following way.

1. Slower Heart Rate

When you sleep, your heart rate decreases to healthy levels. This lowers the workload on your heart.

2. Lower Blood Pressure (nocturnal dipping)

Blood pressure naturally drops about 10-20%. This gives your blood vessels a much-needed rest they crave all day.

3. Regulation of Circadian Rhythm

Sleep helps align your heart’s activity with the body’s natural daily circadian rhythm.

4. Repairing of Damaged Tissue

Deep sleep stages release growth hormones, which stimulate the repair of your heart and blood vessel tissues.

5. Lower Stress Hormone

Long-term stress can damage your heart health if not managed properly. Sleep decreases cortisol and other stress hormones to reduce strain on your heart.

6. Decreased Inflammation

Adequate sleep decreases harmful inflammation that can damage arteries.

7. Better Metabolic Health

Sleep supports insulin sensitivity, meaning how well your glucose responds to insulin. This lowers the risk of diabetes and heart conditions.

8 .Regulation of Weight & Appetite

Quality sleep balances the hunger hormone, ghrelin, and the satiety hormone, leptin. This helps maintain a healthy weight and decreases strain on the heart.

Which Heart Diseases are Linked With Poor Sleep

There are many heart conditions linked with poor sleep quality; some of them are:

Coronary artery disease
Ischemic heart disease
Arrhythmias
Heart failure
Increased risk of heart attack and stroke
High Blood pressure

However, whether your heart condition is linked to your poor sleep will be decided only by your doctor.

Impact of Poor Sleep on Various Other Areas of Your Body

Lack of quality sleep affects several key aspects of your health, including:

A. Sleep and heart attack risk

Lack of sleep overactivates the sympathetic nervous system (which prepares your body for the fight-or-flight response), raising heart rate and blood pressure. This can increase the risk of a heart attack.

B. Sleep and stroke risk

Lack of sleep can cause frequent drops in blood oxygen and raise sympathetic nervous system activity. This can increase the risk of stroke.

C. Sleep and high blood pressure

Lack of sleep can cause an imbalance of the autonomic nervous system (which regulates functions like heart rate, breathing, digestion, and blood pressure). This can increase the level of blood pressure.

D. Sleep and cholesterol levels

Lack of sleep imbalances hunger hormones, generally causing an increase in appetite, leading to more fat intake and reduced expression of genes that regulate cholesterol transport.

How can I improve my sleep for heart health?

To live a life where your heart functions most efficiently, you can follow the following tips:

1. Adopt a Heart-Healthy Diet

Include:

Vegetables
Fruits
Nuts
Seeds
Lean protein
Healthy fats such as olive oil

2. Participate in Regular Physical Activity

30 minutes of moderate exercise daily, like:

Brisk walking
Running
Swimming
Cycling
Playing tennis
Jumping rope

3. Manage Healthy Stress

Practice:

Meditation
Deep breathing
Mindfulness

4. Get Quality Sleep

7-8 hours of restorative sleep each night

5. Quit Smoking & Avoid Tobacco

Help keeps your blood vessels healthy and toxins free

6. Maintain a Healthy Weight

Reduce unhealthy fat, especially around the waist

7. Limit Alcohol Consumption

Help reduce unnecessary blood pressure

8. Control Blood Pressure & Cholesterol

Reduce heart disease risk

Conclusion

Quality sleep (uninterrupted and refreshing) of 7-8 hours may seem insignificant, but it holds immense value for your overall health. From glowing skin to proper blood flow and heart function, sleep promotes essential repair and balance in your body. Hence, from today, start by gifting your heart the power of restful, consistent sleep. And protect and strengthen your heart for life.