I've been running on 3/4/5 hours of sleep a night since I was in my early 20's. Sleeping in nowadays in a 6 hour night. I know I need less sleep than others and I've always appreciated this fact, but I don't think it makes me superhuman.
Also, I lead a very active jocky lifestyle and have a good balanced diet, I think this helps tremendously.
Is It Superhuman or Stupid to Live Off Four Hours of Sleep?
SodaHead News
2011/04/11 19:00:00
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Sometimes 24 hours a day and seven days a week never seem to be enough. Most of us have said, at one time or another, we wish we had more time in the day to finish tasks. If you can't seem to get that time, you're either not genetically blessed or refuse to allow your body what it needs: sleep.
According to CNN, "short sleepers" have a gene mutation, known as as hDEC2, which allows them to function on less sleep. Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, actor James Franco and Martha Stewart are reportedly short sleepers, who need less than four hours of sleep a night.
Either that, or they're staving off sleep through willpower and they think they're superhuman.
"It's hard to tell how frequent this mutation is," Ying-Hui Fu, professor of neurology at University of California San Francisco, told CNN. "Everyday, they have two to three more hours to do things."
But for those who don't and need the typical eight hours of sleep, bad things will eventually happen. Sleep deprivation can cause increased driver's fatigue, drowsiness and poor hand-eye coordination. In the long run, people who sleep less than six hours have been found to have greater risks of mortality, obesity, heart attacks and stroke, according to CNN.
According to CNN, "short sleepers" have a gene mutation, known as as hDEC2, which allows them to function on less sleep. Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, actor James Franco and Martha Stewart are reportedly short sleepers, who need less than four hours of sleep a night.
Either that, or they're staving off sleep through willpower and they think they're superhuman.
"It's hard to tell how frequent this mutation is," Ying-Hui Fu, professor of neurology at University of California San Francisco, told CNN. "Everyday, they have two to three more hours to do things."
But for those who don't and need the typical eight hours of sleep, bad things will eventually happen. Sleep deprivation can cause increased driver's fatigue, drowsiness and poor hand-eye coordination. In the long run, people who sleep less than six hours have been found to have greater risks of mortality, obesity, heart attacks and stroke, according to CNN.
Read More: http://www.khou.com/news/health/Superhuman-or-supe...
Top Opinion
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WhyZeeGuy 2011/04/11 22:06:13
I just watched a NGC special on sleep and they showed how proteins are created only during sleep to repair the body.
http://ngm.nationalgeographic...
I remember before middle school finding things to do while in bed instead of sleeping. I am 47 now. I basically have run off of 5 hours and even no rest. I have held two jobs, raised three children and studied in the wee hours only to lay down for an hour to do it all over again. I still maintain two jobs and study time to time... right now I will lay down for two hours and get up for work...
Someone told me I should be more normal, to rest more.. all it did was make me drag all day, very sluggish, I did not feel well. I usually run on 2-3 hours.... if I nap that can run 10 minutes to five hours and I am up for the next 24 hours depending on when it happens... I feel great when I get less than 5 hours of rest... when my body needs something it tells me...
OH and I am not really sure diet plays a part.. for the past 27 years I have basically eaten one meal a day.. the food I eat is always good ... I cannot tolerate a lot of food, it weights me down....
Sodahead Living, why you care so much how little I sleep? Me stupid? You're stupid! :D
However 5 days out of the week I get about 4-6 hours a sleep a night and I can function very well. Sure I am feeling a bit tired when I am initially about to wake up but once I am up I am good to go. IMO, people who receive 4 or less hours of sleep are risking health issues. While I never went through weight gain, being sick, heart attacks, stroke, I did experience poor eye coordination, slower reaction time, had frequent "microsleeps" occur.
Microsleeps occur when the body feels it is not getting sufficient rest. It is a brief period of time lasting a few seconds when the brain enters a sleep state, usually without the persons awareness. The person loses conscious control of their thoughts and actions and has no recall of anything that takes place during the ...
However 5 days out of the week I get about 4-6 hours a sleep a night and I can function very well. Sure I am feeling a bit tired when I am initially about to wake up but once I am up I am good to go. IMO, people who receive 4 or less hours of sleep are risking health issues. While I never went through weight gain, being sick, heart attacks, stroke, I did experience poor eye coordination, slower reaction time, had frequent "microsleeps" occur.
Microsleeps occur when the body feels it is not getting sufficient rest. It is a brief period of time lasting a few seconds when the brain enters a sleep state, usually without the persons awareness. The person loses conscious control of their thoughts and actions and has no recall of anything that takes place during the episode. (used reference)
I have had MANY episodes of these black outs. Even when driving, which can be extremely dangerous. To the point where I would pull over and try to rest. I am no longer suffering from insomnia, but I do get around 4-6 hours of sleep a night and on my days off I get 8-10 hours. People who receive a short time of sleep I think will be fine and suffer no hardships health wise, but that all comes down to "how much". Less than four [coming from this article] can be dangerous depending how what that number is. There are 4 stages of sleep 2 of the four stages last 30-60 mins, so right there thats approx 2 hours right there is those 2 stages last 60 mins. IMO, less than 3 hours is pushing it and I doubt it can be healthy for anyone. There is such a disorder out there where people die from lack of sleep/no sleep. Less than 3 sounds like a borderline.
This does not make someone a superhuman. Nor is it stupid. It depends on the persons body, some people can not force themselves to get sleep. I have been there. I needed the help of natural supplements, plus other means.
I used to have a horrible time sleeping, and I can't put into words how great the change has been since I became able to regularly sleep 8 hours on a regular schedule.
I'm Superhuman!
No, I actually should have done Stupid because it's made me ill xD
But I still do it =3=
Speaking for myself, I feel the effects of short sleep after only 1 night. I require the 8 hours per night to function well.
I dream 2-3 dreams per night.
Am I superhuman? No, I'm just freakin' exhausted all of the time.
I always thought i was weird because the more i sleep the more tired i am.
Im 16, so im still in school and all my friends seem to find it weird that if i go to sleep at 11:00 pm and wake up at 6:00 am, im exhausted but if i go to sleep at 1 am or 2 am and wake up at 6:00 am then im completely refreshed and energetic....
nice to know im superhuman lol......
In spite of what my dog thinks, I am not superhuman
It dosen't matter to me, no matter how much I sleep I always feel tired. So really, sleeping less is not having any major impact on my life.