December 18th, 2019 by Chris Chapman

Sleep is a massive part of our lives – literally! If you get the recommended 7-9 hours of sleep a night, you’ll be spending around a third of every day fast asleep. As sleep is so important to all of us it’s easy to see why there’s so much misinformation going around regarding it, so we decided to clear up a few misconceptions with this article. Read on to learn the truth behind the five most common sleep myths!

1. Dreams Have Meaning

People have been looking for meaning in dreams for thousands of years. In ancient times, dreams were said to be a kind of magical vision that told the future; while in more recent decades, some have claimed dreams represent our subconscious desires. The truth, sadly, is a bit more boring!

While we sleep, our brains recharge and organise our memories for us, filing away important stuff and discarding the rest. To put it simply, this means that different parts of our brains get switched on and off through the night. It’s now believed that dreams are a side-effect of this process and that our dreams are basically a random collection of images, sounds, and feelings that our brain deals with while we sleep. As the human brain naturally searches for meaning and order in everything, we interpret these random things as a story! If you’re worried that your weird dream about turning into a duck means you’re going to have an accident at work or something, don’t worry – there’s nothing to it!

Dreams are nothing more than a random assortment of images, which is why they can be so strange!

2. You Shouldn’t Eat Before Bed

Almonds make for a good nighttime snack as they contain the sleep hormone melatonin

A common myth is that eating before bed is always a bad idea as it makes you gain weight. On the face of it, this one seems to make sense – if you eat and then lie in bed for 8 hours, you won’t be burning off those calories, right? Well, while there is a grain of truth in this one, the human body works a bit differently.

When it comes to bedtime snacking, when you eat isn’t as important as what you eat. The problem is, when we’re tired, we tend to reach for junk food as it’s usually easy and convenient. However, having a small, healthy snack with some melatonin-boosting properties (melatonin is the chemical that tells our brain to go to sleep) can actually be beneficial for sleep and weight loss as it helps us balance our calorie intake better. Try some lean turkey, avocados, almonds, or fruit rather than microwave meals and takeaways before bed and you might find it easier to doze off.

3. Less Sleep Makes You More Successful

The high-flying multi-millionaire who doesn’t have time for sleep is almost a cliché at this point – but it’s important to remember these people are the exception, not the rule! Winston Churchill might well have only needed 5 hours of sleep a night, but setting your clock to match his schedule will probably do more harm than good! The truth is that not getting enough sleep can harm your productivity in addition to causing a host of health problems such as heart disease and mental health difficulties, so it’s important you get the right amount of sleep.

So, how much sleep is enough? This depends on you! The recommended amount of sleep is between 7-9 hours a night for adults, but there will always be people who need slightly more or less sleep than this. If you’re one of them, don’t fret – just listen to your body and try and stay in a regular sleep schedule. If you’re not a morning person, don’t feel pressured to wake up at 4am for a workout unless it feels right!

4. A Nightcap Can Help You Sleep Better

This is another myth that has a grain of truth to it. Drinking alcohol before bed is thought to help you fall asleep faster, and this is actually true as alcohol does have a sedative effect. However, that’s only half the story! Falling asleep quickly doesn’t mean you’ll get a better quality of sleep – in fact, alcohol interferes with our natural sleep cycle in a way that will actually make you feel less rested when you wake up.

During the night, we cycle through several different stages of sleep. Alcohol – even a very small amount of it – can mess with your brain chemistry in a way that stops you cycling through these stages properly. As alcohol does help you fall asleep faster, it can trick you into thinking you’re getting a better sleep, but over time, the lack of proper rest will start to take its toll.

Alcohol before bed makes you fall asleep faster but it will reduce your overall sleep quality

5. Being Cold Helps You Sleep

Socks in bed are a great way to keep your feet cosy and help you sleep

Our bodies are run by an internal clock called the circadian rhythm. When it gets colder and darker, this helps our body recognise that it’s time for bed and starts to get ready for sleep. Also, our core body temperature naturally drops slightly while we sleep. Surely, then, a cold room equals a better sleep? The truth is actually a bit more complicated. You never want your room to be freezing cold, of course, but you should keep it a couple of degrees cooler than the rest of your home. However, there’s an extra wrinkle to this that’s worth knowing.

While our body temperature does have to drop for us to get ready for sleep, this doesn’t mean we have to actually be cold while we sleep – in fact, the opposite is true! When you get cosy in bed by using extra sheets or electric blankets, the blood vessels under your skin dilate. This means that heat can be moved around to your hands and feet and away from your core, which allows your core temperature to fall. This is why soaking your feet in hot water can make you drowsy, and why wearing socks in bed is a good idea! It sounds a bit backwards – you’re basically warming yourself up to cool yourself down – but keeping your hands and feet cosy in bed while your room is cooler is a great way to help you sleep!