Dubai, United Arab Emirates (CNN) — Most of us practice poor sleep habits without knowing it, which can lead to serious health consequences.
How do you accumulate your beliefs about sleep?
Fact or myth? If you lie in bed long enough, you will fall asleep
This is a myth, and when it comes to poor sleep habits, experts say it counts.
Lying in bed, even with your eyes closed, for more than 15 to 20 minutes is one of the worst things you can do, as it will train your brain to associate bed with lack of sleep.
It can lead to chronic insomnia, Michael Grandiner, a clinical psychologist and sleep expert, told CNN in a previous interview.
“Spending time awake in bed turns the bed into a dentist’s chair,” said Grandner, who directs the Sleep and Health Research Program at the University of Arizona and the Behavioral Sleep Medicine Clinic at Banner University Medical Center in Arizona.
“You want the bed to be like your favorite restaurant, where you walk in and start getting hungry, even if you’ve eaten recently,” he added.
Fact or myth? You shouldn’t check your smartphone if you wake up at night
This is a fact. Experts say banning smartphones (or any electrical device that emits blue light) from the bedroom an hour or so before bed and throughout the night is a must to get a good night’s sleep.
The light tells the body to stop producing melatonin, a natural sleep aid. Studies have shown that blue light is particularly harmful to sleep.
So, when you get out of bed after 20 minutes of insomnia, avoid bright light, watch TV, or browse social media.
Instead, try dim the lights and do an exercise to calm your mind and prepare yourself for sleep.
Fact or myth? Do not allow your dog or cat to sleep in your bed
And not so long ago, the answer from any sleep expert was absolutely yes, that your dog or cat should never be allowed to sleep in your bed. But today, some experts see the benefits of cuddling in bed with your favorite pet, at least for a select group of people.
“For people with anxiety, depression or PTSD, having a bed companion may be helpful in promoting sleep,” said sleep specialist Dr. Raj Dasgupta, associate professor of clinical medicine at the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine.
Studies have shown that children, too, may sleep well with a pet.
But light sleepers may find that their sleep is disturbed by waking up every now and then, which can be detrimental to health.
In these cases, pet owners may find that they need to keep pets on the floor at night or prevent them from entering the bedroom altogether.
Fact or myth? Exercising in the evening disrupts sleep
This is a myth that was true in the past, Dasgupta said.
He explained, “Now the data shows that exercising at any time is better than not exercising, because of its medical benefits, and its help in reducing stress, which helps sleep.”
“The data on not exercising at night is related to strenuous exercise such as Olympic aerobics,” he added.
And if exercising at night is affecting your sleep, experts suggest exercising early in the evening until your heart rate and body temperature return to normal.
“If you ask me when is the ideal time to exercise, I think it would be in the morning and outside in broad daylight. It resets the circadian rhythm and starts the day actively,” Dasgupta said, adding, “But if nightly exercise is best for you, that’s fine. with that.”
Fact or myth? You can make up for sleep on weekends
Who does not believe this? Unfortunately, science says we are wrong. We may feel better after falling asleep on a Saturday or Sunday morning, but that will come at the expense of our overall sleep health, experts say.
By changing your wake-up time and bedtime during the weekends (or from day to day), your sleep rhythm cannot be predicted, which can alter your body’s circadian rhythm.
“You want to build a reliable rhythm, much like a drummer who calculates the beat of a band, and by controlling when you get up and go to bed, you tune the beat,” Grandner explained.
Conquer this myth by going to bed and waking up at the same time every day, even on weekends, vacations, or after a night of poor sleep.