Five Myths About Sleep It’s Good to Wake Up to
Sleep medicine and sleep products—whether it’s mattresses or sleep tech or wearables—are growing business these days. Medicine is catching up with how really sleep deprived many of us are, and diagnoses follow. According to recent estimates, 50 to 70 million Americans chronically suffer from a disorder of sleep and wakefulness that inhibits their daily functioning and negatively affects their health and longevity.
Even though we’re all getting more informed about the need for sleep, some stubborn myths persist. Here are five bits of commonly dispensed advice that you should not fall for.
1. A nightcap is a great sleeping pill. Sure, alcohol has been shown to help people fall asleep faster. Drink a little too much, and you’ll be out hard. But, ultimately, alcohol does the opposite of promoting healthy rest. If you are reaching for more two or more drinks immediately before sleep, especially if you do it regularly, it can lead to wake-ups in the middle of the night, fitful dreams, and low quality, restless sleep. In a recent book, The Mystery of Sleep: Why a Good Night’s Rest is Vital to a Better, Healthier Life, Yale University professor and sleep medicine expert Meir Kryger, M.D., explains how alcohol ultimately undermines sleep: “[W]hen the blood alcohol level drops, it activates the sympathetic nervous system, which wakes the person up, speeds up the heart, and might cause sweating and headaches.” Kryger recommends not going to sleep until the alcohol has disappeared from our system. It takes the body an hour to metabolized an ounce of alcohol, which is the equivalent of two 12-ounce servings of beer, two 5-ounce glasses of wine, or two 1.5-ounce servings of distilled spirits.
2. The older you get, the less sleep you need. Even though older adults get less sleep, it is not because they do not need it—it’s because they have a hard time getting it. There’s a difference between the two. Older adults “do not have a reduced sleep need, but rather, an impaired ability to register and/or generate that unmet sleep need,” according to the researcher who studies the sleep of older adults, Matthew P. Walker, the senior author of a recent article on older adults and sleep, “Sleep and Human Aging,” and a UC Berkeley professor of psychology and neuroscience. Sleep medicine experts recommend that older adults need 7 to 9 hours of restful sleep. While aging-related conditions may make sleep less easy, older adults should not resign themselves to getting it. Their ability to delay the onset of various diseases depends on it.
3. Exercise wears you out and promotes sleep. This can be true, but not of all workouts at all times. A physically active life in general does lead to getting better rest. Both healthy sleep and exercise are fountains of youth. But aerobic exercise close to the desired bedtime is only bound to wake you up. If you have to exercise in the evening, keep the heart rate lower and stick to the more sleep-inducing strength training or yoga workouts.
4. Falling asleep in a total silence is ideal. This really depends on the person. Since total silence is a scarce commodity, for many there’s nothing like the soothing blanket of consistent white noise to mask unpredictable ambient noises such as people talking outside your apartment or a partner’s occasional snoring.
5. We cannot control our dreams. Thanks to the fascinating research done by Harvard University psychologist and sleep researcher Deirdre Barrett, we may have more control over our dreams (including nightmares!) thank we think. Learn about her idea of dream incubation ad invite calm and happy dreams into your bed.
Well…. So much for the myths. The bits of common wisdom—that your mattress should be comfortable and properly sized, that your bedroom should be slightly cool and dark, that your bedtime should be free from exposure to electronic screens, and other aspects of healthy sleep hygiene—remain true, ready to lull you to sleep.
Agnes Green is a researcher for the sleep science hub Tuck (www.Tuck.com). She holds two master’s degrees in the social sciences from the University of Chicago and Northwestern University. She sleeps best after a kettlebell workout, with a window slightly cracked in a dark room, and on a medium-firm mattress in Portland, Oregon.
