Sleep is crucial to our well-being. Despite it being so important, there are still countless misconceptions regarding sleep. These misconceptions can lead to poor sleep habits, which can have a negative impact on our overall health. From the belief that we can’t drink caffeine during the day to watching TV can help you fall asleep, we will explore these popular sleep myths below!
You can’t drink caffeine during the day
A lot of people have the idea that if you drink caffeine during the day, you won’t be able to get to sleep at night. While for some this may be true, it really depends more on what time you’re drinking your caffeinated beverages. Your cortisol levels are generally lower from mid to late morning, so that’s the best time to have your cup of coffee or energy drink. It’s important to note that your body needs around 6 hours to burn off the caffeine before you head to bed, so it’s best to drink it only in the mornings.
And remember, even if you’re drinking caffeine at the recommended time, you still may be consuming too much! The FDA recommends no more than 400 milligrams a day. This is about four or five cups of coffee, which generally is not associated with any dangerous or negative health effects. This entirely depends on the person and how fast their body metabolizes caffeine, though!
You can’t become dependent on sleep medications
This is wildly inaccurate! And unfortunately, most people are not aware of the harmful effects that come with prescription sleep medications. Besides the unfortunate side effects that may come with taking prescription sleep medications (drowsiness, impaired balance, nausea, mental impairment, etc) dependency often comes along with it. This usually occurs for a few reasons, one of them being that these medications can be abused very easily, and are most of the time readily available. This abuse can lead to physical and mental dependence. If you find yourself relying on sleeping pills to be able to fall asleep at night, there is a great chance that you may be struggling with dependency. Some common symptoms of this are body spasms, insomnia, anxiety, irritability, confusion, sweating, increased heart rate, vomiting, and nausea. Although it’s more common than you think, it can be very dangerous to have a dependency on prescription sleep medications.
If you find yourself wary of prescription sleep medications but are still looking for some extra help to get to sleep at night, sleep supplements might be what you need. Relaxium Sleep is a safe, non-habit forming, and drug-free sleep aid. It has been clinically studied to be very effective in treating sleeplessness. Relaxium Sleep will allow you to fall asleep quicker, stay asleep longer, and wake up feeling extra refreshed.
Your body can function well on little amounts of sleep
It’s recommended that adults are getting somewhere between seven to nine hours of sleep each night. But many are under the impression that you can function on much less sleep than that. This is definitely not true, and only getting little amounts of sleep can have many negative health implications. In fact, getting too little sleep is actually categorized as a sleep disorder. Sleep deprivation is most simply defined as the situation or condition of suffering from lack of sleep. Common symptoms that occur from sleep deprivation include: daytime sleepiness and fatigue, increased moodiness, increased risk of accidents, changes to one’s metabolism, decreased attention span, and a weakened immune system. Lack of sleep impacts cognitive function and focus. Your body really can’t function normally when you’re only getting a few hours of sleep at night!
There’s no such thing as oversleeping
Although sleep is so important to your body and well-being, oversleeping can certainly be a problem for some people. Oversleeping can be caused by various health conditions, such as different sleep disorders, depression, anxiety, or even obesity. The amount of sleep you get each night may vary person to person, but there are some signs that you may be oversleeping. According to The Sleep Foundation, in addition to sleeping for more than nine hours at night, other common symptoms include excessive napping during the day, frequent headaches, and excessive daytime sleepiness.
Snoring is harmless
You may think that snoring, although bothersome, is harmless. In some cases, this isn’t true. Snoring can actually be a sign that someone is struggling with a sleep disorder. This sleep disorder, known as sleep apnea, is a condition in which your breathing stops and restarts multiple times throughout the night. This is usually accompanied by loud, and sometimes disruptive, snoring.
Besides sleep apnea, there are also some severe health effects that can come from long-term snoring. Some of these are heart attack, stroke, diabetes, or decreased blood oxygen levels.
Watching TV before bed can help you fall asleep
Watching TV before bed actually does quite the opposite! It is actively stimulating your mind, keeping you awake for even longer. It also messes with your natural circadian rhythm, as the blue light that comes from our screens is the same as the sun. That bright light from the TV may help you wake up in the mornings, but it negatively impacts your natural rhythms at night. Screen time at night is only growing in popularity. A study done by The National Sleep Foundation found that 44 percent of those who are age 50 and older look at screens at bedtime, and 71 percent of those younger than 50 look at screens at bedtime.
It’s important to debunk these popular sleep misconceptions. By recognizing and correcting the misconceptions, we can work to improve our overall sleep hygiene and get the sleep our body’s deserve!
To restful and healthy days ahead,
The Relaxium Team
* These statements have not been evaluated by the Food & Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease
Sources:
[1] Spilling the Beans: How Much Caffeine is Too Much? (fda.gov)
[2] When Is the Best Time to Drink Coffee? (healthline.com)
[3] Oversleeping (sleepfoundation.org)[4] National Sleep Foundation’s Sleep in America Poll (thensf.org)