Sleep is something everyone does to feel rested, but not everyone realises just how important it is for long‑term health. Sleep is an essential activity that supports cardiovascular, metabolic, and cellular health. In fact, research shows that certain sleep habits are closely linked to a longer, healthier life. From when you go to bed to how much rest you get, your nightly routine can have far-reaching effects.
In this article, we explore seven practical, evidence-based habits that promote better sleep and help you live longer.
7 Sleep Habits That May Help You Live Longer
Humans spend around one-third of their lives sleeping1. Yet many people overlook sleep as a cornerstone of longevity. In reality, how well and how consistently you sleep can shape your risk of disease and premature ageing2–4. By following these seven habits, you can turn sleep into a powerful tool for long-term health.
Habit 1. Aim for 7 to 9 hours of sleep each night
Most adults need 7 to 9 hours of sleep for optimal physical, mental, and emotional function. Sleep duration and mortality have a U-shaped relationship5. This means consistently sleeping less than around 6 hours or more than 9 hours is linked with higher risks of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, some cancers, and even early death compared to around 7 to 9 hours of sleep5.
Current NHS guidelines recommend that adults should aim for roughly 7 to 9 hours of good-quality sleep each night to support long-term health6. But, age, health, and personal circumstances affect how much sleep we need, plus some people naturally sleep more than others6.
Habit 2. Keep a consistent sleep-wake schedule
Having a consistent sleep-wake schedule involves going to bed and waking up at roughly the same time every day, even on weekends. This helps your body know when to wind down and when to be alert. The body’s internal clock, known as the circadian rhythm, is a 24-hour timing system in the brain and throughout the body that regulates sleep, hormone release, body temperature, and metabolism7. It relies on regular cues like light exposure and consistent sleep times to stay in sync7.
When sleep timing is irregular, for example, frequently changing when you fall asleep and wake up, this rhythm becomes disrupted and can negatively affect sleep quality and strain cardiovascular and metabolic systems7. Recent data from the UK Biobank has shown that irregular sleep timing is linked to higher risks of cardiovascular, cancer, and all-cause mortality3.
Habit 3. Prioritise sleep quality, not just quantity
Deep, restorative sleep is crucial for brain performance and long-term health, not just for feeling rested8. Consistently poor-quality, fragmented, or shallow sleep drives higher inflammation and is linked to a higher risk of multiple diseases9.
High-quality sleep supports:
- Improved memory, learning, and emotional regulation10.
- Immune system resetting, including better antiviral responses and more balanced inflammatory signalling11,12.
- Reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, depression, pain syndromes, and chronic illnesses13,14.
Habit 4. Create a tech-free wind-down routine
Blue light from phones, tablets, and laptops in the evening signals to the brain that it's daytime and delays melatonin (the hormone that helps initiate sleep) release15. This can push your natural sleep time later, making it harder to fall asleep and reducing overall sleep quality15. Try these recommendations for your tech-free wind-down routine16:
- Light reading: Choose something enjoyable rather than work, news, or anything emotionally charged, and read under a warm, dim light for around 10 to 20 minutes.
- Gentle stretching: Focus on slow, comfortable stretches for the neck, shoulders, back, and hips, holding each for 20 to 30 seconds and breathing steadily to release tension.
- Breathwork or meditation: Try 5 to 10 minutes of simple practices like slow nasal breathing or a short gratitude or mindfulness meditation.
Habit 5. Avoid late-night eating and heavy meals before bed
Eating large or late meals means the body is still busy digesting when it should be shifting into recovery mode. This interferes with deep sleep and causes more awakenings in the night, leaving you feeling less restored, even if you technically spend enough hours in bed17.
Heavy, late eating is also linked to poorer blood-sugar control across the night18. Over time, consistently eating late could contribute to reduced insulin sensitivity. Chronically disrupted nighttime metabolism has been associated with greater cardiometabolic strain, including higher body mass index, which may increase the risk of heart issues19,20.
Habit 6. Limit caffeine and alcohol, especially in the evening
Caffeine can stay in the system and disrupt sleep even 6 hours after consumption, so an afternoon coffee could still disturb your nighttime sleep21. Alcohol may make it easier to fall asleep at first, but it alters sleep architecture22. It tends to suppress rapid eye movement (REM) sleep in the first half of the night, then cause more awakenings and lighter sleep later on22. This leaves you with less restorative REM and deep sleep overall, so you wake up feeling less refreshed.
Habit 7. Make your bedroom a sleep-friendly environment
Cool, dark, quiet environments support deeper, more continuous sleep, while warm, bright, or noisy bedrooms are linked with lighter, more fragmented sleep16. Simple sleep hygiene adjustments can improve sleep for many people:
Keep the room cool: A bedroom temperature around 16 to 19°C helps the body’s core temperature drop, which naturally signals to the body to sleep16.
- Make it as dark as possible: Use blackout curtains or an eye mask to block streetlights and early morning light16.
- Reduce or mask noise: Use soft earplugs, a fan, a white-noise machine, or calming music to mask disruptive sounds16.
- Remove screens from the bedroom: Avoid TVs, phones, and tablets in bed, as blue light and stimulating content make it harder for the brain to wind down15,16.
Why Sleep Should Be a Priority in Preventive Health
Sleep doesn’t just help you feel rested, it actively shapes how your body ages. Poor or irregular sleep contributes to chronic inflammation, hormonal disruption, impaired glucose control, and accelerated biological ageing2,23. Over time, this can increase the risk of heart disease, metabolic disorders, cognitive decline, some cancers, and early death3.
High-quality sleep supports improved memory, learning, and immune regulation10–12. In large population studies, people with healthier sleep patterns, like adequate duration, consistent timing, minimal insomnia symptoms, and low daytime sleepiness, live longer and experience fewer years with chronic disease4.
This is where preventive health tools become powerful. While sleep habits shape risk over time, advanced screening such as an Ezra MRI Scan can help reveal what’s already happening inside your body, often years before symptoms appear. When combined with better sleep routines, proactive imaging can give you a clearer, earlier picture of your long-term health.
Conclusion
Consistent, high-quality sleep is one of the most powerful, and often underestimated, tools for extending both lifespan and healthspan. Small daily habits, from making sure you go to bed and wake up at consistent times to reducing late-night caffeine and heavy meals, can make a difference over the years to help protect your heart, brain, and metabolism.
Start by looking at your own sleep routine and changing just one habit at a time. Pairing those lifestyle improvements with insights from an Ezra MRI Scan can help you take control of your health, not by reacting to illness, but by staying ahead of it.
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References
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