How much deep sleep do you need?

Deep sleep: an important medicine. Sleeping is just as important for a human as eating and drinking. A good night's sleep ensures physical and mental recovery from daily life. As a result, you are less likely to get sick, are more emotionally stable, and have energy for the next day. Sleep may seem like a monotonous activity, but it is a sophisticated process that consists of several stages. One of these is deep sleep. This is the stage where the body relaxes and recovers.

Het Tuur®-team Written on 17 December 2021

What happens during deep sleep?

Deep sleep is also called delta sleep or slow-wave sleep. When you are in deep sleep, slow brain waves occur in your brain. These waves form a delta pattern. Deep sleep is so important because the slow brain waves ensure that your muscles completely relax. Also, your breathing slows down and your heart rate decreases.

Furthermore, more blood flows to your muscles, your blood pressure drops, and your pituitary gland releases human growth hormone. Because of this very relaxed state of your body and brain, all kinds of processes take place that are good for recovery, growth, and energy. Incidentally, you sleep so deeply in this phase that it is difficult to wake up. If you do get woken up from deep sleep, you will most likely feel disoriented.

The sleep stages of a healthy night's rest

Deep sleep is one of the four phases that occur during sleep. The first is the dozing phase. In this stage, your brain activity decreases, you feel sleepy and eventually fall asleep. Once you're asleep? Then you don't immediately enter into deep sleep, but first, you enter light sleep.

You can still be easily awakened by a sound at this point. After this, the deep sleep phase begins. Next, you enter the stage that remains with us the most from our night's rest, namely dream sleep. Were your brains taking it easy up until this point? Now they become active.

This is the stage when your brain processes the mental experiences and emotions of recent times, causing you to dream. Dream sleep ensures that you wake up with a clear mind the next day. This stage of sleep is also known as REM sleep. During dreaming, your eyes can move very quickly, which is called Rapid Eye Movement.

The cycle of sleep: a fascinating interplay of various phases

The various sleep stages occur several times a night. In effect, you go through multiple sleep cycles. Had a good night's sleep? Then you experience four or five of these cycles. Each sleep cycle lasts about one and a half to two hours. Hence, eight hours of sleep is generally seen as a good rest.

Between cycles, you briefly awaken. If you don't need to urinate and nothing else is wrong, you simply fall back asleep and don't notice that you've woken up. However, if you wake up feeling uncomfortable, then you must change your position, possibly fluff up your pillows, or get up to go to the toilet. A noise can also more easily awaken you between cycles.

How much deep sleep do you need?

Although the average person sleeps eight hours, the actual need for sleep is not the same for everyone. Age and gender determine, among other things, the number of sleep hours a person needs. This applies to sleep in general, but also specifically to deep sleep. Babies need the most of this intensive sleep phase.

After all, they still have a lot of growing to do, and the growth hormone produced during deep sleep plays a significant role. Toddlers, preschoolers, and young children are also still heavily involved in their physiological development and benefit from plenty of deep sleep.

When puberty sets in, the sleeping rhythm of a child slowly transitions into that of an adult. As a rough guide, as an adult, you spend about a quarter of your night's rest in deep sleep. However, the older you get, the less deep sleep you need.

Once you reach twenty years of age, your need for deep sleep decreases by about two percent every ten years. This continues until roughly your sixties. After that, deep sleep continues to reduce.

Have you passed seventy? Then deep sleeping becomes only a minor part of your sleep rhythm. For women, deep sleep then constitutes fifteen percent of their night rest, for men, this sleep phase can decrease to five percent.

Here's how you can improve your deep sleep

Poor sleep has a negative impact on your well-being, as it prevents you from resting and recovering properly. There are various ways to prevent a lack of deep sleep. For instance, ensure that you don't eat heavily or too late in the evening. It's better not to eat anything a few hours before going to bed.

Also, you should avoid drinking alcohol or caffeinated beverages before sleep. This way, your body isn't disturbed by heavy digestion or stimulants during the night. Another tip for sleeping well is darkness. When it's dark, the sleep hormone melatonin increases. So hang curtains in front of your windows that block out light, ensuring that the glow from street lamps stays outside your bedroom.

Furthermore, a good night's sleep begins with the right support for your body. This means that optimal deep sleep starts with a good bed and a corresponding quality mattress!