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Study: Sleep protects you from work stress more than exercise

2026-05-15 09:24:00, Shëndeti CNA

Study: Sleep protects you from work stress more than exercise

When work stress becomes chronic, the most common advice is to exercise more, eat healthily, and live a more active life. But a new study suggests that not all healthy habits offer the same protection against chronic work stress.

Researchers analyzed 10 years of data from a national survey of 2,871 Canadian workers to understand whether various behaviors outside of work help protect health from the effects of occupational stress.

The study focused on five main factors: nutrition, physical activity, sleep quality, alcohol consumption, and smoking.

The results showed that sleep quality was the most important protective factor against the health consequences of work-related stress. According to the researchers, good sleep aids physical and emotional recovery, improves self-control, and helps the body better cope with daily pressure.

Healthy eating also proved to have a positive impact on coping with chronic stress, helping to maintain physical and psychological energy.

Meanwhile, physical exercise, although beneficial for overall health, was not as effective in mitigating the direct impact of work stress.

The study highlights that many workers face constant workloads, unpredictable schedules, messages and emails after office hours, causing stress to extend into private and family life.

According to research, chronic stress at work is linked to serious health problems such as anxiety, depression, chronic fatigue, cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes.

However, researchers warn that healthy habits cannot replace companies' responsibility to create healthier workplaces.

They emphasize that employers should reduce communication after work hours, allow real breaks during the day, and better organize schedules to protect employee well-being.

The main message of the study is clear: when stress at work is high, quality sleep may be the strongest protection for health.





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