PLX Academy · News · 06 Juny 2022
Heart health can be improved with sleep meditation.
When you think about improving your heart health, food and exercise may come to mind. Sleep is just as crucial – even though many people treat it like a luxury, not a necessity. Various research studies over the past two decades indicate more than 80% of all cardiovascular events may be prevented by healthy lifestyle and management of known cardiovascular risk factors. According to the Association’s 2022 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics Update, approximately 121.5 million people in the U.S. have high blood pressure, 100 million have obesity, more than 28 million people have Type 2 diabetes, and only 1 in 4 adults reported achieving the physical activity and exercise recommended in the U.S.
The American Heart Association’s checklist to measure cardiovascular health is updated, and is now called Life’s Essential 8™, adding healthy sleep as essential for optimal cardiovascular health. Other health and lifestyle factors in the checklist, which were part of the previous, 7-item scoring tool, are nicotine exposure, physical activity, diet, weight, blood glucose, cholesterol and blood pressure. The new sleep metric suggests 7-9 hours of sleep daily for optimal cardiovascular health for adults, and more for children depending on their age. Ideal daily sleep for children ranges between 10-16 hours per 24 hours for ages 5 and younger; 9-12 hours for ages 6-12 years; and 8-10 hours for ages 13-18 years.
Getting good-quality sleep on a regular basis lets your body get the restorative break it needs. Without it, you are more likely to develop health problems. And that, in turn, can affect your heart.