All forms of diabetes increase the risk of long-term complications Sleep is the platform on which nutrition, exercise and mindfulness reside. But these pillars for your health aren’t nearly as efficient if your sleep’s not working. Some sleep a lot, like the endearing sloth that clocks in about 15-18 hours per day. But the mighty elephant only logs 2 hours per night. But what does a normal sleep cycle look like for humans? We end up somewhere in between, most of us needing 7 to 9 hours each night to recover and restore.