Episode 4: Debunking Sleep myths

What are the scientifically proven facts and which are myths we hold in regard to sleep ? Find out more in this episode. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:07

Hello everyone, welcome to the Sleep Lab Stories podcast. I'm Mirianne, your host of this podcast. If you're new, welcome. And I hope you subscribe and uh will have a good time with us on this platform. And if you're a returning guest, welcome back and thanks so much for keeping me company and for um choosing to be here again at this time. If you haven't subscribed, also as someone returning, please don't forget to do so. And also, if um this episode or any previous episodes resonate well with you, I encourage you to also share with people you think uh it can be helpful to. On today's episode, I'm going to um debunk some of the sleep meets we probably at some point have used or also had or jokingly um said or used in our daily life. Like I'll catch up sleep on the weekend, or um I'll I'll I I don't need much sleep, I just need five hours sleep or less, you know. Uh you're not alone for using or believing such myths. There are some convenient statements, or as I've already called them myth, but in most cases, um, they don't really reflect what our biological system, our body, really does. And today I'll delve a little bit in a few of the myths, or the ones I found that are a bit common, and try to give an explanation or rather um the bio the other side of the facts, like the myth and the facts that are going to probably change your mind about some of the things you say or do in regard to sleep. So, um before I go into that, I'd like to remind us one of the functions of sleep, not one, but the several the function of sleep in our body, it's not just for resting, but sleep also helps us to build memory, like to um it helps cement some memory, it helps us in regulating our mood, also in mental health and general health, actually, in terms of immunity, and also um the our general well-being, so the the state of sleep is not just a passive one, but a very active one because that's when most of these processes get to happen. It's a bit passive in terms of the energy expenditure from our side, but when it comes to the processes that happen, especially in the brain, there are quite active ones that actually do um need us to be in this state, or rather, the other functions of the body to kind of shut down in order for this to take place. I will share some of the biggest sleep meets and debunk them according to science. And the first one is uh I think I've already mentioned it, that you can catch up sleep, which is mostly we use it when we have a busy life, busy schedule, you find yourself during the week running, waking up early, going to bed late, and then you tell yourself I'll catch up on sleep over the weekend, you know. So the thing with sleep is when you lose sleep, you cannot catch up on that lost sleep, you know. Sleep doesn't work like uh credit we get from a bank where you get it and can repay it at a much later time. Unfortunately, with sleep we have to be consistent, what is lost is lost and can never be recovered, and the body does something which is adapting to this less sleep, but not in a positive way, means with time it gets used to this little slip and the little slip, and um that means also when this happens over time, certain functions decline, like memory, our reaction time, our emotional regulation, they just become a bit hard to to deal with once you your body get adapts to the um having less sleep, and on the other hand, whatever we call catching up on sleep, whenever we get to do that, which means sleeping longer or getting to lay longer in bed, the body also gets disrupted, which is in this case the circadian rhythm, the internal clock, which tells us when to go to bed and when to wake up, it gets disrupted, and then we get something that is described as a social jet lag. So we don't get to know, or rather, the body gets confused when to wake up, when to when to go to bed, and I think probably that's why for most people who have um um Monday, Friday work schedule and weekend resting, Mondays become a bit difficult to face. Maybe that could give you uh an explanation why that usually feels that that way for you. So it's better to keep a consistent sleep schedule than the shifting back and forth with one time catching up more and one time catching up less. You'd rather stay consistent with your schedule, especially the time you go to bed and the time you wake up, and also the amount of sleep you get. That way, your body gets to do its functions in its usual way without any disruptions. Because once a disruption happens, it doesn't really get to catch up on that. What's gone is gone. The cells that were not regenerated or cleaned up that time stay like the the them the body doesn't get to recover and do it twice as faster when you sleep longer, for instance. Another myth, commonly told, is uh the one of I only need five hours of sleep, and this is just to quantify the hours, but in most cases, I only need little sleep, and yeah, they're actually genetically people who do uh sleep short, but they account for a very little percentage, probably less than one percent of the total population. On average, people need about seven to nine hours of sleep, and this of course depends on many factors like age and sex, but um mostly the amount of time we need to sleep is um or rather uh it the amount of sleep we need also uh changes with age, but on average, this and seven to nine hours is what let me say a fully grown adult would need. Long-term effects of short sleep increases the risk of heart diseases. So if you get to sleep less and less over time, your risk of getting heart diseases, obesity, diabetic, and or and or depression actually increase, and sleeping less eventually um has the same effect like alcohol. The way when someone takes alcohol, they tend to snore, and um snoring in turn disrupts sleep, and then you get to sleep less because you're snoring, so you end up in this vicious cycle, and eventually, depending on how long that happens, one can develop sleep apnea and these other um conditions I've mentioned before, and so you you can see that the lesser you sleep, the weaker the muscles will get, especially in the um breathing airway, and that is why eventually this vicious cycle of snoring and uh disrupted sleep will happen, and in turn, this will also bring about the conditions like diabetic, which are very typical of sleep apnea or uh long-term effect of poor sleep. The third myth I would like to talk about is um also associated with the duration of sleep, which is more sleep is better. Much as little sleep is harmful, but too much sleep is also not better, and especially if this happens over a long time, if you notice that your body needs more than about let me say nine-ten hours over a long term, this could be an indicator that your sleep quality is actually not good, and it could also be an indicator of an underlying issue or issues, and especially if after such a long sleep, after laying down for nine more than nine or ten hours, you still feel tired or exhausted. So, watch out on that. That long sleep could not it does not necessarily translate to better, and you depending on how this quality of the long sleep feels like, you can get to consult a doctor if there could be an underlying issue. The next one is alcohol helps sleep. Yes, you might feel a bit sleepier and uh feel like you you're going to have a better sleep after taking alcohol, but alcohol actually disrupts the rapid eye movement phase of sleep, which is the sleep stage essential for memory consolidation and emotional processing. Not to mention the frequent awakenings that uh do happen when you take alcohol, and of course, if you already have conditions like snoring and sleep apnea, alcohol just worsens this. So, intake of alcohol does not help or does not make sleep better, and that's why probably uh you've ever noticed in case you take alcohol that mostly after you wake up after you took alcohol, you the sleep could have been long, but not as refreshing. The other myth is that screen helps uh falling asleep. It's also something that I think we've with the digital era we've gotten used to scrolling or going through our phones or tablets in bed before sleeping, and at times it gives the feeling that uh we do get to fall asleep with the screen, but screen does actually emit blue light, which suppresses the melatonin production, and that means the brain stays stimulated, making it hard to fall into deep sleep. The other myth is that sleep is passive. I think I mentioned a bit of this already at the beginning, but sleep is actually not a passive state, but a very active one for that matter. As this is the time the brain clears its waste, consolidates memory, regulates hormones, and also strengthen immunity. So, in case you've ever um felt or thought that uh sleep is act is passive, you could be right in the sense that your physical body doesn't get to do much, although with some sleep conditions uh we will talk about that later on. But in the real sense of it, sleep is actually very active, and this is um for the brain at a time that it does a lot of work, which we probably in the long term also get to experience. We'll leave it at that today, and I hope you've learned something, or you've learned one or two things from this episode. As a takeaway message, I hope um that you see or you learn that keeping a consistent sleep schedule is very very important, and also it's advisable to keep your sleep environment clean, calm, and um have a calming bed routine that doesn't necessarily involve screen and keep your room also cool and dark. Avoid exposure to artificial light, which yeah, is screen, because that, as I've already mentioned, in the evening hours especially, disrupts um the production of melatonin. Morning light, on the other hand, is a useful because it helps in regulating our circadian rhythm. So, as you go about your day, remember applying um some of these meets can be convenient, but the body doesn't really negotiate. You can do or say some of the things that uh we've mentioned here above as um meets like catching up sleep, it should feel convenient, but your baby body will eventually not negotiate what it lacks. If you found this episode helpful, please remember to subscribe or share with anyone you think might also benefit from it. I also encourage you to leave a comment below on what your views are regarding um the sleep meets, or if you also know any others that I haven't mentioned, I would be glad to read and know about them in the comments. So feel free to do so. And I know I didn't exhaust all of them, so I'll be glad to know what everyone from wherever part of the world you could be listening this from you hold as a myth in regard to sleep. So until next time, take care, have a good night, or have a good day, depending on the time of the day wherever you are, and remember to stay consistent with your sleep. Bye bye.