Doctor's Orders: You Need More Sleep Than Your Man
- jennysmithmattfeldt
- Oct 29
- 4 min read
Updated: Nov 5
Recent sleep studies show you need an extra half hour in the morning.
| Published October 29, 2025
Article contains affiliate links from brands we trust.
In This Article
At Evrgreen, we’ve been digging into the health trends and “optimization” advice that were originally designed for men, but sold to women as universal. We’re untangling the masculine and feminine when it comes to wellness, and one of the most fascinating differences lies in sleep.
The hustle culture (late nights, endless grind, burnout-as-a-badge) might feed the masculine and make it more effective, but it starves the feminine. Rest, regeneration, and flow are the power sources of the feminine body and as new research shows, women actually do need more sleep than men and perform far worse when deprived of it.
The Sleep Science
There’s actually hard data behind why women need more rest. Researchers at Duke University found that women require, on average, at least 30 extra minutes of sleep per night compared to men. Our brains are more complex (humble brag) in how they process and recover from multitasking, emotion, and communication throughout the day. In short, we’re running more tabs open so the system needs a longer reboot.
Why women need more:
Women’s brains show more complex activity in certain regions (especially those tied to multitasking and emotional processing), so they need more recovery time.
Hormonal fluctuations (estrogen, progesterone, and cortisol) can interfere with sleep quality meaning women often get less deep sleep and need more total hours to make up for it.
Pregnancy, postpartum, and perimenopause all significantly impact sleep cycles and quality.
Other studies from UCLA and Harvard have shown that when women don’t get enough sleep, the fallout is more intense. Sleep deprivation in women leads to higher inflammation, greater emotional reactivity, and increased risk for heart disease and depression compared to men under the same conditions. Hormones also play a huge role; fluctuations in estrogen, progesterone, and cortisol directly affect REM quality and circadian rhythm, meaning our sleep patterns shift naturally throughout the month.
Poor sleep disrupts everything from hormone balance and metabolism to skin repair and collagen production. It not only shows up in the mirror, the body, and the mood, it's a performance tool that alters how you show up during the day.
While men can function at their highest level on 6-8 hours of sleep its looking like women need more like 8-9 hours a night.
Anyone who’s ever pulled an all-nighter in college or been up with these days with a new baby knows the aftermath: your brain lags, your patience disappears, and your creativity flatlines. That’s because deep sleep is when your brain resets clearing waste & repairing cells. High quality rest is where the feminine thrives. The masculine runs on adrenaline; the feminine regenerates through recovery. You can't look at more sleep as slowing down it's how you gain an edge.
When you pour into your quality of sleep, you gain clarity, energy, and creativity. It’s the most natural form of high performance. True rest activates the parasympathetic nervous system, your body’s rest-and-digest mode, where heart rate drops, cortisol calms, and balance is restored. Meaning not only is it essential for brain health its like the most effective anti aging beauty treatment there is.
Science Backed Sleep Aids
Okay, 8-9 hours is the dream but not always the hand we're dealt so how do we optimize what we do get? We make sure it's the highest quality rest possible. Research shows that going to bed at a consistent time supports natural melatonin release and regulates your circadian rhythm even as your hormones shift through out the month. Try dimming the lights and avoiding blue light (easier said that done) for around an hour before you want to fall asleep.
Goop Approved
Of course there's research based ways but I've got to say the Goop-esque ways might be a little more fun. A detox bath (best sleep I've ever had) with a few drops of cedar wood or serenity oil helps lower cortisol and support magnesium absorption. Pair it with a dose of magnesium glycinate, one of the most bioavailable forms for calming the nervous system, and you'll be set for deep sleep.
Turn your bedroom into a little cocoon for regeneration: blackout curtains, cool air, grounding sheets or silk pillowcases, and no tech in sight. At EVR we love evening adaptogen drinks like the Gracie Norton Nite Nectar and body oils with a purpose like the Osea Vagus Nerve line meant to help you completely unwind. The Vagus Nerve oil comes in a pillow spray, body oil, and bath oil, exquisite. If you want to go a little woo woo, try binaural beats, red light therapy, or a guided body scan to bring your brain into a slower frequency before sleep.
The goal isn’t perfection, it’s ritual. When you treat rest as a sacred practice instead of an afterthought, your entire system recalibrates.
Click to shop any sleep enhancing products.
Comments