02/27/2026
The evidence pointing to a connection between better sleep and a healthier heart is so strong that the American Heart Association added sleep to its list of heart health essentials. Sleep joins other lifestyle factors on the list, including diet, exercise, not smoking and maintaining a healthy weight.
Sleep affects your heart in a number of ways. Consistently logging less than seven hours of sleep has been shown to increase inflammation in the body. When that type of systemic inflammation becomes constant, it can lead to high cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes. Those are all conditions that put you at a greatly increased risk of heart attack or stroke.
Running a sleep debt also tends to decrease your willpower and increase your cravings. When you’re tired, you’re more likely to gravitate toward easy-to-eat (but not necessarily healthy) foods. You’re also more likely to skip your workout. Maintaining an unhealthy diet and not being active are two big contributors to heart disease.
