What's the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning? For most of you it'll be to check your phone. According to Dr Karan Raj, though, that's the last thing you should be doing:
Dr Raj has become something of a viral sensation on TikTok amassing 2.9 million followers on the platform. He's given us a range of advice on topics ranging from how long you should nap for so as not to feel groggy to why you shouldn't make your bed in the morning.
Advert
Now, in a new video he's said: "Stop checking your phone as you wake up!"
Dr Raj goes onto explain: "When you wake up in the morning you transition from a delta brainwave of sleep to a theta brainwave.
"We need this theta brainwave... it helps the brain with learning, memory, problem solving.
"If you wake up check your phone... social media, messages, etc. you skip the theta brain wave and go straight into high stress beta brainwaves
Advert
"This altered brainwave pattern affects your performance for the rest of the day!"
Useful information indeed! And Raj has proven himself to be an oracle in what helps us sleep and how we can make sure we're performing well in our day to day lives.
In another recent video, he gave out some handy advice on how long we should take a nap for so that we feel reinvigorated and not too groggy.
Advert
He explained: "The 'Goldilocks nap'. Nap for 90 minutes. Ninety minutes allows you to cycle through all the sleep stages - that's one cycle of sleep.
"Any longer or shorter you risk sleep inertia, that feeling of grogginess.
"The best time to nap is between 1pm and 4pm. Sleeping any later will drop your adenosine levels too low so you won't feel sleepy at night.
"Adenosine is a sleep molecule, when it's high, we feel sleepy, when it's low, we feel alert. Sleeping reduces adenosine levels."
He also warned us against making our beds in the morning, although if we're honest that's advice we've been following religiously for years.
Advert
Your sheets can trap miniscule dust mites and leaving your bed unmade exposes them to air and sunlight, causing them to dehydrate and die.
Dr Raj said: "Making your bed in the morning traps dust mites that have accumulated over night. These microscopic predators, which are less than a millimetre long, feed on the scales of human skin and thrive in moist environments.
"When we sleep at night, our bodies become warm and sweaty, making them prime targets for these mites to feed on.
"They will leave behind excretions which can give us asthma or allergy-like symptoms.
Advert
"So making your bed in the morning traps all this moisture and provides a home for 1.5 million of these bad boys.
"Instead leave your bed messy just for a while. It exposes these mites to air and sunlight, which dehydrate them and causes them to die."
Featured Image Credit: TikTok/@dr.karanrTopics: Science, UK Community, Health