CHEESE WON’T CAUSE NIGHTMARES... AND OTHER MYTHS EVERYONE BELIEVES

DRINKING a cup of hot cocoa before bed is a bad idea. Having anything just before bed, especially sugary, milky drinks, will kick your digestive processes into action, when they’re not prepared for it, signalling to your brain that you need to be awake.

IF you pledge to get eight hours but don’t manage it, it’ll only increase stress, which is terrible for sleep.

Requirements are different, depending on lifestyle and stage of life. Studies done with the Hadza, hunter gatherers from Tanzania, who live a pre-industrial lifestyle, show that they only get about 6.5 hours of actual sleep a night and seem to function fine on that.

COUNTING sheep is supposed to distract your mind from anxieties at night but it’s far too simple to be genuinely distracting. Attempt something more complex instead. Perhaps try to count back from 1,000, minusing seven each time (993, 986, 979 etc).

THERE is no evidence at all that eating cheese causes nightmares. University of Surrey researchers asked 200 men to eat cheese every night for a week and record their dreams. There was no evidence of increased nightmares.