Doctor shares five bad habits that ruin your sleep - including drinking water

20 July 2023 , 20:37

605     0

A popular social media doctor has shared his top tips on getting a good night's sleep (Image: Getty Images)

Struggling with sleep seems all too common nowadays, with many of us having issues when it comes to nodding off. But one doctor has shared five common mistakes we might be making when it comes to getting a good night's rest.

Dr Karak Rajan boasts millions of followers on social media, sharing his medical knowledge to help users better understand their bodies and how to help them. He's shared a top list of five things you might be doing which are ruining your sleep.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends getting plenty of rest. More than seven hours per night is extremely important for our overall help, they advise.

Not getting enough sleep can increase your risk for certain diseases and disorders by weakening the immune system as well as brain function, says The National Institutes of Health. Not to mention the impact lack of sleep has when it comes to exacerbating mental illness and mood disorders.

There are five common habits we might be doing which ruin our sleep (Getty Images)

In a recently resurfaced TikTok video, Dr Rajan recounted the bad habits. In the end, the video racked up hundreds of thousands of views.

'I stopped drinking booze on dates and it made life much more exciting'

Opening the clip, he said: "Your sleep is being ruined by five common habits." Here are the five tips he shared with his viewers:

1. Eating before bed

Dr Rajan warns that eating a large amount of food before bed can have a negative impact on your sleep. It increases your chances of indigestion in the middle of the night.

"It takes 90 minutes for 50 per cent of your stomach to empty into the small intestines, so the more full your stomach is, the higher the chance of acid reflux," he said.

Instead, Dr Rajan suggests waiting two to three hours before going to sleep after a large meal.

2. Downing water before bed

Staying hydrated is something a lot of us will be guilty of neglecting. But you might want to rethink that huge bottle of water next to your bed.

During sleep our body produces a hormone which retains water and suppresses the need to pee (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

During sleep, the body increases the production of the hormone ADH. This "retains water and suppresses your need to pee," explained Dr Rajan.

"If you drink lots of water before bed, it can suppress the production of ADH [hormone] - so you pee more, and you wake up more and it ruins your sleep," he continued.

3. Your bed is too cosy

While there's little else that feels as comforting as being cosy in bed, it could be that you're just a tad too cosy. It's actually important to keep cool if you want to get your full eight hours.

Dr Rajan showed a graph in the video, revealing how peak body temperature typically hits at 7pm. After this, it drops, prompting drowsiness.

Staying too cosy at night could be impacting your sleep (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

But if your room or bed is too warm, it can disrupt this natural cycle. He explained: "There's an increased production of melatonin. Basically, our body needs to become cooler to sleep faster."

Heroic bystanders chase off attacker who dragged teen through alley to rape her

4. One too many drinks

If you're planning on having a nightcap after a long day before you head to bed, you might want to rethink that decision. Alcohol can have an effect on the type of sleep you're having, and therefore the quality.

"Alcohol messes up your REM sleep," Dr Rajan explained. REM is the sleep cycle where you have dreams.

Booze often makes us "pass out" fast, causing us to linger for longer in the first stage of REM. This throws your sleep cycle out of whack, making you wake up at odd times of the night.

5. Caffeine prior to bed

Dr Rajan's final tip was to avoid sources of caffeine several hours before bed. And this doesn't just mean coffee.

Caffeine can block a neurotransmitter called adenosine. This is the molecule that makes you feel tired.

"Caffeine doesn't make you more alert," he explained. "It just makes you feel less sleepy, because it prevents the accumulation of the sleep molecule."

Fiona Leishman