Finally, an answer was found to the question of whether it is good to sleep on the left side.
“Lie down on the left side, close your eyes,” our grandmothers told us in childhood. “Sleeping on the right side is harmful!” – shouts to us a video jumping out of all social networks. And even offers a scientific rationale.
Firstly, when you lie on your left side, the lymphatic system removes toxins better, because the movement occurs along the left side. Secondly, it is easier for the heart to drive blood through the body, since the aorta – the main artery – bends to the left. Third, digestion is improved because acid from the stomach does not enter the esophagus, as the outlet is on the right, and this helps acid reflux. There is a fourth reason – human anatomical features. The stomach and pancreas are on the left. When we lie on our right side, the stomach presses on the pancreas, interfering with its work. And finally, the fifth reason. This is to help the spleen. This organ is also on the left and, by filtering the blood, it is easier for it to remove accumulated waste from the body.
For a person far from medicine, the arguments seem weighty. At least now, tie yourself to the bed for the night. How many years of wrong sleep, and after all, grandma said … But do you really need to force yourself to carefully control the correct position of the body at night? The most famous TV doctor Elena Malysheva and her colleague on the program “Living is Healthy!” cardiologist Herman Gandelman.
“If you want to sleep on the same side on which you fall asleep, you need to be bedridden,” says Herman Gandelman, not without reason. – When you sleep, you change your position, and it doesn’t matter which side you fell asleep on.
– Because the body is afraid that you have bedsores, and therefore turns you here and there, – explains Elena Malysheva. – This is normal physiology.
– I came across a situation when a patient after a heart attack says that he cannot sleep on his left side, only on his right. It’s all nonsense! – German Shaevich continues.
Disassemble by points:
Lymphatic system and heart function
Our body is arranged in such a way that there is a frame of ribs in the chest. No matter which side you are lying on, the organs will not be squeezed. The aorta is an elastic vessel, and no matter in which direction it bends, blood will flow through it. And if you really want to improve lymphatic drainage, sleep on your head altogether, it will be more beneficial. But seriously: the lymphatic system is an active system that is built to function regardless of body position.
Stomach
The stomach has a sphincter that prevents its contents from being thrown into the esophagus. Therefore, provided that you do not have any diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, the position of the body on the work of the gastrointestinal tract cannot affect in any way.
Regarding the fact that the stomach can press on the pancreas and interfere with its work, the answer is higher. Everything is thought out by nature.
Spleen
It does not filter blood at all, it is a graveyard of red blood cells. And she throws out new ones during physical activity, and not at all during sleep.
Conclusion – sleep on the side on which you are comfortable.
– In fact, there are no rules on how to sleep. However, it is worth remembering that if you sleep with your face in the pillow, you will have premature wrinkles and creases. Therefore, try to control yourself and sleep on your back. Also, stick to your sleep schedule to keep it full. Active recovery of the body occurs in the phase of deep sleep from 23:00 pm to 1:00 am. A regular sleep cycle normalizes all other processes in our body. According to doctors, this is exactly the case when the regime is more important than the duration of sleep.