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Is it okay to sleep all day once in awhile?

And while the occasional long sleep is generally nothing to worry about, oversleeping several days a week could be a sign that something more serious is going on.

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Most healthy adults should be getting between 7 to 9 hours of sleep each night. Oversleeping has been linked to negative health outcomes like heart disease, obesity, and diabetes. Some people do need more sleep — like children, teens, or those with an underlying health condition. Sleeping in on the weekends is a luxury many of us look forward to all week long. And while the occasional long sleep is generally nothing to worry about, oversleeping several days a week could be a sign that something more serious is going on.

Here's what you need to know about getting too much sleep.

How much sleep is too much?

Unfortunately, there is no easy answer to what counts as oversleeping. Roy Raymann, PhD Chief Scientific Officer at SleepScore Labs, tells Insider that it depends on many factors like genetics, age, health, fitness level, activity, and the amount of stress a person is under. For most adults, he says: "If you sleep more than nine hours a day, several days a week, and still feel tired during the day, you might be oversleeping." However, Raymann also points out that sleeping more than nine hours on a regular basis is acceptable for young adults, people recovering from illness, or people recovering from several days in a row with less than adequate sleep.

The right amount of sleep to get

Not sure how much sleep you actually need? The Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine (JCSM) says adults, aged 18 to 60, should get seven to nine hours of sleep each night on a regular basis. "That said, only a few people can do with less than five hours a night, without negative health and wellbeing consequences," says Raymann. Also, kids need more sleep than adults. Here's how long each age group should sleep each night, according to the CDC. It's important to note, says Raymann, that the hours of sleep are not equal to the amount of time spent in bed with the lights off and your eyes closed. To get the recommended minimum of seven hours each night, he says most people need to be in bed for almost eight hours.

Oversleeping health risks

According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, the health problems associated with oversleeping are:

Type 2 diabetes

Heart disease

Obesity

Depression

Headaches

Greater risk of dying from a medical condition

But Raymann points out that these conditions might be a result of a chicken-and-egg type of problem. It's hard for researchers to determine which came first: Did the underlying disease cause the oversleeping or does oversleeping trigger the disease or medical condition?

Studies have also found there are links between oversleeping and unfavorable health outcomes. According to a 2014 survey published in PLOS ONE, long sleepers that slept over 10 hours a day had a higher body mass index (BMI). These long sleepers were also found to have a higher rate of depression.

Insider's takeaway

In short, it's best to stick to the CDC's recommended sleep guide and consult a doctor if you're regularly sleeping more than 9 hours a day. More sleep may be necessary for these limited groups: people who are sick, children, teens, or those with an underlying medical condition.

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Scientists found that people who napped for 30 to 90 minutes had better word recall – which is a sign of good memory – than people who did not nap or who napped for longer than 90 minutes. People who napped for that golden 30 to 90 minutes were also better at figure drawing, another sign of good cognition.

Are you feeling a little guilty about your daily, mid-afternoon snooze? Don’t. Research shows that catching a few ZZZs after lunch can be good for your brain. But keep in mind that the length of your nap matters. While a 30- to 90-minute nap in older adults appears to have brain benefits, anything longer than an hour and a half may create problems with cognition, the ability to think and form memories, according to the study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. “I consider napping to be a good thing, but it needs to be taken in the context of the person and his or her own sleep cycles and body,” says Charlene Gamaldo, M.D., medical director of Johns Hopkins Sleep Disorders Center. For older people, as the study showed, longer naps tend to interfere with cognition, she says.

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