The results of a new study show that exercise can counteract the negative effects of sleep deprivation by reducing inflammation, boosting metabolism and preventing heart disease.

When you sleep little, badly, often wake up at night and have difficulty falling asleep, you can cause health problems. The results show that most of these negative effects can be counteracted by high-intensity exercise

a recent study.

We all already know that getting enough, restful, and adequate sleep and exercise are thought to help prevent more than 80% of heart disease, including heart attacks, arrhythmias, and coronary heart disease. But for some, it’s hard to get enough sleep or find time to exercise. While we can more easily control exercise, sleep, in fact the lack of sleep, seems difficult to address. The good news is that following an exercise regimen to regulate sleep has many other health benefits.

According to one of the study’s co-authors, Dr. Jihui Zhang, director of the Center for Sleep and Circadian Medicine at the Brain Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, China, prolonged exercise has beneficial effects on inflammation, metabolism, and the sympathetic nervous system. they are all closely related to heart health. However, experts do not recommend replacing sleep with exercise. Finding a balance between recreation and sports is an ideal option.

Exercise affects the whole body

To understand the role that exercise plays in counteracting the side effects of sleep deprivation, researchers collected data on more than 92,000 adults in the UK between 2013 and 2015. Their ages ranged from 40 to 73, and 56% of them were women. During the week, they wore a bracelet that measured the time they exercised and the time they slept.

Researchers divided sleep during the night into 3 categories: short sleep (6 hours or less); ordinary (from 6 to 8 hours) and long (more than 8 hours).

According to the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO), they also divided the physical activity performed by a person into 3 levels: low, medium and high. The research team monitored exercise intensity and recorded whether physical activity was considered “moderate or vigorous” according to WHO recommendations.

The causes of death of the study participants were also taken into account. Based on these data, it was found that just over 3,000 participants died an average of 7 years after data collection from cardiovascular disease (1,100) and cancer (1,900).

The researchers concluded that those who slept too much or too little and did not get enough exercise (less than 150 minutes a week) were more likely to die from any cause, including cancer and heart disease.

The study also found that for those struggling with sleep deprivation, exercising (more often than the recommended amount) compensated for the lack of sleep. In other words, those who managed to exercise more than 150 minutes a week did not fall into the risk group of death, even if they slept less than 6 hours a day. The same did not happen with those who had intermediate physical activity. For them, lack of sleep increased the probability of death by about 40%.

What is the relationship between exercise and reducing inflammation?

According to an earlier study, muscle contractions that occur during exercise release exerkines. These are molecules that can reduce inflammation associated with chronic diseases such as heart disease and diabetes.

Inflammation in the cardiovascular system can affect blood flow to the heart and tissues around the heart. This can lead to serious health problems. Arrhythmia – an irregular heartbeat – and heart failure, which means the heart cannot pump enough oxygen-rich blood to meet the body’s needs.

Exercise fights inflammation, regulates cholesterol, excess fat, and high blood sugar, all of which contribute to heart disease. It also stimulates the sympathetic nervous system, which affects heart rate and the heart’s ability to pump with the right amount of force.

Photo source: Dreamstime.com