A consistent sleep and wake window
A fixed sleep window beats anything you could buy in a bottle.
Strong consensus“Regularity beats duration in most of the data we have. The body loves to know what time it is.”
Topic hub
Sleep
Sleep is where the repair happens: memory, hormones, the nightly clean-up in the brain. The advice here is strikingly consistent and strikingly cheap: regularity first, capsules last.
4 verdicts · updated monthly
The verdicts in this hub
Answer first, label earned, receipt attached.
A cool bedroom, around 18 degrees
A cool room near 18 degrees deepens the slow-wave sleep that repairs you.
Recommended“Core temperature has to fall for sleep to begin. A cool room simply removes the obstacle.”
Nightly melatonin as a default
Our sources are genuinely split: an occasional tool, or a hormone best left alone.
Genuinely contested“Melatonin is a timing signal, not a sedative. Used as a nightly sledgehammer it often disappoints, and retail doses are far above what the pineal ever makes.”
Mouth taping at night
An early signal worth watching, once snoring and apnoea are ruled out.
An early signal“Nasal breathing at night is clearly worth encouraging. Whether tape is the right way to get there is a much smaller question than the internet suggests.”
The liveliest disagreement here
On nightly melatonin as a default, our sources are genuinely split.
One side
“Melatonin is a timing signal, not a sedative. Used as a nightly sledgehammer it often disappoints, and retail doses are far above what the pineal ever makes.”
a neurologist · podcast episode · 00:58:03
The other
“For the right person, low-dose melatonin timed a few hours before bed is one of the safest tools we have for shifting a late clock.”
a sleep medicine doctor · source video · 00:26:44
Still filling in
Our sources have not said much yet about sleep trackers, naps for shift workers, or snoring devices. As new material arrives each month, this hub will fill in.