Sleep expert issues warning to anyone who gets 6 hours or less a night

To put it bluntly, sleeping is really, really good for us.

Not only does the restorative period play a crucial role in repairing our bodies, but it helps with the formation of long-term memories, aids hormone regulation, and can have a major impact on both our physical and mental health.

But how many hours should we be knocking z’s out for? And what happens if we don’t get enough shut-eye?

Well, the Sleep Foundation states that healthy adults aged 18 and up need at least seven hours of sleep per night.

Some people (like me) need 8.5-9 hours of slumber to function properly, while others require a solid eight every single evening.

Now, you may have come across someone who swears they only need five hours or less sleep a night.

According to the report, this is a whopping 13 percent of UK dwellers; a worrying statistic that could have a serious impact on our health.

In 2018, Matthew Walker, Professor of Neuroscience and Psychology at the University of California, appeared on The Joe Rogan Experience to discuss what a lack of sleep does to us.

“It took Mother Nature 3.6 million years to put this thing called an eight-hour sleep necessity in place, and we’ve come along and with the space of 100 years we’ve lopped off almost 20 percent of that if you look at the data,” the scientist stated.

“So many people are proud of that too,” remarked Joe Rogan.

“’I don’t need eight hours sleep. I got three, ready to kick a** and dominate the world’.”

In response, Walker issued a warning to men who like to boast that they’re ‘built different’ and feel they don’t need to comply with scientific standards of sleep.

"It's a sort of like sleep machismo, this sort of attitude,” he began.

"Men who sleep five to six hours a night will have a level of testosterone which is that of someone 10 years their senior.

"So a lack of sleep will age you by a decade in terms of that critical aspect of wellness, virility, muscle strength and sexual performance.

"The number of people who can survive on six hours of sleep or less without showing any impairment rounded to a whole number and expressed as a percent of the population is zero.”

If you’re someone who regularly gets in six hours or less of sleep, then you may feel some common symptoms of sleep deprivation.

These are strong feelings of depression, a lack of motivation, and stronger feelings of pain, writes WebMD.

If you’re not getting your recommended 40-winks then you could also have a higher chance of developing diabetes, obesity, or suffering a heart attack than those who live and breathe sleep.

If you want to improve your time in bed, experts at the Mayo Clinic advise you try limiting your caffeine and alcohol consumption, avoid screen time before snoozing, and try to spend more time outdoors during the day.