Most of us keep a book on the nightstand and reach for the phone anyway. GQ recently set out to settle a familiar debate: is reading before bed genuinely better for your sleep, or is it just a comforting story we tell ourselves? To answer it, they asked Defined Sleep founder and neuroscientist Dr. Paul Muchowski to weigh in.
Reading says good night to your brain. Scrolling wakes it up.
The difference, Dr. Muchowski explains, runs deeper than blue light. A book moves in one direction and gives you a natural place to stop at the end of a chapter. A feed is engineered to do the opposite. It is unpredictable, it rewards one more swipe, and it keeps the mind alert at the exact moment you are trying to power it down. Reading is a way of saying good night to your brain. Scrolling is a way of waking it back up.
Your bedside lamp is a signal
Light is one of the strongest cues your body uses to keep time. Darkness signals that sleep is coming. Bright overhead lighting late in the evening does the opposite, working against your circadian rhythm and the release of the sleep hormone melatonin, as a 2019 review in Somnologie summarizes. The practical takeaway is small and easy: trade the overhead light for a soft bedside lamp, and keep it dim enough to cue sleep but bright enough to read comfortably.
A routine sets the stage. Your biology decides the outcome.
Dr. Muchowski was careful to add the part that most wellness lists leave out: reading helps, but it will not fix a deeper sleep problem on its own. If falling asleep or staying asleep has been a struggle for more than three months, a bedtime habit is not enough, and it is worth talking to a sleep professional.
That distinction is the reason Defined Sleep exists. A calming routine can help you fall asleep faster and feel more settled. What it does not necessarily change is your sleep architecture: the objectively measured share of the night you spend in deep, slow-wave sleep and REM sleep, the two stages most responsible for physical recovery and memory. Those are different outcomes, and they are measured in different ways.
Defined Sleep was built to move that third measure. In an FDA-registered, double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized crossover Phase 2 trial published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, our proprietary CBD and terpene formulation was tested for its effect on sleep physiology, measured objectively with validated wrist-worn actigraphy rather than by how people said they felt. In the predefined subgroup of participants with the most severe insomnia, deep and REM sleep averaged up to two times per night over 30 days, with no significant adverse effects and no change in heart rate. The formula contains 300 mg of CBD and a blend of natural terpenes, with no THC, no melatonin, and no sedatives.
What you take out of the evening counts too
Adding a book and a lamp is half the equation. The other half is what you move earlier in the day. Two of the most common ways adults try to wind down work directly against the two stages that matter most. Alcohol, the classic nightcap, suppresses REM sleep starting at roughly two standard drinks, and the effect worsens as the amount increases, according to a meta-analysis of controlled studies measured by polysomnography. Caffeine measurably shortens deep, slow-wave sleep; the same research suggests finishing your last cup of coffee about nine hours before bed. A soft lamp and a good novel help. A late glass of wine and a four o’clock espresso quietly undo part of the work.
So build the routine. Read the book, dim the lights, and keep the phone in another room. Then give your biology the support a routine alone cannot provide. See what the science actually measured on our clinical trial page, or explore the formula.
Defined Sleep’s CBD and terpene formula is clinically shown to increase deep and REM sleep in a peer-reviewed, FDA-registered, double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized crossover trial (NCT05233761) published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine. This article is for informational purposes and does not constitute medical advice.These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.