Many of us occasionally forego an extra hour of sleep to hit the gym before work or participate in an early morning meeting.
But do you ever notice that even though you’re sleeping less, you’re actually more awake than normal?
It’s an intriguing mystery that has recently been explored in certain corners of the internet, including Reddit and TikTok.
In a video that has been viewed more than 30,000 times, TikToker Nathan Beaudinn asked his followers why he has “a lot more energy” when he sleeps less.
Meanwhile, a user on forum website Reddit asked: ‘Why is it that when I wake up I feel less tired and more energetic when I get less than seven hours of sleep, and when I sleep more I wake up feeling miserable?’
Now experts who spoke to DailyMail.com have revealed the fascinating answer.
For most people, getting between seven and nine hours of sleep per night is key to both mental and physical health.
Dr. Ankit Parekh investigates how people deal with sleep apnea and the consequences of a bad night’s sleep. From his research, he has discovered that patients’ brains work harder to keep them alert when they are sleep deprived. This could play a role in giving them the false perception that they are more awake.
They say it’s all down to compensatory tricks performed by the brain designed to compensate for a lack of sleep.
“This will help you get through the day, but it’s not a good productivity hack” Dr. Chester Wusaid a psychiatrist and sleep specialist in Houston.
According to the National Institute for Health, between seven and nine hours of sleep per night is ideal for optimal mental and physical health.
Less than that, your body, brain and behavior will adapt to keep you moving when you’re not fully rested, Dr. Ankit Parekh, an assistant professor of sleep medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, told DailyMail.com.
This involves producing extra “awake” chemicals that keep your body alert and temporarily increase your attention span, Dr. Parekh said. For example, cortisol, known as the stress hormone, and adrenaline.
After a healthy night’s sleep, most people’s cortisol levels peak in the morning and slowly decline throughout the day Dr. David Rosenbergwho practices family medicine in Florida.
But if you sleep less than you need, you can break this cycle, causing your body to release cortisol at unnatural times, such as later in the day.
This may give the impression that your energy levels are higher than normal in the afternoon or evening, Dr. Parekh said.
However, if you are constantly flooded with stress hormones, they can start to take effect on your body.
For example, chronically high cortisol levels can lead to high blood pressure, a weakened immune system and high blood sugar levels leading to type 2 diabetes, according to Cleveland Clinic.
It also puts extra strain on brain cells and prevents them from functioning properly, leaving you feeling more tired in the long run.
“You may feel like you’re more alert when you sleep less,” Dr. Parekh said. “But the longer you stay awake with that short amount of sleep, you will start to feel the effects and soon realize that you need to recover.”
Research shows that cognitive performance declines when you don’t get enough sleep, even when you think you are alert.
A study of the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard found that volunteers who have slept poorly and performed poorly on learning tests report feeling completely awake.
This suggested, the scientists wrote, that participants were “largely unaware” of the increasing effects of sleep deprivation.
Dr. Parekh says brain scan studies show that sleep-deprived people have to work much harder to concentrate than people who have had a good night’s sleep.
Sleep needs change with age and your individual preferences, but professionals almost never recommend less than seven hours per night.
Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher famously only needed four hours of sleep a night to function. She could have Short Sleeper Syndrome, an extremely rare condition in which people need six hours or less of sleep per night and seem to function fine.
Another reason why you feel more awake after less sleep is because you unconsciously reach for more brain-stimulating substances when you’re sleep deprived.
For example, if you drink coffee most mornings, you might reach for an extra cup without realizing it. The more caffeine you drink, the more alert you are likely to feel.
Finally, there’s a very small chance that you belong to a rare group of people who function well on less sleep than the average person, Dr. Parekh said.
Scientists aren’t sure how many people fall into this category – people suffering from short sleeper syndrome – but have only found it in about 50 families around the worldaccording to Cleveland Clinic.
It is thought to be a rare genetic mutation passed from parents to children, and not something you develop throughout life.
Short sleepers miraculously get four to six hours of sleep per night and still feel energetic. They also usually don’t need an alarm clock and fall asleep easily at night.
Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher famously fell into this category, needing only four hours of sleep a night.
But if you’re among the vast majority of people who need more than four hours, you’ll start to feel the effects over time if you consistently sleep less.
In the short term, you are likely to have difficulty concentrating, learning, and responding to the emotions of others if you are given less than eight hours according to the NIH.
You may also find yourself getting frustrated and cranky more easily than usual, which can make socializing difficult.
The body also becomes more inflamed when sleep deprived, Dr. Parekh said, depleting all our internal systems — from the brain to the heart.
This is likely part of the reason why, in the long term, getting less sleep is linked to heart and kidney disease, diabetes, stroke, obesity, depression and high blood pressure, according to the NIH.
It can also increase your chances of being involved in accidents such as car crashes.
All in all, Dr. Parekh and other sleep specialists warn that we shouldn’t overlook the importance of sleep.