Can You Actually Catch Up on Sleep? The Truth About Sleep Debt
In one laboratory study, weekend recovery sleep did not prevent metabolic dysregulation. In another, of 15 healthy young men, an estimate put recovery from 1 hour of sleep debt at about four days.
Understanding Sleep Debt
In one laboratory study (Kitamura et al., 2016), potential sleep debt was defined as a person's optimal sleep duration minus their habitual sleep duration.
Can You Repay It?
Longer stretches of short sleep are linked to metabolic and other health problems (see below).
Recovery Takes Time
One laboratory study estimated that 1 hour of potential sleep debt took four days to recover to the optimal level (Kitamura et al., 2016).
How Much Sleep Do Adults Need?
A joint American Academy of Sleep Medicine and Sleep Research Society consensus statement (Watson et al., 2015) gives a recommendation for the amount of sleep adults need to promote optimal health. The CDC lists 7 or more hours for ages 18 to 60, 7 to 9 hours for ages 61 to 64, and 7 to 8 hours for ages 65 and over.
In their 2016 paper in Scientific Reports, Kitamura and colleagues define potential sleep debt as a person's optimal sleep duration minus their habitual sleep duration, and report that optimal sleep duration varies among individuals. Their 15 participants were healthy young men who did not report sleep problems, and on the first night of extended sleep they slept more than 3 hours longer than usual on average. The authors write that they were experiencing possible sleep loss without being aware of it.
What the Research Says About Paying It Back
Two laboratory studies are relevant here.
- Recovery time. Kitamura and colleagues report that only 1 hour of potential sleep debt takes four days to recover to the optimal level. In their discussion they write that opportunities for sufficient sleep up to 9 days are needed to eliminate the sleep debt. They also report that recovery from potential sleep debt was associated with improvement in glycometabolism, thyrotropic activity and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis. This was a laboratory study.
- Weekend catch-up. Depner and colleagues (2019) compared groups in a sleep laboratory. In the weekend-recovery group, participants had insufficient sleep for a five-day workweek, then two days of weekend recovery sleep, then two more nights of insufficient sleep. Whole-body, hepatic and muscle insulin sensitivity decreased by about 9% to 27% during the recurrent insufficient sleep versus baseline, and the authors conclude that weekend recovery sleep is not an effective strategy to prevent metabolic dysregulation associated with recurrent insufficient sleep.
A Harvard Medical School researcher quoted in Harvard Magazine said of overcoming a long-term sleep debt, "It certainly takes longer than three days."
Why You May Not Notice the Cost
In the Van Dongen study, participants spent 4, 6 or 8 hours in bed per night for 14 consecutive days. The authors report increasing cognitive deficits over the 14 days in the 4-hour and 6-hour groups (the 8-hour group was the control), yet the sleepiness ratings suggested participants were largely unaware of them.
Health Links to Not Getting Enough Sleep
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute says sleep deficiency is linked to many chronic health problems, including heart disease and kidney disease, and to a higher chance of injury in adults, teens and children. In older adults it may be linked to a higher chance of falls and broken bones. The wording is "linked to", which is not the same as shown to cause.
In a 2013 PNAS study, 26 participants had one week of insufficient sleep (5.70 hours) and 711 genes were found to be up- or down-regulated. The abstract does not report whether those changes last.
What the Research Does and Does Not Show
- It shows that short nights reduce measured performance and that weekend recovery did not prevent metabolic changes in one laboratory study.
- The four-day figure above is one study's estimate in 15 healthy young men, and the authors write that the recovery periods needed for different physiological functions might vary widely.
What To Do With This
Related guides: The Weekend Sleep Mistake That's Making You More Tired, Your Circadian Rhythm: The 24-Hour Clock Running Everything (2026) and The Perfect Wind-Down Routine: 60 Minutes to Better Sleep.
When To Talk to a Clinician
The NHLBI advises talking with a doctor if you often feel sleepy during the day or do not wake up feeling refreshed and alert (NHLBI). The CDC says to talk to a healthcare provider if you regularly have problems sleeping, and the NHS advises seeing a GP if you have had trouble sleeping for months or your insomnia is affecting your daily life in a way that makes it hard for you to cope (NHS).
Get Our Free 7-Day Sleep Reset
Get weekly sleep tips and honest product reviews every Sunday.
Subscribe FreeFrequently Asked Questions
How long does it take to recover from sleep deprivation?
In one laboratory study of 15 healthy young men (Kitamura et al., 2016, Scientific Reports), only 1 hour of potential sleep debt took four days to recover to the optimal level, and the authors write that opportunities for sufficient sleep up to 9 days are needed to eliminate the sleep debt. The same paper reports that optimal sleep duration varies among individuals.
Can you make up for lost sleep on weekends?
In one laboratory study (Depner et al., 2019), the authors conclude that weekend recovery sleep is not an effective strategy to prevent metabolic dysregulation associated with recurrent insufficient sleep.
Do naps help with sleep debt?
This article does not cover research on naps, so it makes no claim about them. If you often feel sleepy during the day, the NHLBI advises talking with a doctor.
What foods help recover from sleep deprivation?
This article does not cover research on food and sleep debt, so it makes no claim that any food or drink makes up for lost sleep.