At Trouble Sleeping, we will never complain about people being ‘sleep obsessed’ or any mania connected with sleep (to a certain extent!). However, it seems important to address and discuss a new TikTok wellness craze called sleepmaxxing.
If you have sleep problems or are dealing with disrupted sleep, we appreciate that you may want some quick tips or accessible sleep improvement ideas. But, it is always better to proceed with caution when it comes to hacks or crazes, and take the time to fully understand them first.
In this post, Dr Lindsay Browning explores exactly what sleepmaxxing is all about, why it has become a popular TikTok trend and what you should be aware of.
What is sleepmaxxing?
Sleepmaxxing is a TikTok trend where people post content about tips and tricks in videos about how to improve sleep. Effectively, it all about maximising your sleep, both in terms of quality and quantity, also tagged as ‘sleep maxing tips’.
The sleep improvement tips that are posted are often proposed to be unusual or unknown ‘sleep hacks’.
Are the tips any good?
Although promoting ways to improve your sleep may sound great (it’s literally my job after all!), the reality is that few things are going to really improve your sleep that can be delivered in a quick 30-second video.
Everybody wants quick or easy fixes. I get that. Unfortunately, just like getting a six pack isn’t as easy as rubbing a cream into your belly and instead you need to put the work in and regularly exercise and watch your diet, etc., over a long period of time…and so improving your sleep in reality necessitates lifestyle changes and putting the work in. Something as simple as taking a particular supplement, drinking a particular sleepy tea or doing a particular relaxation exercise is not often the complete answer.
Lots of the sleepmaxxing tips and tricks may help some people to some extent, but they are unlikely to be significant enough to overcome someone’s severe sleeping problems, such as insomnia.
Sleepmaxing shouldn’t be a replacement for a scientifically backed, evidence-based, proven treatments.
Why has it become a TikTok trend? Why is it so popular?
Quick 30 second videos are easy to understand and offer tangible small-scale tips that may feel achievable to people. It’s why TikTok is so successful.
Videos about sleepmaxxing lend themselves to this format.
They are popular because everyone likes to scroll through TikTok, or IG Reels or You Tube shorts. These type of short form videos offer a quick dopamine hit, where you feel you have achieved something in a small space of time.
You might feel optimistic and energised to try a new ‘sleep hack’ that promises to help you sleep better that very same night.
Many people within insomnia feel like they have “tried everything” to improve their sleep and may feel hopeful when they watch a video about something they actually haven’t tried before.
The reality is that cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia is the recommended treatment for insomnia.
While basic advice like reducing caffeine intake and avoiding screens before bed (i.e. good sleep hygiene) can be helpful, true CBT-I involves structured interventions that many people have not actually tried.
Are there any benefits of sleepmaxxing?
Arguably, anything that helps people to think about their sleep and wants to improve it is a good thing.
Many people aren’t getting enough sleep and often that’s because they are simply not prioritising their sleep, instead spending time staying up late to do work or socialise. Some are just not spending enough time in bed to be able to get the recommended 7 to 9 hours sleep per night.
For others, they know that sleep is important but struggle to fall asleep or stay asleep during the night and, therefore, they may find some of the tips and tricks suggested helpful to give them something to do when they are struggling to sleep.
What sleep max tips and hacks have been shared?
Do they work?
Popular sleep maxing techniques include magnesium supplements, weighted blankets, white noise machines, the sleepy girl cocktail, eating kiwis before bed, mouth taping, the military sleep method and wearing socks in bed.
Let’s address two of the most popular: mouth taping and sleepy girl mocktails, including magnesium.
Mouth taping
Nasal breathing is generally considered better than mouth breathing when sleeping, as it helps humidify the air through the nasal passages, and may reduce snoring and prevent a dry mouth.
However, using tape to keep the mouth shut and to force nasal breathing can be risky.
If you restrict breathing through the mouth then, if the airway through the nose becomes blocked, such as because of nasal congestion, the person will be unable to breathe properly.
Stopping mouth breathing therefore does not solve problems caused by nasal congestion or undiagnosed sleep apnoea and can lead to difficulty breathing in the night, potentially worsening the problems, and means that the underlying cause is not resolved.
Also, the mouth tape itself can cause skin irritation and also can lead to anxiety if the person wakes and is stressed and confused that they can’t breathe through their mouth.
If you experience snoring and an uncomfortable dry throat due to mouth breathing, it is best to speak to a healthcare professional to address the underlying causes rather than relying on mouth taping, which may lead to further problems.
Sleepy girl mocktail
The sleepy girl mocktail is a social media trend where people create special drinks to have before bed that they suggest helps them with their sleep.
Often the drink is made with magnesium (usually in powder form), as well as other juices and fruits thought to help sleep. Common ingredients includes tart cherry juice or kiwi juice, and herbal teas, such as chamomile and lavender.
Although there are some associations between some of these ingredients and better sleep, the links are generally weak and from small scale studies.
Magnesium has been associated with improved sleep but improvements are generally only seen when someone has a magnesium deficiency to start with. That means, taking additional magnesium when your magnesium levels are already at a healthy level has not been found to particularly help sleep.
Additionally, drinking excessive magnesium can lead to issues, such as diarrhoea. Be warned that some of the sleepy girl mocktail recipes contain high doses of magnesium. In particular, people with kidney issues should avoid magnesium supplements without medical supervision.
Overall, as long as you are not taking excessive amount of magnesium, the sleepy girl mocktail is unlikely to be harmful for most people (except for those with kidney issues). However, it is unlikely to be particularly effective either. More studies are necessary to determine if any of the ingredients are truly effective for improving sleep. So, do be cautious.
Scientific evidence regarding kiwi and cherry juice and sleep
A small scale study (of 24 people) found that people who ate 2 kiwi fruits before bed had improved sleep. However, this is a very small study and larger scale studies are needed before we can draw string conclusions about the efficacy of kiwi.
In another study, tart cherry juice showed a modest improvement in sleep for older adults (small sample size of 15). However, the improvement was less than that with more recommended interventions such as cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBT-I). Tart cherry juice (such as found in Montmorency cherries) contains tryptophan (which helps us produce melatonin) and melatonin (which help regulates sleep) and drinking some before bed may help sleep a little. As with the kiwi study, it is likely that the effect is fairly small (larger scale studies are needed).
What are the drawbacks of sleepmaxxing or following these trends?
The danger is that people may rely on these quick fixes rather than seeking professional help from a healthcare provider in order to actually resolve their sleeping issue. In summary:
- the tips may cause direct harm
- the tips may delay people seeking needed professional help
Most of these tips and tricks are not scientifically validated and, therefore, aren’t shown to be consistently reliably helpful for sleep.
For example, taking TikTok sleepmaxxing suggestions like magnesium supplements and mouth taping, as discussed above, as well as sleeping in socks, are not suggested by the NHS as recommended strategies when someone is struggling with their sleep.
The biggest negative about sleepmaxxing is that some of these tips and tricks may actually do harm to people either directly or by stopping people from speaking to a health professional and getting the actual help that they need to resolve their sleeping issue. For example, mouth taping may make sleep apnoea symptoms even worse.
Most of the people offering TikTok sleepmaxxing advice have no qualifications whatsoever for delivering such advice.
Final advice regarding sleepmaxxing tips and trends
We all want an easy fix to a problem without having to change a lot about what we do in our lives and without putting in much effort. Any easy quick fix is going to look really tempting.
The reality is that things that are consistently proven to help improve sleep are things like:
- having a regular bedtime and wake time
- having a good sleep environment, such as a cool dark and quiet bedroom
- avoiding caffeine within 6 hours of bed
- avoiding alcohol too near to bedtime
- addressing any stress or mental health issues.
Plus, if someone is really struggling they should speak to their GP to look at whether a deficiency, such as in iron, magnesium or vitamin D may be contributing to poor sleep or even a thyroid issue.
In addition, if somebody has untreated sleep apnoea, it puts them at a greater risk of stroke and heart attacks, as well as diabetes and obesity, daytime fatigue and increasing likelihood of road traffic accidents.
If somebody does not speak to a GP about their sleep and rule out medical causes and instead focuses on these sleep maxxing quick fixes, they may not get the treatment they need.