If you’ve been sleeping on TikTok trends, you might not realize that across the internet, millions of people are stocking up on supplements like magnesium, eating kiwis before bed, or taping their mouths shut—all in pursuit of better sleep.
“Sleepmaxxing,” as the trend is called, is an umbrella term coined by social-media users to describe hacks that can maximize or improve sleep quality and quantity. “You can sort of think of it as a modified or upgraded version of sleep hygiene,” says Dr. Sam Kashani, a sleep medicine specialist and assistant clinical professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.
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Is it useful—or just another waste of time and money? “I think it’s a positive thing that people want to take measures to optimize their sleep,” he says. “But there’s a fine line between ‘healthy’ sleepmaxxing and being somewhat obsessive and hyper-fixated on sleep.”
Here’s what experts want people to know about the trend—including the point at which it goes too far.
What are the most popular sleepmaxxing strategies?
There’s no single way to practice sleepmaxxing. Rather, people combine the products, techniques, and strategies that work for them. Among the options:
Taking magnesium and melatonin supplements
Avoiding liquids for two hours before bed
Using a white-noise machine
Mouth-taping
Eating a kiwi before going to sleep
Using a weighted blanket or cooling pillow
Lowering bedroom temperature
Wearing a sleep mask
Showering one hour before bed
Meditating
Not setting an alarm clock
Wearing a sleep tracker
Are any of these hacks actually a good idea?
The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends adults get at least seven hours of sleep a night. If sleepmaxxing helps you hit that goal, experts generally consider it a net positive. “Celebrating the joy of sleep and the pleasure of sleep and striving to maximize our sleep quality are all wonderful things,” says Dr. Emerson Wickwire, section head of sleep medicine at the University of Maryland Medical Center. “To the extent that sleepmaxxing helps people dedicate time to their sleep and enjoy their sleep and improve their sleep, those are all very positive.”
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That said, a few strategies stand out as the most effective. Sleeping in a cool, dark, quiet, and uncluttered environment, for example, will likely help you snooze better. Wickwire recommends keeping your bedroom 60-68°F. Enjoy wearing a silk or weighted eye mask overnight? More power to you. Research suggests blackout curtains can similarly block out disruptive artificial and natural light. Cutting back on screen time before bed is also always a boon to health.
Plenty of anecdotal evidence, meanwhile—and some studies—suggest strategies like burying yourself under a weighted blanket or meditating can improve sleep. Yet these won’t be helpful to everyone. Exactly what works is an individual matter: “Some people may claim [certain hacks] solve all their sleep issues, while others might feel they have no effect on them,” Kashani says. “Every human is different.”
What about the weirder hacks?
Few sleepmaxxing strategies are backed by science. Take the idea that you need to snack on a kiwi before getting under the covers: “Eating more fruits and veggies is wonderful,” Wickwire says. “But in terms of sleep-specific benefits, we lack data to answer these questions conclusively.” It’s not going to hurt you, but there’s no reason to believe a kiwi will lead to the best sleep of your life, either.
While some people find showering before bed helps calm their mind, there’s no scientific reason to do so exactly one hour before turning in. “I personally think you should shower when it makes sense for you in terms of your work day,” says Dr. James Rowley, a sleep specialist and professor of medicine at Rush University System for Health. He’s a morning showerer, but acknowledges that lots of people prefer to shower in the evening. “That’s fine, if it works for your lifestyle—but I don’t think it’s going to help you sleep better,” he says.
White-noise machines are also up for debate. Some studies suggest they can drown out annoying sounds, while increasing the amount of time spent asleep. Yet there are downsides, too: A recent research review found that these machines can generate sounds so loud, they could damage hearing, especially among young children. Plus, people sometimes get so used to white noise, they can’t sleep without it.
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Another sleepmaxxing strategy involves not setting a morning alarm, instead waking up naturally. Aside from the fact that this isn’t logistically feasible for many who’d prefer to remain employed, it won’t necessarily improve health or sleep—and could do the opposite. “I don’t know where that [idea] comes from,” Rowley says. Having a regular wake-up time actually helps regulate your circadian clock, he adds, establishing a more stable sleep-wake cycle that promotes good rest.
Meanwhile, some sleepmaxxers report cutting off liquid intake two hours before bed so they don’t wake up needing to go to the bathroom. You shouldn’t dehydrate yourself if you’re actually thirsty, experts say. Rather, if you’re waking up to pee so often that it’s interrupting your sleep, talk to your doctor. There might be an underlying medical issue at play, Rowley says.
Should I start taking melatonin or magnesium supplements?
There’s no good evidence that magnesium is a reliable sleep aid. “It’s not doing anything for you,” Rowley says—unless your blood work indicates you’re actually deficient and need it for, say, nerve and muscle function. Otherwise, “If you don’t need magnesium, why should you take extra magnesium?”
Rowley also advises skipping melatonin. While it can help people who have circadian rhythm disorders, it’s not very helpful for those with insomnia, he says. The supplement can lead to side effects like nausea, dizziness, headaches, rashes, nightmares, and gastritis. If you’re determined to try it, start small: 1 to 5 mg taken two to four hours before bedtime is “probably more than sufficient for the average person,” Rowley says.
Is it really a good idea to tape my mouth shut?
One of the more peculiar sleepmaxxing techniques involves taping your mouth shut with special adhesive, so you’re forced to breathe through your nose. TikTokers claim it prevents snoring and leads to better sleep—but doctors are skeptical. “There is no good evidence that mouth taping does anything,” Rowley says. “I’ve had one or two patients get mad at me because I wouldn’t endorse it for them. I’m like, ‘Sorry, I just can’t.’”
Mouth taping could obstruct breathing, lead to a dry mouth, irritate your lips, and generally make sleep less comfortable. Plus, it could exacerbate sleep apnea, Rowley says—so if you’re snoring often, you’re better off ditching the tape and scheduling a doctor’s appointment.
Is it possible to get too fixated on sleep?
Sleepmaxxing enthusiasts are all about using wearables like an Apple Watch or Oura Ring to track stats such as sleep duration and sleep stage. Yet these devices can lead to an unhealthy obsession with achieving perfect slumber, says Dr. David Benavides, a sleep medicine specialist at Harvard Medical School and Mass General Brigham. There’s even a name for it: orthosomnia.
“The data from these sleep trackers can perpetuate the cycle, where it paradoxically leads to worse sleep quality and insomnia-like symptoms,” he says. “The problem is that if you’re so fixated and anxious about getting to sleep, you’ll end up not getting to sleep,” instead tossing and turning as you ruminate over the distressing fact that you’re still awake and ruining your incoming data report.
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Benavides has seen an increasing number of patients with orthosomnia; many bring in their wearable devices, worried they’re not getting enough hours of REM sleep or wondering why their device says they woke up three times during the night. He points out that there’s variability in these algorithms. Plus, while wearables can guess which sleep stage you’re in, only a lab-based brain-wave study can confirm it.
“Stop obsessing about your sleep,” Kashani says. “Your body wants to sleep and will sleep, as long as you don’t let your mind get in the way.” Adopting a 12-step routine full of fancy tricks and hacks simply isn’t necessary. If you don’t have any sleep problems, you don’t need to employ these strategies, he says—and if you are having trouble sleeping, talk to your doctor. “We can be a lot more helpful than Instagram and TikTok,” Kashani says.