Did you know that women need more sleep than men? US doctor shares 5 surprising facts about sleep

Sleep secrets revealed: From dream loss to melatonin myths, Dr Sood shares 5 surprising facts you didn’t know about getting your 7-8 hours of essential rest.

Sleep is not a luxury - it is a biological necessity. Getting seven to eight hours each night is essential for physical recovery, cognitive performance, hormonal balance and resetting the body’s circadian rhythm. From memory consolidation and emotional regulation to immune function and metabolic health, nearly every system in the body depends on adequate rest. Yet many people underestimate its impact or misunderstand how it truly works.

Shedding light on lesser-known aspects of sleep, Dr Kunal Sood, an anaesthesiologist and interventional pain medicine physician, shared five surprising facts you may not have known, in an Instagram video posted on February 16.

1. Average time to fall asleep

According to Dr Sood, it typically takes about 10 to 20 minutes to fall asleep under normal circumstances. Falling asleep much faster may signal underlying sleep deprivation, while consistently taking longer could point towards insomnia or disrupted sleep patterns.

He states, “It should take 10 to 20 minutes on average to fall asleep. This is just an average. If you fall asleep too quickly, you may be sleep deprived and if it takes too long, you may have insomnia.”

2. Women require more sleep

The physician notes that women may require around 20 minutes more sleep than men on average, attributing this to the greater cognitive load associated with multitasking and mental processing throughout the day.

He explains, "Women require 20 more minutes of sleep than men. There is research which concluded Women may require slightly more sleep, the reason may be due to ‘multi-tasking’.

3. We forget most dreams

According to the physician, nearly 95 per cent of our dreams are forgotten because they are never fully transferred into long-term memory. If you want to remember them, he advises jotting them down immediately after waking, while the details are still fresh and before they quickly fade away.

Dr Sood notes, “We forget 95 percent of our dreams after waking up. Dreams do not get stored into our memory, if you want to remember write them down as soon as you wake up. There is a theory that dreams are our subconscious mind trying to tell us something, do you agree?”

4. Being awake for too long

According to Dr Sood, staying awake for more than 17 consecutive hours can impair your cognitive function to a level comparable to having a blood alcohol concentration of 0.05 percent. He advises avoiding important decisions, complex tasks or activities that require sharp focus once you reach that level of sleep deprivation.

He stresses, “Being awake for 17 hours straight is similar to having a blood alcohol level of .05 percent. Important to not do important tasks after being awake for over 17 hours.”

5. With melatonin, less is more

Dr Sood emphasises that when it comes to melatonin supplements, less is often more. In many cases, a low dose of around 0.5 mg can be more effective than higher amounts. Taking larger doses may actually be counterproductive, potentially disrupting the body’s natural sleep–wake cycle rather than supporting it.

He notes, “With melatonin, less is more; 0.5 mg can be more effective than higher doses. 0.5 mg is closer to the physiological amount of melatonin our bodies naturally secrete.”

Note to readers: This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice. It is based on user-generated content from social media. HT.com has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them.