Working all week and getting up early takes a toll on us and our sleep, but research is looking at sleeping-in on weekends through a new lens.

If we’re not mentally singing “food, glorious food” (as in “Oliver!”), then perhaps we are thinking “sleep, wonderful sleep” and receiving contradictory information on sleep and its role in our lives.

Now, new research is confusing the current thinking regarding sleep even more: how much we need, the quality of our sleep, whether we will be overcome by sleep debt, whether naps are good or not, and, last of all, can we catch up on sleep over the weekend? What should we believe?

The latest research on sleep and how we might better manage it is coming out of work related to cardiac disorders and sleep. It addresses the question of whether or not we can compensate on the weekend for sleep loss during the week. By sleeping in over the weekend, can we erase all the accumulating debt and better manage our health, according to this research?

People who have sleep deprivation often “sleep in” on their days off in order to lessen the impact of this condition. Unfortunately, studies examining the benefits of this compensatory sleep on cardiovascular health are few.

But new research looked at 90,903 people who took part in the UK Biobank study to see whether there was a relationship between weekend sleep and cardiovascular disease. The study found that among the large percentage of people in today’s society who do not get enough sleep during the week, the risk of cardiovascular disease is substantially lower among those who get the greatest “catch-up” sleep on weekends. This research focused specifically on cardiac disease, and, as a result, it may not apply to other aspects of medical or psychological disorders.

The bulk of current research on sleep disorders, harking back to the original studies and work by Dr. Nathaniel Kleitman beginning in 1939, stresses the need for a specific number of hours of sleep nightly. Still, regarding naps and weekend binge sleeping, there appears to be a lack of consensus. Many of us already know about the literature on "power napping" during the day. Does it help to take a 15-minute power nap at work or anywhere else?

A short period of true sleep (a nap), rather than merely a quiet moment, helps our brains recover from weariness and regain attentiveness, according to the CDC.

Naps, whether they are brief (15–30 minutes) or lengthy (1.5 hours), can rejuvenate the mind and body. Naps can also help you stay awake for a little while, but they should not be seen as a substitute for getting a good night’s sleep every night.

In Japan, some corporations expect that employees will power nap at their desks. Surprisingly, some corporate regulations regarding these naps offer an odd requirement: the person must remain upright. Other companies provide special nap boxes, and lower-echelon employees are not allowed to nap whenever they wish.

Dr. Kleitman originated the medical specialty of sleep medicine, which has now become an important part of physicians' specializations. While sleep still maintains a number of mysteries, its need for living organisms has been well demonstrated, and the lack of sleep is now underscored as leading to medical and psychological disorders.

The Many Controversies Around Sleep

Research has indicated specific numbers of hours of sleep according to the person's age. For example, infants require much more sleep than grown adults, and children and teens may also need not simply more sleep but have different internal sleep indicators. Preschoolers may require 10 to 13 hours of sleep, including a nap each day.

Teens require 8 to 10 hours, but here, there is a controversy about when they might become sleepy and when their best bedtime and morning awakening might be. This has led to questions about the early start time for school classes for teens.

According to research from psychologists and others, if we sleep better, we do better in school, and reap countless other mental and physical health benefits. When adolescents reach puberty, their circadian clocks change, changing their ability to fall asleep later in the night. They are able to remain awake for longer periods of time before feeling a greater need to sleep.

But what about weekend sleep and the ability to catch up and reduce some of the sleep debt accumulated during the week? My question is directed not to teenagers specifically, but to everyone.

Weekend Recovery Sleep

To make up for the sleep lost during the week, many people choose to get more shut-eye on weekends. However, the impact of weekend recovery sleep on metabolic dysregulation caused by inadequate sleep, especially recurring inadequate sleep after the weekend, remains largely unknown.

Research indicates that recurring episodes of inadequate sleep after weekend recovery sleep impair insulin sensitivity and delay the internal circadian clock. The results point to the temporary nature of the advantages of weekend recovery sleep and the possible drawbacks of recovering from a lack of sleep on the weekends, followed by chronically inadequate sleep during the week.

Are these researchers warning us not to fool ourselves into thinking that sleeping extra on weekends will make things right again? It would seem to point in that direction.

Neglecting to get enough sleep, even for a few hours each night while at work, probably has serious effects on your health. When thinking about the danger of chronic diseases like hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, etc., sleep is frequently disregarded. Unfortunately, it appears that getting more sleep on the weekends does not seem to counteract the effects of getting less sleep overall, according to this study.

Like many others on the topic of weekend catch-up sleep, these studies do not provide conclusive evidence. However, the results suggest that there are some contexts in which getting extra sleep can be useful. Research is valuable not because it provides “evidence” but because it challenges our preconceived notions about the science of sleep debt and prompts us to consider fresh topics.

Once again, we face a research dilemma: catch up, sleep on weekends, or sleep more during the week. Each of us will have to do our own research project on this one. You may find the catching up is helpful, but always be cognizant of the fact that research is indicating there can be health costs associated with this consistent activity. It would be much better to get adequate sleep during the week than to try to cheat Mother Nature by catching up on weekends.