These overlooked insomnia causes may be why you still can't sleep

From msn.com/en-us

Key takeaways

• Gut Health Matters: Low gut microbiome diversity is linked to poor sleep, later chronotypes, and social jet lag. Boost diversity with fibre-rich foods like legumes, oats, leafy greens, yogurt, kimchi, or kefir.
• Social Jet Lag: Large differences between weekday and weekend sleep schedules disrupt your body clock and gut health. Keep wake times within a 1-hour window and adjust gradually if needed.
• Body Temperature Tricks: Warming your body before bed (e.g., warm bath 90 min prior) helps trigger natural sleep cues. Keep your bedroom cool and consider a fan or cooling pad for deeper restorative sleep.

If you've already tried cutting caffeine, ditching your phone before bed and counting breaths until you pass out, and you're still lying awake at 2 a.m., the problem probably isn't your willpower.

Researchers are finding that some of the biggest overlooked causes of insomnia hide in places most sleep advice never goes: your gut bacteria, the gap between your weekday and weekend sleep schedules and even how warm your body gets before bed. Here's what the science says and what's actually worth trying tonight.

Why Your Gut Bacteria May Be Wrecking Your Sleep

The freshest insomnia research right now isn't about blue light or relaxation apps. It's about microbes. A February 2026 study in Nature Communications analysed 6,941 participants and found that lower gut microbiome diversity was directly linked to poorer sleep quality, a later chronotype and greater social jet lag.

Researchers identified 137 bacterial species tied to sleep, and more than a third of those associations held up in an independent cohort.

What to try: A fibre-rich diet is the most direct lever you have on gut diversity. Think legumes, oats, leafy greens and fermented foods like yogurt, kimchi or kefir. Food sources tend to be more effective than supplements and you don't need to overhaul your entire diet. Start with one meaningful addition per week.

What Social Jet Lag Is Doing to You Every Single Weekend

Think of social jet lag as the jet lag you give yourself on repeat. Stay up until 1 a.m. Saturday, sleep until 10, then try to be in bed by 10:30 Sunday for a 6 a.m. alarm? You've flown yourself several time zones without leaving your bedroom.

The same Nature Communications study found that this kind of weekly schedule shifting drives measurable changes in gut microbiome composition, compounding the sleep disruption. A September 2025 review in Medicina confirmed it also promotes systemic inflammation.

What to try: Keep your wake time within a consistent one-hour window across the whole week. The wake time anchor is what matters most to your body clock. If you've been sleeping in two or more hours on weekends, bring it back gradually by 20 to 30 minutes at a time.

The Hot Bath Trick That Sleep Researchers Are Actually Testing

A UCSF-led randomized trial (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT07036705, updated February 2026) is currently testing passive body heating via sauna blanket alongside CBT-I. The mechanism: warming your body before bed raises skin temperature, which then triggers your core temperature to drop, which is the physiological cue your brain reads as permission to sleep. A Scientific Reports study of 72 participants found that external body cooling during sleep significantly increased slow-wave N3 sleep, the deepest restorative stage.

What to try tonight: Take a warm bath or shower about 90 minutes before bed, not right before. You need the post-bath temperature drop to kick in before you get into bed. Keep your bedroom cool and if you sleep hot, a fan or cooling mattress pad can shift how deeply you sleep.

When Your Sleep Tracker Is Actually the Problem

Northwestern University researchers coined the term "orthosomnia" for insomnia triggered by fixating on tracker data. In their research, patients were losing sleep specifically because they were anxious about hitting perfect scores on devices like Oura and Whoop.

What to try: Give yourself a two-week tracker break and notice whether your sleep anxiety shifts. If you keep using it, check weekly trends rather than nightly scores. Night-to-night variation is normal and often meaningless. The pattern over weeks is what matters.

Why CBT-I Should Be Your First Call Before Medication

For chronic insomnia, cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia is the clinical first-line recommendation ahead of sleeping pills. It targets the thought patterns and behaviours that sustain sleeplessness. Roughly half of people who complete it still have some residual symptoms, per the UCSF trial documentation, which is why researchers are now testing body-based add-ons on top of it.

What to try: Look into a structured digital CBT-I program before assuming you need a prescription. Several telehealth platforms now offer clinically validated versions that are far more accessible than in-person therapy.

Insomnia is rarely just a discipline problem. It's biological, which means it's more fixable than most people assume. For anyone also exploring the breathing side of better sleep, what research says about the 4-7-8 method is worth a read alongside everything here.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/these-overlooked-insomnia-causes-may-be-why-you-still-can-t-sleep/ar-AA2496Fz?uxmode=ruby

The surprising reason a sleep tracker can wreck a good night’s sleep

From washingtonpost.com

You wake up to your 7 a.m. alarm feeling relatively refreshed and ready to tackle the day ahead. But when you check your smartwatch, you’re surprised to see a low sleep score staring back at you.

You start trying to remember the night before. Did you toss and turn more than you thought? Why is your watch telling you that you’re exhausted when you feel fine? When your head hits the pillow that night, you lie wide awake worrying about getting a good night’s sleep until the wee hours of the morning.

If this scenario feels familiar, you may have orthosomnia, a fixation on achieving “perfect” sleep, often fuelled by sleep trackers, that tends to result in worse sleep.

“Orthosomnia is, at its core, a form of insomnia triggered by obsessive tracking of sleep data and the use of sleep wearables,” said Andrew Spector, a sleep medicine specialist at Duke Health in North Carolina. “It’s essentially trouble falling asleep for artificial reasons.”

Many people rely on technology to fix their problems, but as it turns out, in this situation, these gadgets may backfire. Read on to learn more about orthosomnia and what to do if you think you might have it.

What causes orthosomnia?

At the root of orthosomnia is the popularity and ubiquity of sleep trackers. And while they can be useful tools at times — for example, some can screen for signs of sleep apnoea, such as breathing disturbances — they can interfere with your ability to listen to your body, according to Amy Morin, a Florida-based psychotherapist and author of “The Mental Strength Playbook.”

“Instead of thinking about how well rested you feel, you might look at an app or device to tell you if you’re getting enough sleep,” Morin said. Over time, this can undermine your trust in how you feel after a night of sleep and lead you to put too much weight on what a tracker says. “This can cause increased anxiety about sleep and can lead to more sleep problems,” she said.

For instance, you may start to depend on tech to tell you how you feel, as opposed to listening to your own body’s cues, according to Morin. People are impressionable, and if your wearable is telling you that you didn’t get enough sleep, you might start to convince yourself that you’re more tired than you actually are.

“You may start to feel sluggish. Then, you’ll act sluggish. Consequently, you’ll become sluggish,” Morin said. This may lead you to pass up an opportunity to do something later on in the day because you’ve allowed your tech to convince you that you’re too tired, she said.

Additionally, someone who wakes up feeling well rested but sees their sleep tracker telling them they woke up often during the night may spend all morning thinking about how they’re going to feel exhausted later, Morin said. They then may be so worried about getting adequate rest that, ironically, they can’t sleep when they try to wind down for the day, Morin explained.

Keep in mind that sleep trackers aren’t always accurate. These devices base their metrics on imperfect factors such as how much you moved during the night, Morin said. “That doesn’t always correlate to actual sleep time or sleep stages,” she said. “It’s important to know that these devices are just estimating how much sleep you got, and they’re not pinpointing your stages of sleep accurately.”

People with anxiety or perfectionism may be especially susceptible to orthosomnia, according to Morin. “They may want perfect sleep, and a tracking app may create stress that shows them not every night is going to be perfect,” Morin said.

How do you know if you have orthosomnia?

According to Spector, a tell-tale sign of orthosomnia is checking your sleep tracker immediately after you wake up and analysing all the data.

“Your sleep tracker will give you a summary of your night. If you look at the summary and move on with your day, that’s fine,” Spector said. “But are you going minute by minute through the night and analysing the little details of the report? That’s a red flag to me.”

Another indication of orthosomnia is not being able to get to sleep because you’re worried you won’t get a good sleep score that night, Spector said.

You may also start thinking about getting a good sleep score as your reason for wanting to sleep well as opposed to the actual benefits that come with adequate shut-eye — including improved mood, better focus and reduced risk of health conditions such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes and high blood pressure.

Tips to manage orthosomnia

There are a few ways to manage — and overcome — orthosomnia, according to experts:

Establish good sleep hygiene habits, like avoiding screen time before bed, creating a bedtime routine that helps you wind down and ensuring your room is dark and quiet, said Morin.

Focus on tuning into your body and recognizing when you need more rest and adjust your bedtime accordingly, according to Morin.

Recognize that your beliefs about sleep will greatly impact your performance, Morin said. If you assume a difficult night’s sleep will make it nearly impossible to function, you’ll have trouble functioning, she said. If, however, you believe you can still function just fine after a rough night, you’ll probably do much better.

Consider therapy if sleep becomes a source of anxiety that you can’t manage on your own, Spector said.

If you find yourself obsessing over your sleep data, try ditching your tracker for a month, Morin suggested. During that time, focus on good sleep hygiene and pay attention to how your body feels.

Once you can more confidently trust your body, you might decide to reintroduce wearable tech. Or, maybe you’ll realize you don’t really need it after all.

“Wearable tech is helpful if it gives you information you need to make the best health decisions. But it becomes a problem when it interferes with your ability to read your body’s cues,” Morin said. It’s unrealistic to expect perfect sleep every night, and accepting that might put your mind at ease just enough for you to drift off easily.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2026/06/26/your-sleep-tracker-might-be-giving-you-insomnia/

Meet the 3 Overlooked Insomnia Triggers That Most Sleep Guides Still Fail to Mention in 2026

From sacbee.com

Insomnia research has moved well beyond caffeine and screen time. The newest findings point to causes most sleep guides still ignore, from the bacteria in your gut to the temperature of your bedroom to the sleep score you’re checking every morning. Here’s what the research says is really keeping you up. 

What Are the Most Overlooked Causes of Insomnia? 

The three most underappreciated drivers of insomnia right now are gut microbiome disruption, social jet lag and poor body temperature regulation before and during sleep.

A February 2026 study in Nature Communications of 6,941 participants found that lower gut microbiome diversity was directly linked to poorer sleep quality, a later chronotype and greater social jet lag, connecting 137 bacterial species to specific sleep characteristics. 

Body temperature regulation is equally underappreciated. Core body temperature needs to drop to initiate sleep, and small disruptions to that process can stall onset or fragment deep sleep entirely. Understanding how pre-sleep breathing techniques connect to sleep onset adds useful context alongside these newer findings. 

Then there’s orthosomnia, coined by Northwestern University researchers to describe insomnia triggered by fixating on sleep tracker data. Patients were losing sleep because their wearable’s score was making them anxious. The tool meant to fix sleep was breaking it. 

How Does Gut Health Affect Insomnia? 

Gut health affects insomnia through a two-way communication loop between your microbiome and your brain. When that ecosystem is disrupted, sleep suffers.

The Nature Communications study found that participants with less diverse microbiomes consistently slept worse. A September 2025 review in Medicina explains why: the gut produces short-chain fatty acids that regulate inflammation and nervous system pathways tied to sleep. When that production drops, systemic inflammation rises and sleep quality falls with it. 

Poor sleep also degrades the microbiome, which then makes sleep worse. Breaking the cycle means addressing both ends. Varied plant intake, fermented foods like yogurt and kimchi and consistent eating patterns are the most accessible starting points. 

What Is Social Jet Lag and Can It Cause Insomnia? 

Social jet lag is the mismatch between your weekday and weekend sleep schedule, and it functions like flying across time zones every single week. Shift from a 6 a.m. weekday alarm to sleeping until 10 a.m. on weekends, and your circadian system never fully settles — which makes Sunday-night insomnia and Monday-morning fatigue almost inevitable.

The Nature Communications study tied social jet lag directly to gut microbiome disruption. The Medicina review found it suppresses short-chain fatty acid production and promotes systemic inflammation, both of which feed back into worse sleep. 

To measure yours, calculate the midpoint of your sleep on a typical workday versus a free day. A difference of an hour or more is measurable social jet lag. Keeping your wake time within about an hour across all seven days, including weekends, is the most effective fix available. 

Can a Hot Bath Actually Help You Sleep? 

Yes. Warming your body raises skin temperature, which triggers a compensatory drop in core body temperature. That drop is one of the strongest physiological cues your brain uses to initiate sleep. 

A UCSF-led randomized trial updated February 2026 is testing passive body heating via sauna blanket as an add-on to CBT-I, specifically because roughly half of people who complete CBT-I still experience residual symptoms. A Scientific Reports study of 72 participants found that external body cooling during sleep significantly increased slow-wave N3 sleep, the deepest restorative stage.

A warm bath about 90 minutes before bed is the most practical version of this. Keep your bedroom cool overnight to reinforce the effect. 

Can Your Sleep Tracker Be Making Insomnia Worse? 

It can. Northwestern University researchers coined “orthosomnia” to describe insomnia driven by anxiety over tracker data. Patients were losing sleep specifically because they were fixating on nightly scores from devices like Oura and Whoop, turning a wellness tool into a source of performance anxiety. 

The fix isn’t to throw the tracker away. It’s to check weekly trends rather than nightly scores, where normal variation becomes far less alarming. If your sleep score is the first thing you reach for every morning and it’s shaping your mood, a two-week tracker break is worth trying before anything else. 

Is CBT-I the Best Treatment for Chronic Insomnia? 

CBT-I is the first-line clinical recommendation for chronic insomnia ahead of sleeping pills, and its effects tend to last well after treatment ends. It works by retraining the thoughts and behaviours that sustain sleeplessness rather than chemically sedating the problem away.

That said, roughly half of CBT-I completers still have residual symptoms per the UCSF trial documentation, which is why researchers are testing body-based additions like passive heating alongside it. Digital and telehealth CBT-I programs have made access significantly easier in recent years and are a practical starting point before escalating to medication. 

This article was created by content specialists using various tools, including AI.

https://www.sacbee.com/entertainment/living/article315892589.html

Don’t let your sleep tracker keep you up at night

From seattletimes.com

By Vishesh Kapur

In our modern age of health optimization, sleep is no exception. We want the best rest in the least amount of time. We are increasingly turning to sleep- tracking devices to find it.

The focus on improving sleep is welcome, given its vital role in health. There are, however, pitfalls to relying on technology when the solutions to better sleep require behavioural change that can be achieved without technology.

Unlike sleep studies used by clinicians, which directly measure brain waves, sleep trackers such as watches and rings measure signs that are correlated with sleep — like heart rate, temperature, oxygen, breathing, snoring and movement. From those signs, the trackers estimate sleep measures like duration, stages and interruptions.

Most trackers, unfortunately, haven’t been compared with sleep studies in peer-reviewed research, so their accuracy is unknown. Results of scientific evaluations have been mixed. A 2021 article in the journal Sleep reported that seven trackers could detect when someone was asleep but inconsistent at identifying sleep stages.

Accuracy aside, the question remains whether trackers actually improve sleep. Basic information like the window and duration of time in bed, which the trackers measure, are important to know because they are modifiable behaviours that can impact sleep quality. Trackers conveniently measure these factors, but a clock, pen and paper can achieve the same aim.

It is unclear, however, whether detailed, tracker-collected data such as sleep stages helps improve sleep. The critical steps needed to improve sleep are behaviour changes. If tracking sleep details motivates those changes, that could benefit users.

Most sleep trackers haven’t been compared with sleep studies in peer-reviewed research, so their accuracy is unknown, the author writes. Pictured is an Oura smart ring, which tracks sleep habits, and its charging case. (Angel Garcia / Bloomberg)

For some people, tracking detailed data about sleep may actually be harmful.

Sleep is a natural automatic process. Like breathing, it can be interfered with if the mind pays too much attention to it. Trackers may encourage some people to develop an unhealthy obsession with sleep, which could lead to insomnia. A 2017 case report in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine coined the term “orthosomnia” to characterize this problem. The term refers to an unhealthy obsession with achieving perfect sleep data.

For some, the morning ritual of checking a sleep score creates a cycle of anxiety. If the tracker says they had poor sleep, they may feel tired and stressed all day — even if they actually felt fine before they checked their score.

As a sleep physician, I see some patients who trust their trackers more than their own perceptions. A patient might worry about “fragmented sleep” or a “lack of deep sleep” reported by their watch. Yet when I ask how they feel, they admit they don’t remember waking up and generally feel rested.

In sleep medicine, perception matters. A diagnosis of insomnia requires that an individual actually feels bothered by their sleep.

For the typical healthy person, knowing what to do to improve their sleep is simple. Here is the short list:

1. Prioritize a consistent window of at least seven hours in bed.
2. Create a sleep space that is dark, quiet and comfortable.
3. Exercise daily and get outdoor light in the morning.
4. Eat a healthy diet and allow adequate time to digest before bed.
5. Avoid using electronics in bed.

When approached with curiosity, trackers may be useful in conveniently monitoring sleep and motivating positive change. But don’t underestimate the value of healthy sleep habits and paying attention to how you feel.

https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/dont-let-your-sleep-tracker-keep-you-up-at-night/ 

"My sleep-tracking earbuds discovered how this one thing in my night-time routine ruined my sleep"

From tomsguide.com

By Frances Daniels

My sleep tracker helped me realize why I found it so hard to fall asleep one night 

It's difficult to know how long it takes you to fall asleep. Unless, of course, you have a sleep tracker.

Yes, there have been low-tech ways to measure sleep onset latency, such as the spoon test (one of TikTok's many sleep trends) or sleep journaling, but these are harder to perform and much less accurate.

Sleep trackers, on the other hand, do the work for you and provide precise results, as I recently found out when testing the Fitnexa SomniPods 3, now $179.99 down from $189.99 at Fitnexa.

I wanted to see if the SomniPods could join the ranks of the best sleep headphones but they ended up discovering something about me.

Unsurprisingly, the sleep-tracking earbuds showed that the time it takes me to fall asleep is between five and 20 minutes —a common sleep latency for most adults — expect on one night.

During that night, my sleep tracker not only noted I was having trouble falling asleep, it alerted me, making me retrace my steps to find out what independent variable was causing this short-term sleep onset insomnia.

Here's what was causing my trouble sleeping — and why I won't do it again.

What my sleep tracker helped me realize about my insomnia

I had been using the Fitnexa SomniPods 3 for over a week and a half when it helped me spot where my sleep hygiene was going wrong.

From the first night I used them, the SomniPod's sleep data showed me that, while my sleep was far from perfect (I'm not getting anywhere near enough REM sleep for a start), my sleep latency was on track for a healthy adult.

I use sleep-tracking earbuds to measure how long it usually takes me to fall asleep. (Image credit: Future)

However, one night, it wasn't...

I always I assume that it's taking forever to fall asleep and then I wake up and the data shows it didn't take taking long at all. But one night, the Fitnexa app proved that this time, it wasn't all in my head.

(Image credit: Future)

"I noticed you're still awake," messaged Lana, an AI-powered personal wellness assistant within the Fitnexa app, over 30 minutes after going to bed. "Are you having trouble falling asleep?"

As my self-described 'sleep guardian' had never said this before, it caused me to retrace my evening routine and re-evaluate a seemingly innocuous activity: watching a true crime documentary.

I'm not a stranger to true crime but usually I watch or listen to it during the day. That means by the time I go to bed, enough time (and comedies) have passed to cleanse my brain of the creepiness.

However, watching it at night meant the disturbing content still lingered in my head (it also didn't help that both my roommates were out of town).

Why unsettling content before bed can cause sleep issues

Why did I know that watching a true crime documentary was the root of my insomnia? Well, for a start, it's was the only thing that I'd added to my nighttime routine.

And second, disturbing or unsettling content such as true crime documentaries, horror movies, violent shows, or even a fear-mongering news article, are known to be sleep disruptors.

According to Hannah Shore, the Head of Sleep Science at Mattress Online, this disruption dates back to our earliest ancestors, who could sleep when they knew they were safe from prehistoric predators.

(Image credit: Getty)

"Now, we still only sleep when we feel safe, but instead of a sabre-toothed tiger hunting us, different stressors keep us awake," Shore tells me. "This could include some of the content we consume directly before bed."

"When we consume content that is distressing just before we go to bed, it can leave us feeling a little unsafe," she continues. "This can prompt the fight or flight response system, meaning the body is producing wake-promoting hormones, such as adrenaline and cortisol, which prevent you from falling asleep easily and lead to increased warning throughout the night."

What to do if you can't sleep after reading or watching unsettling content

(Image credit: Getty Images)

If you've already watched or read something disturbing, either advertently (watching a scary movie) or inadvertently (receiving a nasty text from someone) and can't fall asleep, Shore says there are way to get re-settled and start "producing sleep-related hormones, like melatonin, which will help us drift off to sleep more easily."

"Try watching or reading something more lighthearted for 30 mins before you try to sleep," she suggests.

Who knew re-watching an episode of Friends you've seen 100 times could be such a sleep fix?

How can you avoid unsettling content before bed?

Revisit an episode of your favourite sitcom instead of doom scrolling (Image credit: Shutterstock)

While it's easy to avoid horror movies (just don't watch 'em) before bed, it isn't always easy to steer clear of distressing content in this digital age of doomscrolling.

"You never know what will appear next on your social media feed, so I recommend trying to stay off that," Shore warns.

In terms of what you should be doing to get settled before bed, Shore advises relaxing activities, such as breathing exercises, mindfulness, and rereading or re-watching your favourites.

"By re-watching or rereading something you know, you are more likely to fall asleep more easily than when you are watching or reading something new," says Shore. "It can provide you a little comfort knowing that there are no surprises."

https://www.tomsguide.com/wellness/sleep/my-sleep-tracking-earbuds-discovered-how-this-one-thing-in-my-nighttime-routine-ruined-my-sleep-heres-why-i-wont-do-it-again