Study Shows People Who Sleep 8 Hours Die Sooner than those who Sleep Less
San Diego: Findings from a recent UCSD study released yesterday have awaken a flurry of controversy.
Findings by UCSD psychiatrist and nationally known sleep researcher Daniel Kripke challenge the long-held recommendations from many health organizations and the National Sleep Federation that people need eight hours of sleep to maintain good health.
The UCSD study analyzed responses that 1.1 million people gave to an American Cancer Study questionnaire in 1982. Six years later their answers were compared with their death rates.
The findings showed that people who regularly slept eight hours were twelve percent more likely to die within the six-year period in which the study took place. The were four to five percent more likely to die than those sleeping six hours. Even those sleeping five hours had lower death rates than individuals who slept eight hours.
And those who sleep for nine or ten hours a day have a mortality equivalent to people who are moderately obese, somewhat more than all the other sleeping groups, the research concluded.
“We don’t know what the causal factors are,” Kripke said in an interview.
“But it’s possible that sleeping too much, like eating too much, is bad for your health. And it might be true that a little bit of sleep or sleep restriction, like reducing your diet, could be good for your health.”
The study and it’s findings has been attacked by the “sleep industry” which makes billions of dollars selling drugs to put people to sleep and does not want people to think sleeping less than eight hours is a more healthy lifestyle than their drug-induced sleep…
About the Author
Hare Krishna Prabhu
Please accept my humble obeisances
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
I like to use my phone for visiting krishna.org, Krishna Connect and hear Srila Prabhupada or watch his videos, etc. in bed after dinner and finishing my rounds and reading of Srila Prabhupada’s books if remaining. I find it extremely difficult to go to sleep without doing these things. And I end up sleeping quite late and wake up late. I don’t want to give up doing these activities before sleeping and still want to wake up early. If I increase my chanting and reading of Srila Prabhupada’s books and hearing of Srila Prabhupada will I be able to wake up before 4 AM?
Better to take rest early and get up early. Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise. That is the materialistic English saying. But it is true for spiritual life. We need to get out of bed early so we have to go to sleep early.
Hare Krishna Prabhu
Please accept my humble obeisances
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
Is there anything that we can do before going to sleep that will help us during sleep from Krishna Consciousness point of view? One devotee on Krishna Connect said it’s been a common practice among devotees to read Krishna Book and take hot milk before going to sleep. It looks like a nice advice. Today I read Sanskrit verses in Shri Krishna Lila book and saw the beautiful pictures given in it. Feeling nice before sleeping. Prabhu, can you tell me something that I can do so that I remember Krishna before going to sleep and I don’t get meterialistic dreams? Or at least I remember Krishna before and during sleep and chant Hare Krishna even in dreams, especially when they give me trouble?
Yes. Read Krishna Book and hot milk.
Thank you very much Prabhu. I’ll do it from today itself. Haribol!
What is the special in waking up at 4 am?How spiritually is that good?then tell me the steps to get up early at 4 am…I can’t control my sleep at all.please help me…I need to surrender to god…
If we are interested in spiritual life the time starting 1.5 hours before sunrise is the most auspicious time of the day for spiritual activities. So to get up a 4AM you just have to set your alarm clock for 4:00 AM and get up when it rings. Advancing in spiritual life requires some effort, some austerity. If you are not prepared to undergo some simple austerities like getting out bed early in the morning then you will not be able to advance in Krishna consciousness. So it is up to you.
So many people get out of bed before 4:00 AM just to go to work. So there is no problem for us to get out of bed before 4:00 AM for Krishna, to Chant Hare Krishna.
Oh my god dont ask! Just try . Your vibration in the morning is the only vibration and there is no noise disturbance at all and the hare krsna mahamantra just sounds wonderful! So if you sleep nice 6 hours before 4am then there is no question of feeling sleepy. It is just amazing …so blissful…just try it. Walking and chanting keeps you awake.
Hare Krsna Madhudvisa dasa prabhuji i am unable to sleep for more than a week now because i stopped taking the medication. What to do. i am feeling terrible? Really terrible.
I can not give you medical advice. I have already given you the spiritual advice. If you are taking these drugs then you can not just stop taking them. You have to gradually reduce and do it under the supervision of your doctor. You have to consult with your doctor on these things.
Hare Krishna,
Hare Krishna Prabhu. 29 year old Person. I want find Solution to My Material Problem Now.
I am working in one Govt. Office.(That is not Permanent Job, It is based on agreement for three years.) After that I will be removed from that place.
Problem that I am facing now is Un Employement.
No Body are there who will take care of me. I am not even a graduate.
And it is not possible for me to survive in Private Companies.
The only way which I have now is ……………
Within a short Span of time (Two Years) I have to complete one Course(Steno Graphy).It takes two years from now to finish. One has to work hard to finish this course.(If I complete this I will get job by the Grace of Krishna. So Now I have to workd Hard.
Now I am working in One Office. The Timings is from 9 to 7. I want to settle in my life By achieving Government Job. This is most important for to survive, By Which I can Nicely Practice Krishna Consciousness.
Now the THing which I want to explain to you is I want to Sacrifice My Sleep.If I dont sacrifice my sleep. then I n
Hare Krishna Mohan
You have to realize that Krishna consciousness is no way dependent on having a job or anything like that. This idea that everyone has to have a job and every day go to the office and work is a very recent thing in India. It is not that this is the only way one can live.
If you look at all the animals you will see that they do not have to go to the office and work hard all day, still Krishna is providing them with all their food and necessities of life. So if Krishna is providing everything for the animals then do you think He will not provide everything for His devotees also.
Of course we have to be actually devotees of Krishna by surrendering to and serving Srila Prabhupada, a pure devotee of Krishna. But that is really our only business Prabhu. To surrender to Srila Prabhupada and serve him. So sure, you may have some responsibility to your family, etc, and may feel that you have to earn some money, so you can try a little in this direction, but if there is no job available then it is Krishna’s mercy and you have so much free time to read Srila Prabhupada’s books and chant Hare Krishna.
A devotee does not want to waste even a second and your idea of “sacrificing your sleep” is a good sentiment in this direction. The advanced devotees like the Goswamis of Vrindavan and Srila Prabhupada sleep very little, not because they want to sacrifice their sleep, but because they are so busy in serving Krishna that they have no time to sleep. So it is not that we should artificially try to stop sleep. But we should not sleep for more than your 6 hours out of every 24 hours. Otherwise we will be in the mode of ignorance and will not be able to advance in spiritual life. So you need to get into a routine in your life so you are taking rest early in the evening and getting up early in the morning because the Brahma-muhurta, the time starting at 1.5 hours before sunrise, is the most auspicious time in the day for practicing spiritual life. So if we are at all serious about making advancement in spiritual life then we have to be up and out of bed at least 1.5 hours before sunrise. Srila Prabhupada fixed up mangal aroti at 4:30 AM. So we have to at least get out of bed by 4:00 AM.
So you have to do this at least. Reduce your sleeping to not more than 6 hours out of every 24 and make sure you get out of bed every morning 4:00 AM and use that morning time for chanting Hare Krishna, offering Mangal-aroti and reading Srila Prabhupada’s books. But do not try to artificially eliminate sleeping. The sleeping and the working of the brain is connected so we need some sleep. In the Bhagavad-gita Krishna warns about sleeping too much and not sleeping enough and eating too much and not eating enough. So no sleeping is not good, no eating is not good, and too much sleeping or too much eating is also not good. We have to balance these things properly. We need some sleep and some eating to properly maintain the body. And as we actually make advancement in Krishna consciousness then these demands of eating and sleeping will naturally reduce…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
anyy activity that pushes me towards krishna consciousnes. i would accept it without giving second thought…. i have a full desire to become krishna conscious…. and m on the way….but. i have very little resource and knowledge …
Hare Krishna Madhudvisa Prabhu,
I recently read a Prabhupada quote :
December 21, 1966, New York
Caitanya Caritamrta Madhya 20.313-317
“Always remember that this Krsna consciousness is a sort of declaration of war with this illusory material nature. So there is war. She will always try to get you fall down.”
My question is why does material nature try to get us to fall down which i am also experiencing in my practical life….the more i am attracted to krishna consciousness the more i am also attracted to the allurements of the material energy???
Hare Krishna Brijesh
The benefits of chanting the Hare Krishna mantra really have nothing to do with what comes into your mind while chanting. Ideally we should just be concentrating on hearing the words of the mantra and not letting our mind run on so many other subject matters. So it does not matter what you think the Hare Krishna mantra means, it is only important that you chant it and hear it at least 16 rounds a day and that you strictly follow the four regulative principles [no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication] and that you read Prabhupada’s books at least 1-2 hours a day. That is all. So don’t worry. If you actually surrender to these things and follow them in due course of time the full meaning of the Hare Krishna mantra will be revealed to you.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy
Madhudvisa dasa
I dont believe that hours of sleep and patterns of sleep has anything to do with how long one lives. My granma slept 6 hours and that was enough for her, but she lived only 80 and my mom who always slept 8-10 hours is still alive at 89, and healthy. I have a friend who sleeps 10 hours every day and she is slim waisted and healthy. Usually people who are very intellectual sleep lots because their brain works overtime. My brain is extremely active all waking hours with planning, writing, reading, creating poetry, dealing with people in my business, discussing many topics in science, medicine, history and politics with my husband, and lots of other things.
Wow. Sleep less? This is dumb–really dumb. Best advice: listen to your body and awake when it wants to, be it four hours or ten. Just let the sun be your guide and turn off the alarm clocks. The people in this study probably slept more because they were sicker from their cancer.
Hi Chris.
Bhagavad-gita recommends that one should not sleep to little and not sleep too much. Sleep is required for the brain to function properly but too much sleep will cause one to be in the mode of ignorance and he will become lazy, slow, dejected, etc. So there is a balance here. Any person who wants to succeed in life, either materially or spiritually, values time, he does not want to waste time. So you will find that successful people do not sleep very much. Because they do not want to waste the time sleeping. In reality sleeping 6 hours a day is sufficient for practically everyone. Of course one may be accustomed to sleep more but just because that is his habit and his body is telling him to sleep 12 hours that is not good for him. So your advice of ‘listening to the body’ is not really very good. Because we are conditioned in so many ways by our past activities and what we are accustomed to doing may not be actually the best thing for us.
So anyone who wants to be successful will try to minimize the sleeping. But the warning is there in the Gita, not to sleep too much and also not to sleep too little. So one has to find the balance by practice.
At least for the followers of Srila Prabhupada he has clearly indicated that sleeping more than 6 hours means you are in the mode of ignorance and honestly if you have six good solid hours of sleep that is very refreshing and completely sufficient within a 24 hour period. It may take some practice to get into the routine of going to bed early and getting out of bed before 4:00 AM in the morning so one is awake and chanting the Hare Krishna mantra during the brahma-muhurta, the most auspicious time of the day, one and half hours before sunrise, but if one actually wants to make spiritual advancement he has to do this. If you ‘listen to your body’ and sleep through the brahma-muhurta then you have lost the great opportunity of performing spiritual activities during this auspicious time.
So if you want to sleep more you can but the result is that you will remain in the mode of ignorance and will not be able to become Krishna conscious. But also not sleeping enough will mean the brain functions will be hampered and also you will not be able to become Krishna conscious… So a balance is required.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Namaste! Hare krishna!
I have heard since my childhood that one should getup early it is good for health. Today when I read this I understood its real importance. I feel tired after work and I get good long sleep and only after it I again feel to work.
Usually I sleep upto 8 hrs. sometimes less than it for 5/6 hrs. I feel sleepy even after lunch many times. But now I will try to keep control on it.
Swamiji I want ur blessings I want to experience something divine the presence of god’s love,purity & strength within.
Namaste
i heard that the instruction of prabhupada that sleeping more than six hours is a general instruction, because every man needs a different portion of sleep the same as every man needs a different portion of food due to his different body,and also in the Vaishnava religion there are two sanctions for sense gratification, sleeping and eating.are you a devotee of Krishna, and do you know anything about this matter?
Yes. If one sleeps more than 6 hours out of 24 he will be in the mode of ignorance so that will make it very difficult to advance in Krishna consciousness. Therefore one should not sleep for more than 6 hours a day.
Madhudvisa dasa