Steven Thau, sleep specialist: “You can get what looks like enough sleep on paper and still wake up exhausted”

How many hours of sleep do you need to feel properly rested? It turns out that the amount of shuteye you get, even if it’s more than the recommended seven to eight hours for adults, is no guarantee you’ll wake up feeling fresh.

“You can get what looks like enough sleep on paper and still wake up exhausted,” sleep specialist Steven Thau explains to Hartford HealthCare Medical Group.

According to Thau, the quality of your sleep matters more than the number of hours you put in. If you often wake up feeling groggy, several factors could be at play.

A lack of deep sleep

There are four sleep stages: one for rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and three that make up non-REM (NREM) sleep (N1, N2, N3). If your REM or N3 sleep isn’t as smooth as it should be, you’re likely to feel tired come morning.

Stress, caffeine, and even screen time before bed can all interfere with deep sleep. Noises don’t help either, although you probably knew that already.

Inconsistent sleep routine

Even if you sleep what you consider a reasonable number of hours, you may not be fully rested if your sleep times are irregular. This is all about your circadian rhythm, the body’s internal 24-hour cycle that regulates sleep and wake patterns along with other physical and mental functions.

“Your circadian rhythm plays a big role in how alert or tired you feel,” Thau points out. “When that rhythm is disrupted, you may feel like you’re never sleeping at the right time, even if you technically got enough.”

Diet matters

What you eat and drink can affect your sleep more than you might think. Eating too close to bedtime, especially heavy or spicy meals, can cause indigestion or heartburn, which interrupts rest. As a rule, try to finish eating two to three hours before bed.

Drinks matter too. Alcohol might make you drowsy at first, but it often disrupts sleep later in the night. Caffeine is famously another serious sleep destroyer, lingering in your system for hours. A coffee in the afternoon could spell danger.

Stress and anxiety

It’s self-explanatory: if your mind is racing when you lie down, good-quality sleep will be harder to come by. Meditation, deep breathing, or gentle stretching before bed may help calm your thoughts and improve rest.

Sleep apnea

Sleep apnea is a disorder where you repeatedly stop breathing during sleep. It might sound scary, but it’s very common, affecting tens of millions of adults in the United States.

“You might not realize it’s happening, but your brain keeps waking you up to start breathing again,” explains Thau.

That may be a relief, although it does little to help you recover overnight. Treatments include lifestyle changes, medical devices, and sometimes surgery.

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