Which is better, Sleeping on your side left or right? These Are The Amazing Benefits Of Sleeping On Your Side

Sleep is a human activity that plays a very important role. During sleep, our bodies will balance and regulate vital organ systems. This will affect the respiratory tract, blood circulation in the body, brain growth, and the immune system. Sleep is also very much needed by our brains because our brains work when other parts of the body are resting. 

 

Therefore, sleeping with adequate time according to age and daily activities is very important. 

 

Six to 13 year olds like us on average need 9-11 hours of sleep at night. That time is needed by the body to carry out the activities of regulating vital organ systems during our sleep. 

 

It would be better if we sleep well and with good quality. For example, keeping the room temperature cool and conditioning a dark room. Because the room is light and dark in the bedroom too, this is very influential also for your health. 

 

Besides sleeping time and sleep quality, there are ways we can get other health benefits while sleeping, namely our sleeping position. 

 

Best positions sleeping

 

There are various sleeping positions. Among other things, on your back or facing up, prone, tilted to the left or right. Of the various sleeping positions, some people prefer to sleep on their right or left side. Regardless of the tastes of each person, each sleeping position has its benefits and drawbacks. 

 

Launching Medical News Today, the National Sleep Foundation says sleeping on your back is the healthiest sleeping position. The benefits of sleeping on your back are to keep your neck and spine in a neutral position. That way, pain in both areas can be prevented. Back sleep is most recommended for newborns and children. This position can prevent sudden infant death syndrome. 

 

However, the supine sleeping position is not suitable for everyone. 

 

Quoting from the Sleep Doctor website, a person's sleeping position preferences can be influenced by age, gender, and health conditions. The following is a further explanation of the benefits of sleeping on your left or right side from a health aspect. 

 

Benefits of sleeping on your side 

Sleeping on your side left or right

Side sleeping is the second best sleeping position after lying on your back or facing up. Launching the Sleep Doctor, in general, the benefits of sleeping on your side are said to be more effective in helping clean brain waste, compared to sleeping on your back or stomach. 

 

As is well known, brain waste such as toxins to protein need to be removed regularly to prevent Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and dementia. In addition, side sleeping positions are also recommended for people who have snoring sleep disorders and sleep apnea. 

 

Outside these conditions, sleeping on your right or left side has its respective benefits. 

 

Benefits of sleeping on your left side 

 

Several studies reveal, there are several benefits of sleeping to the left for health. 

 

Sleeping to the left can reduce the symptoms of acid reflux, especially at night. People with acid reflux can benefit from sleeping on your left side because the stomach is positioned below the esophagus. 

 

With this position, gravity can more quickly return stomach acid that rises back into the stomach. Acid reflux often recurs at night due to improper sleeping position, or lifestyle such as eating too close to the sleep schedule. 

 

We can also try sleeping on the left side to get relief, and prevent snoring. Because the sleeping position facing to the left opens the airway, keeping the tongue and throat muscles in a neutral position. 

 

Lying on the left side is also said to improve digestive problems, by reducing the burden on the liver (liver). This condition will stimulate the flow of bile, and increase nutrient absorption. 

 

John Douillard, a practitioner of Ayurveda (Indian health science), explained that the left side of the body is the dominant lymphatic side. He explained that the majority of the body's lymph fluid flows into the thoracic duct, which is located on the left side of the body. Therefore, John Douillard believes sleeping on your left side will stimulate the removal of toxins from the lymph nodes. 

 

Researchers have also found that sleeping on the left side will help the brain filter "waste" and may even help prevent certain health disorders. It is said, serious conditions such as Alzheimer's can be prevented by sleeping on the left side. 

 

Alzheimer's is a disease that results in decreased memory and thinking abilities of the brain, which usually occurs in elderly people. 

 

Sleeping position on the left side is also believed to improve blood circulation throughout the night. This is because sleeping on the left side will put pressure on the vena cava (the largest blood vessel in the body), which is located on the right side of the body, thus supplying more blood to the side of the heart. 

 

Waste from the small intestine is excreted through the ileocecal valve (ICV) on the right side of the body to the end of the large intestine.

 

The large intestine moves to the right side of the stomach across the stomach, where it throws waste into the colon on the left side. Colon (large intestine) is the part of the intestine between the appendix and rectum. The main function of this organ is to absorb water from feces. 

 

Sleeping on your left side allows gravity to force food to move more easily from the small intestine to the large intestine via the ICV valve. Throughout the night when we continue to sleep facing to the left, the waste in the stomach will move more easily to the colon. 

 

With the help of gravity and a good night's sleep facing the left side, the colon is fully filled, and we can get rid of the leftover waste from the body in the morning. 

 

In addition, pregnant women are also advised to sleep on their left side. Pregnant women can benefit from sleeping on their left side to increase blood flow to the placenta. 

 

In general, sleeping on your left side is said to help with digestive health. 

 

Benefits of sleeping on your right side 

 

Not only sleeping on your left side, research also shows the benefits of sleeping on your right side for health. 

 

Studies show that sleeping on your right side has benefits including: 

 

Can decrease nervous system activity, so that heart rate and blood pressure can decrease. Some scientists also argue that people naturally tend to sleep on their right side as they age. 

 

This was done to protect heart health. The heart is in the left position so that the process of blood circulation distribution will be smoother. If your sleeping position is on your left side, then other organs in the body will fall on and put a load on the heart. 

 

With this position it can also prevent the tongue from falling to the base which can irritate the respiratory tract. In addition, if you sleep on your back, the tongue will indirectly cover the respiratory tract. 

 

Sleeping on your right side can also throw your stomach at rest. If the sleeping position is on your left side, it will directly slightly interfere with the performance of the stomach during gastric emptying. This will greatly affect the increase in acid accumulation which causes erosion of the stomach wall. 

 

In addition, there is another study that states that people with heart failure tend to avoid sleeping on their left side. 

 

also read : While asleep Add Spirit At Work Make Build

 

Sleeping on your left or right? , Which one is better? 

 

Apart from the individual benefits of sleeping on your side, this position has its drawbacks. Pressure while sleeping on your side can make your face wrinkle faster than sleeping on your back. In addition, sleeping on your side can interfere with blood circulation in the arms. It can cause discomfort, tingling, to make people wake up from sleep. 

 

Things to remember, sleeping on your left or right side both have their respective pluses and minuses. A number of experts also agree that every sleeping position is basically good, as long as it can create quality sleep. 

 

Sleep is considered quality if a person is able to sleep soundly, is refreshed when he wakes up in the morning, and can relax and focus throughout the day.