Four questions for Jamie Zeitzer on daylight saving time – Stanford News

The co-director of the Stanford Center for Sleep and Circadian Sciences dishes on the science (or lack therof) behind “falling back.”

Last spring, the Senate voted in favor of a bill called the Sunshine Protection Act. It would have made daylight saving time permanent in the United States, but it’s stalled out in the House of Representatives. We asked Stanford sleep medicine scientist Jamie Zeitzer about the pros and cons of changing our clocks.

“We can’t create more sunlight. There is a finite number of hours,” said Zeitzer. “The question is, do you want them to start earlier or extend slightly later in the day?”

Sleep is not a priority for men

Sleep is not a priority for men: many losing sleep to play video games and drink alcohol – AASM

This Men’s Health Month, it’s important to focus on an area often overlooked when it comes to overall health: sleep. Sleep is one of the key components of a healthy lifestyle, but men often pass over it in favor of other activities. In fact, a new survey from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine finds that 75% of men say they have lost sleep after staying up “past their bedtime” to play video games, and 62% of men say they have lost sleep due to staying up to drink alcohol.

Life's Essential 8 Circle

American Heart Association adds sleep to cardiovascular health checklist – American Heart Association

Sleep duration is now considered an essential component for ideal heart and brain health. Life’s Essential 8™ cardiovascular health score replaces Life’s Simple 7™, according to a new Presidential Advisory, Life’s Essential 8—Updating and Enhancing the American Heart Association’s Construct on Cardiovascular Health, published today in Circulation, the Association’s flagship, peer-reviewed journal.

Resistance Exercise May Be Best Workout for a Good Night’s Sleep

Resistance Exercise May Be Best Workout for a Good Night’s Sleep – Medscape

A randomized trial suggests resistance exercise promotes better sleep than other workouts among inactive adults, particularly those who are poor sleepers.

How Sleep Affects Fitness

Strength Training May Be Better Than Cardio for Improving Sleep, Study Suggests – Iowa State University

If you’re looking to up your workout’s sleep-boosting effects, try strength training, new data says.

Also known as resistance training, it helps you build muscle and improve flexibility, posture, and bone density. Now new research suggests strength training trumps cardio when it comes to better sleep outcomes.

The new data from researchers at Iowa State University found that for people struggling with sleep who were previously sedentary and overweight, consistent strength training workouts helped with falling asleep faster, staying asleep longer, and feeling rested and refreshed the next day compared with aerobic workouts or not exercising at all.

 

Resistance Exercise May Be Best Workout for a Good Night’s Sleep

The Importance of Sleep for Health – ACSM

When we think about the most important actions that we can take to protect our health, we usually consider behaviors such as partaking in regular physical activity or eating a nutritious diet. Yet, an often-overlooked aspect of maintaining a healthy lifestyle is sleep. Sleep has serious implications for your physical and mental health. Adequate sleep will help you recover from exercise, enable your immune system to fight off pathogens and increase cognitive performance. In fact, to highlight its importance to health, the number of hours that people sleep is included as an indicator in the annual ACSM American Fitness Index (Fitness Index).

Mindfulness training helps kids sleep better, Stanford Medicine study finds – Stanford Medicine

Sleep

Sleep well — and reduce your risk of dementia and death – Harvard Health

Healthy food

Could what we eat improve our sleep? – Harvard Health

Sleep diet

How Foods May Affect Our Sleep – The New York Times

A growing body of research suggests that the foods you eat can affect how well you sleep, and your sleep patterns can affect your dietary choices.