9 Reasons Why You Should Sleep On Your Left Side According To Experts
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Improves Heart Health: Reduces the heart’s workload and aids lymph drainage towards the heart, supported by the leftward arch of the aorta.
- Supports Lymphatic System: Optimal waste removal through the glymphatic pathway, with Ayurveda suggesting the left side as the dominant lymphatic side.
- Relieves Heartburn: Alleviates heartburn and digestive issues, particularly beneficial for individuals with GERD or experiencing heartburn due to pregnancy.
- Stops Snoring: Naturally keeps airways open, reducing snoring and easing mild obstructive sleep apnea, especially recommended for sleep apnea sufferers.
- Assists with Morning Bowel Movements: Aids the movement of waste from the small intestine to the large intestine, facilitating easy elimination in the morning.
- Promotes Healthy Digestion: Supports gallbladder function, enhances liver function, and aids in effective digestion by lying on the left side.
- Promotes Healthy Spleen Function: Benefits the spleen by aiding drainage back to the spleen, facilitating the lymph system in clearing waste and toxins.
- May Help Prevent Urinary Stone Formation: Sleeping on the left side is associated with a higher stone-free rate after kidney stone treatment.
- Reduces Risk of Stillbirth in Pregnant Women: Sleeping on the left side during late pregnancy is linked to a 50% lower risk of stillbirth compared to sleeping on the right side.
According to statistics, more than 40% of Americans sleep less than the recommended time [1]. Insomnia is a big sleeping problem nowadays. Apart from leaving you with no energy in the morning, it has also been linked to obesity, high blood pressure, and other chronic conditions. [2]
Sometimes, however, even when we get enough sleep overnight (7-8 hours), we may still feel very tired. It’s not the mattress or pillow – the fatigue may actually come from the position we sleep in.
Experts say that how we sleep is just as important as the mattress we sleep on. Fortunately, according to Dr. John Douillard, there’s a way to improve your sleep and stop waking up tired.
In this article I‘ll dive into why you should sleep on your left side according to experts (like Dr. Douillard) and research studies.
Why You Should Sleep On Your Left Side?
If you ask anyone what side of their body they sleep on, around half will answer the right.
Sleep experts don’t recommend sleeping on this side of the body. It is said to have a negative effect on our health and especially our digestion, leaving us with sleepless nights.
Also, sleeping on your left side has been recommended in Ayurveda for its physiological benefits. [3]
Ayurveda considers sleep as a quiescent stage of the mind and body, and sleeping on the left side helps correct any metabolic dysfunctions and promotes overall health
Sleeping on the left side, however, will boost your digestion and resolve problems such as heartburn and indigestion.
Here are the 10 reasons why you should sleep on the left side of your body – according to Dr. Douillard:
1. Improves Your Heart Health
According to Dr. Douillard, sleeping on your left side benefits your heart and circulation. When you lie on the left, gravity helps lymph drainage towards the heart, reducing the heart’s workload.
The aorta, the body’s largest artery, leaves the heart and arches leftward, making it advantageous to sleep on the left.
Additionally, sleeping on the left side allows the intestines to hang away from the inferior vena cava, easing the heart’s task of pumping blood back from the body.
It’s important to mention that some studies suggest that sleeping on the left side may obstruct blood flow, reduce venous return in heart failure patients, and cause changes in ECG waveform, while other studies show that side sleeping can decrease the frequency and severity of obstructive respiratory events in sleep apnea patients.
2. Supports Your Lymphatic System
According to a study published in the Journal of Neuroscience, the way we sleep affects how efficiently our brains clear waste.
The research used imaging and tracer techniques in rodents to show that the brain’s waste removal system, called the glymphatic pathway, works best when sleeping on the side compared to lying on the back or stomach.
This suggests that our natural sleep posture may have evolved to optimize waste removal and should be considered in future brain imaging procedures.
Now, although the research doesn’t specifically mention which side – left or right – Dr. Douillard says that Ayurveda suggests the left side of the body is the dominant lymphatic side.
About 75% of the body’s lymph fluid drains into the left side, leading Ayurveda to associate left-side ailments with chronic lymphatic congestion. [4]
On the other hand, issues on the right side are linked to imbalances in the liver and blood, following a pattern where lymph congestion precedes liver and blood congestion.
3. Relieves Heartburn
As we already mentioned, sleeping on the left is great for your digestion and will help you relieve heartburn and other digestive problems.
According to Dr. Rachel Salas, M.D, Assistant Medical Director, Johns Hopkins Center for Sleep and Wellness, sleeping on your right side can worsen heartburn symptoms.
This applies to individuals with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and those experiencing heartburn due to other factors, such as pregnant women.
She suggests switching to your left side to alleviate the burning sensation.
4. Stops Snoring
Apart from being unpleasant for your partner, snoring is also a risk factor for heart problems. It’s pretty difficult to stop, but sleeping on the left side of your body will help you stop snoring and alleviate the problems it brings.
Obstructive sleep apnea, which causes breathing pauses due to airway collapse, often accompanies snoring.
Sleeping on your side or stomach can prevent airway blockage, reducing snoring and easing mild apnea. Back sleeping tends to close nasal passages, promoting snoring. [5]
Choosing the left side can naturally keep airways open and improve breathing, while right-side sleeping may also help but is considered less effective by doctors. [6]
Left-side sleeping is especially recommended for those with sleep apnea.
Overall, adjusting sleep positions, particularly favoring the left side, proves beneficial in managing snoring and mild obstructive sleep apnea, promoting better sleep and breathing.
5. Assists with morning bowel movements
Sleeping on your left side can also help you digest food better. Again, according to Dr. Duillard, when you lie on your left side, gravity aids the movement of waste from the small intestine into the large intestine through the ileocecal valve (ICV).
As you continue sleeping on the left side, waste travels to the descending colon, making it ready for easy and complete elimination in the morning.
6. Promotes healthy digestion
According to Healthline, if you’re dealing with gallbladder pain, it’s suggested to sleep on your left side. Resting in this position allows your gallbladder to contract and expand freely, potentially helping to alleviate pain during a bile duct blockage.
Dr. Douillard also suggests that the liver and gallbladder, situated on the right side, benefit from resting on the left side.
When you lie on your left, these organs hang freely, enabling the release of important bile into the digestive tract. Gravity assists in this process, aiding the emulsification of fats and neutralizing stomach acids.
This natural alignment while lying on the left may enhance the liver and gallbladder functions, promoting effective digestion and supporting the body’s digestive processes.
A study aimed to reduce nighttime acid reflux found that using a sleep-positioning device (SPD) with an inclined base and body pillow, while lying on the left side, significantly lowered esophageal acid exposure compared to other positions.
The SPD effectively maintained the recumbent position, with less acid exposure when lying on the left side versus right side or in a flat position.
This suggests that a specific sleep position, aided by a device, may help reduce nighttime acid reflux in healthy individuals.
It’s important to note that this advice is based on common beliefs rather than scientific studies. Currently, there is no research comparing the pain levels associated with various reclining positions during gallbladder pain, so the effectiveness of sleeping on the left side remains largely anecdotal.
7. Promotes Healthy Spleen Function
In his article, Dr. Douillard suggests that lying on your left side benefits the spleen, a vital part of the lymphatic system.
The spleen acts like a giant lymph node, filtering both lymph and blood. When you lie on your left side, gravity aids drainage back to the spleen, making it easier for the lymph system to clear waste and toxins.
Since the lymph system relies on movement and muscle contractions, not the heart’s pumping, facilitating lymph drainage to the spleen and heart through gravity is advantageous for overall health.
8. May help prevent urinary stone formation
Studies have shown that sleeping on the left side may aid in the clearance of kidney stones.
A recent study examined the impact of sleep positions on stone passage after shockwave lithotripsy (SWL), a common kidney stone treatment.
Results indicated that patients who slept on their left side had a higher stone-free rate after three months compared to those sleeping on the right side.
This suggests that the position during sleep might influence the microenvironment of the kidney, potentially affecting stone formation and passage.
9. Reduces risk of stillbirth in pregnant women
A New Zealand study found that sleeping on the back during late pregnancy is linked to an increased risk of stillbirth.
This meta-analysis, based on individual participant data from six studies, confirmed that going to sleep on the left or right side is equally safe, but sleeping on the back increases the risk.
No significant differences were found between left and right sides, suggesting that settling to sleep on either side can be considered a safer choice during late pregnancy.
But, according to Tommys.org, another study from Auckland, New Zealand found that women who sleep on their left side on the last night of pregnancy have a 50% lower risk of stillbirth compared to those who sleep on their right side.
Bottom Line
So, now you know that sleeping on your left side is better than sleeping on your right side. And hey, it’s not me saying this, its research and sleep experts.
I personally like sleeping on the side best, but I never thought of the fact sleeping left or right for better health. Now I know.
What’s your experience with sleeping? Left or Right?
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