There are several reasons why sticking to your regular sleep schedule is important:
- Consistency provides accurate health insights – Lab tests are designed to reflect your everyday health status. Sleeping earlier than usual may temporarily alter some biomarkers (such as cortisol or blood sugar), but it won’t reflect your long-term health trends.
- Sudden sleep changes can cause stress – Forcing yourself to sleep earlier than usual may actually disrupt your sleep quality, leading to higher cortisol, glucose, and inflammatory markers, which can skew your results.
- Better for long-term health monitoring – Your healthcare provider wants to assess how your body functions under normal conditions. Maintaining your usual sleep routine ensures the most reliable and meaningful test results.
Key takeaways
- Do maintain your regular sleep schedule before your lab test.
- Don’t drastically change your sleep routine, as it may temporarily affect your results.
- If you want to improve your biomarkers, focus on consistent, long-term sleep improvements rather than just one night of extra sleep.
For more information on preparing for your lab test, check out this article: Preparing for your lab draw (Fasting, exercise, medication/supplement).
For more information on how your sleep affects your results, check out this article: How does my sleep affect these lab results?