Day 11 - Research

"That sounds like something I would like to do someday," said Matt.
Even though I wanted to say 'Go for it! Try sleeping polyphasically like I am,' I didn't. Yes, sleeping 2.5 hours a day like I did today has its benefits, but could there be negative health effects?

I've been looking into it, and here is what I've found - there is no substantial evidence that it affects your body worse then sleeping 8 hours. There is only one problem with it: no extensive studies have been conducted on people who sleep polyphasically over 6 months. In other words, it is safe to sleep polyphasically for 6 months or less, but beyond that no one knows.

I haven't read any particular reasons on why it might be dangerous to pursue polyshasic sleep more then 6 months, save that we just don't know how it would effect us. So why did I not recommend it to Matt? One word: Melatonin.

I understand that Melatonin is inhibited by light, so now instead of having 8 hours of this hormone coursing through my veins, I only have 2.5 hours worth of it - or at least in theory anyway. I want to take a test to see if my melatonin levels are lower now, because melatonin is important. Research it if you don't know what it does (interestingly Alzheimers' patients have lower levels of it).

So here is my breakdown of it all. Sleep polyphasically but think about the risks. Check your health & buy melatonin tablets if need be. Don't kill me if you end up with Alzheimers. And most importantly be careful doing it over 6 months.

In the meantime try it short term - I still recommend that. :-)