Everything that has to do with sleep habits has always generated a lot of controversy and cross opinions. Popular wisdom mixes with urban legends, leading to incorrect and even false claims. Answering questions such as what to do before going to sleep, what to eat, or what is the best posture to sleep is essential to developing good nighttime habits, sleeping well, and avoiding the consequences of not resting well for the Health.
Recent studies show that sleeping on your side is the best sleeping position, but why? What happens if I sleep in other postures? Next, at FastlyHeal, we explain everything so that you know how to find the correct posture and have much more vital dreams.
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You are sleeping on your side is the best option.
Although the exact reasons we should sleep are not yet known, we know the consequences of not doing so. Think that we will spend 1 of every three days of our lives in bed; seen in this way, it is understood the importance of having a good posture at bedtime, as well as maintaining a good posture in our daily life. Although it is very personal and some positions are better depending on the condition of each person, recent scientific studies help clarify how we should sleep.
According to researchers at Stony Brook University in New York, sleeping on your side stimulates the brain’s metabolism, helping to eliminate waste. 20% of our energy is spent in the brain, taking into account that, unlike other parts of the body, its destruction is not eliminated either by sweat or urine; there must be a system to clean the directing organ of our body.
The cerebrospinal flow purifies the brain; in addition to wrapping the brain inside the skull, this liquid passes through it, taking its waste, during the different phases of sleep. Other studies have shown that poor drainage of brain waste is linked to neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s.
Thus, sleeping on your side helps the brain to eliminate this waste, facilitating the passage of the flow through it.
Sideways yes, but which one.
Now that we know that we should sleep on our side, it is also essential to know which side we should sleep on, as there is a significant difference between doing it lying on the left or the right.
According to a study published in the specialized journal JAMA Internal Medicine, depending on which side the person sleeps on, differences in gastroesophageal reflux are found, comparable to factors such as having a late dinner or drinking alcohol. If you want to avoid nighttime reflux that causes heartburn problems, you should sleep on the left side of the body.
This position is also recommended as a preventive measure against low back pain; in this position, the back creates a curvature that relaxes the vertebrae. Although our legs are not perfectly aligned, we can improve our posture by placing a pillow between the knees.
The worst posture for sleeping
For all the reasons we have seen, sleeping on the side is the best posture to rest appropriately and wake up with a renewed body and mind; however, the posture as we sleep is a habit acquired over the years, and sometimes it is tough to change it. In addition to this, some people are comfortable in other positions and cannot fall asleep if they do not do it in this way, so it must be clear that personal comfort and physical conditions must prevail at bedtime of each person can lead to positions that are uncomfortable for other people.
But if there is a posture that we must avoid, since it is the worst way to sleep, it is stretched out face down. In this position, to breathe, our neck must be rotated for hours to modify the cervical curvature, causing neck pain. Lying in this position also increases the lumbar curvature, and the weight of our own body presses on the lungs, avoiding deep breaths.
This posture makes us more prone to cervical pain, tendonitis, and muscle and bone problems. This article is merely informative, at FastlyHeal .com we do not have the power to prescribe medical treatments or make any type of diagnosis. We invite you to see a doctor in the case of presenting any type of condition or discomfort.
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I am a Surgeon with a diploma in comprehensive ultrasound and surgical care residency, an area I am specializing in. During the exercise of my profession, I have realized the need for patients to know the diseases they suffer, and I can tell you that a large part of their complications is due to a lack of information. Being a health web writer allows me to transmit my experience, without borders, to all those readers eager for knowledge, educate them in the prevention of diseases and promote a healthy lifestyle.