Everyone has the odd sleepless night, but a third of people have less than 6 hours sleep per night, which is less than the 7 to 9 hours which is recommended. I am curious about the impact that sleep has on our lives and so I have explored seven fun facts about sleep to test their basis in science.
1. Does wearing socks in bed help you to sleep?
Wearing socks in bed can improve cracked heels if you moisturise your feet before putting the socks on. Wearing socks can also reduce hot flushes and help you to get to sleep more quickly.
If you are thinking that wearing socks in bed is not very romantic, it may be better for your sex life than you think. Apparently having cold feet can impact your ability to enjoy yourself and sock wearing in bed has proven to be the answer!
2. Is having an afternoon nap a good idea?
Depends on how long you sleep for.
We have deeper and lighter sleep patterns in a course of a night and a full sleep cycles takes around 100 minutes. It usually cycles between 5 rounds of non-REM sleep which is the lighter sleep and deeper sleep which is known as REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep.
Short naps mean that you only enter the first couple of stages of sleep which can give you a boost of energy. Nap for too long and you could become sluggish when you wake up. It can also make it harder to sleep at night if you have napped for too long during the day. Excessive napping later in life has also been linked to cognitive decline, diabetes and high blood pressure.
3. Does taking a bath or shower before bed help you get to sleep?
Yes it does!
Having a bath which is 40–42.5 °C, up to an hour before bedtime is associated with improved sleep quality. This has been established across many research projects.
4. I’ll catch up on sleep at the weekend ….
No, you won’t!
Did you know that around 30% of workers in the United States have less than 6 hours sleep per night. This causes a sleep debt which brings on sleepiness, and a decline in performance. It also impairs memory, learning, immunity and your metabolism.
It’s quite common for people to believe that they can catch up on sleep at the weekend but it actually takes 4 days to recover 1 hour of lost sleep.
5. Does sleep affect your beauty?
Yes, it does!
Research carried out on behalf of Estée Lauder measured viscosity in the skin and the appearance of dark circles around the eyes in people with poor sleep. Repeated poor sleep quality was associated with ‘increased signs of intrinsic ageing, diminished skin barrier function and lower satisfaction with appearance.’
So, getting your beauty sleep is a thing!
6. If I have a coffee at 2pm, it will all be out of my system in the afternoon so my sleep won’t be affected.
Unlikely.
Caffeine is found in tea, coffee and some fizzy drinks. A cup of coffee contains between 95 and 200mg of caffeine, compared to 35-45mg in fizzy drinks and 14–60 mg in tea. Caffeine blocks Adenosine receptors in the brain. Adenosine is a sleep promoting chemical. The effects of caffeine is measured by its half-life. This ranges for between 4 and 6 hours for coffee and means that after 6 hours half of the caffeine could still be in your system. One study has shown that caffeine taken 6 hours before bedtime could reduce sleep time by an hour.
7. You grow out of sleepwalking
Not always!
Around 4% of adults sleepwalk and this can be caused by anxiety, sleep deprivation or stress. It usually occurs one or two hours after going to sleep.
For our tips on getting better quality sleep take a look at our previous article here.
If you want to understand more about the importance of sleep check out our previous blog here
You can also catch episode two of The My Wellbeing Show podcast where we interview sleep expert Giles Watkins here.
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