WASHINGTON — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is calling it a
public health epidemic and sleep experts say it’s a nationwide problem. If
you’re yawning while you’re reading this, you might not be getting enough
sleep.
It seems more than a quarter of Americans say they’re sleeping six hours or
less a night. But sleep expert Michael Breus tells CBS This Morning that
people should try for at least seven hours of shut-eye.
The average sleep cycle is about 90 minutes long and the average person has
five of those. Breus says you can’t make it up on weekends for more than 25 to
30 minutes at a time.
Breus says when most people sleep less than five hours a night, it doubles
mortality. Sleep affects every organ system and he adds a lack of sleep can
affect one’s weight.
“Sleep deprivation will cause a lower in your metabolism … and increase in
your appetite,” he says.
Breus touts a solution he calls “nappa-latte” which involves a quick cup of
coffee and a 25-minute nap. He says if you nab enough stage one, stage two
sleep that you will be good for four hours but he warns, if you have insomnia,
napping will make it worse.
WTOP’s Allison Keyes contributed to this report. Follow @WTOP on Twitter and on the WTOP Facebook page.
