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New Study Shows Sleeping Poorly Can Age You 10 Years
It’s no shock that if you don’t sleep well, you don’t feel well. You may find yourself with low energy, an irritable mood, and even a ravenous appetite. But a new study also found that sleeping poorly may age you—or age how old you perceive yourself. And further research shows that this perceived sense of age is actually closely linked to longevity.
So here’s what the study found and science-backed ways to improve your sleep (and feel younger).
About the study
The researchers conducted and reported on two studies in this article published in the journal Royal Society.
- The first one was purely survey-based. All 429 participants (ages 18-70) were asked two questions: one about their perceived age (aka do participants feel older or younger than their calendar age) and and one on the number of nights they felt like they slept poorly in the last month.
- The second study included 186 people (ages 18-46) compared short-term sleep saturation and deprivation with perceived age in an experimental setting. For two nights, participants would be in bed for nine hours and for another two nights, they would only be in bed for four hours. Perceived age and sleepiness were measured after each of these scenarios.
Not sleeping enough (& sleeping poorly) ages you
Results of both studies showed most people felt older when they didn’t get enough sleep.
Specifically, the survey study found that for each day of the month participants slept poorly, they felt about a quarter of a year older.
Perceived aging was even more pronounced for those in the experimental group. Two nights of sleep restriction made folks feel an average of around 4.5 years older than when they stayed in bed for nine hours.
Feeling very awake versus very sleepy was linked to feeling about 10 years—and participants with a morning chronotype fared worse.
While the results of this study are insightful, future research in this area may include sleep trackers to measure the quality and duration of sleep, not just time spent in bed.
How to improve your sleep
Most of us could use some help in the sleep department. A 2024 study found that only 15%1 of a group of almost 70,000 adults were getting the recommended seven to nine hours of sleep at least five nights a week. Even among those who meet this recommendation, sleep patterns (like waking up in the middle of the night or tossing and turning, are common.
While improving your sleep hygiene—like not looking at screens before bed, sticking to a consistent sleep-wake schedule, and cooling your room—a targeted sleep supplement can help you fall asleep faster, and stay asleep longer.*
No, we’re not talking about melatonin (which is best used short-term to adjust to time changes—otherwise it leaves you feeling groggy).
We’re talking about mindbodygreen’s sleep support+. This supplement provides a combination of magnesium bisglycinate (both bioavailable and easy on the stomach), PharmaGABA® (a neurotransmitter), and jujube. Together, these three bioactives enhance natural sleep quality and promote a steady state of relaxation throughout the night.*
And reviewers rave it does so much more to improve their sleep than melatonin ever has.*
I’m finally able to sleep
The takeaway
Sleeping well (and enough) is easier said than done. Not only are their sleep changes throughout different phases of life (like for new parents and those entering perimenopause), but it can also change nightly. And even a few nights of suboptimal sleep can leave you feeling—and likely acting—older.
If you have more restless than restful nights and then reaching for a relaxing, long-term supplement solution like sleep support+ is a smart choice.*
