No… You Don’t Swallow 8 Spiders a Year. Plus Five More Sleep Myths We Still Believe.
You’ve probably heard this stat before: The average person swallows EIGHT SPIDERS a year in their sleep. But that’s not actually true. THANK GOD.
A writer named Lisa Holst started spreading the myth in 1993 to show how gullible we all are. Well done, Lisa. :\
A new survey on sleep myths found 1 in 5 Americans think the ‘eight spiders a year’ thing really does happen.
Here are the top five sleep myths we still believe!
Myth #1: Drinking alcohol before bed helps you sleep. 32% believe it, but it’s not true! It might knock you out. But alcohol messes with the quality of your sleep, so you wake up feeling less rested.
Myth #2: Leaving the TV on helps you fall asleep. 30% believe it, but the opposite is true. The blue light from your TV screen or phone actually keeps you up.
Myth #3: The older you get, the less sleep you need. 29% believe it. Teenagers should get up to nine hours of sleep, compared to seven or eight for the rest of us. But after that, it stays the same. You don’t need less sleep the older you get.
Myth #4: Some people just don’t dream. 25% believe it, but everyone dreams. You just might not remember them.
Myth #5: Sleeping on your left side helps with digestion. 25% believe it. A ton of articles online claim it’s true. But at best, it’s just a theory. There’s no real evidence it works.
