Can catching up on sleep have health benefits?

SALT LAKE CITY — A new study found that using weekends to catch up on sleep can benefit your health but some scientists are hesitant to agree.

The study will be presented next week to the European Society of Cardiology Congress. The data shows if you catch up on sleep it reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease by 20%. 

Christopher Depner is an assistant professor in health and kinesiology at the University of Utah. He said he was not convinced.

According to Depner, it can take five to seven days for biomarkers to recover after a week of poor sleep. Additionally, flip-flopping back and forth between two sleep schedules can confuse your body. Doing so can cause what he called “social jet lag.”

“That can be the equivalent of like, living Monday through Friday on the East Coast, then flying to the West Coast of the United States on the weekend and then flying back to the East Coast during the work week,” said Depner.

Depner said proper sleep is always recommended and not limited to just the weekend.

A lack of sleep affects the way your body processes blood glucose which increases your risk of diabetes, increasing your risk of getting a cardiovascular disease.

“The way that your body processes blood glucose is highly dysregulated when you don’t get enough sleep,” he said. 

Depner said extra sleep on one day doesn’t make up for loss on another.

“If you’re drowsy driving during the work week and you get into a car accident, it doesn’t matter what you would have been able to do over the weekend.”

However, Depner said that some long in quality sleep is better than none at all. 

Related: Here’s what you can do if stress is hurting your sleep