Doing the groundhog on Sunday morning will no longer be a source of guilt thanks to science. According to a study published by Swedes of the Stress Research Institute in the journal Wiley Online Library , sleep lost during a hard week of work can be caught up over the weekend.

Sleeping in the morning would therefore be a miracle cure to reduce the harmful effects of lack of sleep .

The short sleep of the week, less dangerous if we catch up on the weekend

This study was conducted on 43,880 people aged under 65, over a 13-year period. Links were then established between their sleep patterns and mortality.

"Weekday sleep is not a factor in mortality when combined with average or long weekend sleep," say the scientists. Better to enjoy these days of rest to "sleep like a dormouse".

Old thoughts questioned

An idea very different from that advocated by some sleep scientists. "You can not accumulate a lack of sleep, like a debt, and then tell you: I'm going to catch up on that sleep," said in 2017 Professor of Neuroscience and Psychology Matthew Walker (University of California, Berkeley, USA).

However, if it is not caught up, lack of sleep remains a risk factor for cancer, heart disease or diabetes . Note that a good night's sleep requires sleeping between 7 and 8 hours.

So to be in good health, sleep enough, regularly, and especially: sleep well!