Yay, science.
Sleeping in at the weekend has gotten a bad rap from sleep experts over the years but, a recent study says it that it could lower your risk of death.
Researchers from Stockholm university found that people who got five hours of sleep every night increased their mortality risks. However, if the same people got five hours of sleep on week nights and supplemented it with nine hours at the weekend, their risk of death did not increase.
The study, which was published in the
Journal of Sleep Research, looked at the sleep habits of 43,000 people under 65 years old. 13 years later, they studied death records to determine if and how sleep habits impacted mortality.
Even when other factors like diet, lifestyle and body mass index were taken into consideration, it was concluded that, "Long weekend sleep may compensate for short weekday sleep."
The authors of the study wrote, "The results imply that short (weekday) sleep is not a risk factor for mortality if it is combined with a medium or long weekend sleep. This suggests that short weekday sleep may be compensated for during the weekend, and that this has implications for mortality."
Which means that it is definitely OK to go out and party during the week as long as you have an extra long sleep on Saturday or Sunday.
We're all for that.
