Sleep is ambiguous. We all lie down every night and continue to be unaware of what is happening in the waking world around us while we snooze. It’s a ridiculous situation.
It should come as no surprise, then, that there are all kinds of myths about sleep. We have inaccurate ideas about what keeps us from sleeping, what helps us sleep, and what happens while we sleep. Here are four common myths about sleep, debunked by scientific studies.
Exercising before bed is actually good
Some people think that you shouldn’t exercise right before bed if you want a good night’s sleep. Others believe that you should not exercise within a few hours of sleep. The logic seems to be that raising your heart rate might make falling asleep more difficult.
But scientific research does not support this at all. Paper busts common sleep myths Published in Sleep health, The Journal of the National Sleep Foundation—written by Rebecca Robbins of NYU Langone Health and several other collaborators—states categorically that there is no data to support the idea that you need a buffer zone between exercise and sleep. “According to survey data from US adults, exercise at night was not associated with sleep disturbance for the majority of individuals,” the paper states. “Other experimental evidence shows no sleep impairment after vigorous nighttime exercise.”
There are reasons you might not want to exercise right before bed, of course, but sleep isn’t one of them. Exercise in the evening if that’s what works for you
Alcohol does not help you sleep
You might think that having a little wine before going to bed will help you sleep. Even if that were true, alcohol means sleeping will make you feel less refreshed according to a sleep medicine expert Dr. Nancy Foldvari-Schafer of the Cleveland Clinic.
“Alcohol in your system fragments your sleep, which means your brain wakes up briefly and repeatedly interrupts your sleep cycle,” she said on the clinic’s website. “Each ‘awakening’ can return you to light sleep, reducing REM sleep.”
Robbins et al. reached the same conclusion in their paper. “The literature on sleep and alcohol shows that drinking alcohol close to bedtime reduces sleep latency, but then causes sleep disturbances in the second half of the night,” the experts found. “Across a number of different studies and doses, alcohol generally has a negative effect on sleep, delaying the onset of REM sleep.”
You may enjoy Ramadan before bed, sure, but research suggests that it doesn’t help you sleep better.
Remembering dreams does not mean that you slept poorly (or well)
There are some contradictory myths at work here. Some people say that remembering dreams means that you did not sleep well. The logic is that the dream occurs during REM sleep, and remembering your dream means that REM sleep has been disrupted. Others say that remembering dreams means you an act Sleep well, knowing that having dreams at all means you’re getting plenty of REM sleep.
Both may seem logical, but there is no scientific evidence either way. Problem: Maybe you remember your dreams because you got too much REM sleep. or Because your REM sleep has been interrupted. This presents a challenge for researchers, according to the researchers Sleep health Report: “Dream retrieval in sleep research can be done using dream diaries, but also by waking participants from REM sleep when most dreams occur.”
Basically, there are many factors that affect your ability to remember dreams. Some of these factors are a sign of a good night’s sleep and others are not. There is simply no data to suggest that dream recall somehow reflects sleep quality.
Do not eat spiders while sleeping
It’s not clear where this myth came from, other than that it is very popular on the Internet. The idea is that we all eat about five spiders a year while we sleep. It is said that the insects, in search of a warm place, climb into the mouths of sleeping people who spontaneously swallow them without noticing.
According to the Sleep Foundation There is no documented evidence of this never It happens, let alone happens regularly. There are all kinds of reasons to be suspicious. Most people sleep with their mouths closed, spiders tend to stay away from people, and it is very difficult to accidentally swallow things. Most people also notice an insect climbing on them, even while they are sleeping.
The good news is that you are unlikely to have swallowed any spiders while you were sleeping. This is at least one thing you can stop worrying about before bed.