Abinash Joshi, MD@drjoshisleepTikTok

1. If you scroll in bed to "wind down," your brain's not relaxing. Screens cut your …more

original sound — @drjoshisleep

what it claims

Scrolling on your phone in bed before sleep supposedly cuts melatonin by "up to 93%" — a number to take with a very large grain of salt.

overstated

Of the eight claims listed, the "melatonin cut by 93%" one from screens is the most viral and looks the most precise — so it's the easiest to check, and it doesn't hold up as…

noli's read

Of the eight claims listed, the "melatonin cut by 93%" one from screens is the most viral and looks the most precise — so it's the easiest to check, and it doesn't hold up as stated. Controlled trials on evening screen light measure real melatonin suppression, but much lower: roughly 23% after 1 hour of tablet use, 38 to 54% after 2 to 3 hours depending on the study (Chang et al., 2015, and follow-up work from the same group), and even a very intense, targeted exposure (calibrated high-blue-light goggles) tops out around 40 to 51% in trials that push exposure to the extreme. No study found reports anything close to 93% suppression from ordinary screen use. The rest of the list is better grounded: sleeping in on the weekend to "catch up" on sleep debt restores some alertness but comes with a jet-lag-like shift (well-documented as social jetlag) without repairing the metabolic cost of short nights; and falling asleep instantly is indeed linked to exhaustion rather than good sleep (normal latency runs about 10-20 minutes). The general habit — power down screens before bed — remains a good one, just not for the number cited.

the sources

Claimed by Abinash Joshi, MD. Noli grades the claim, never the person.

Decoded by Noli · August 3, 2026 · the original post

What the graded evidence says

Evidence: B

Effect: insulin sensitivity, energy intake, and body weight after weekday sleep restriction with vs without ad libitum weekend recovery sleep (crossover RCT) — weekend recovery sleep failed to prevent the drop in insulin sensitivity, after-dinner snacking, and weight gain seen with recurring insufficient sleep
Measured on: healthy adults in a controlled inpatient protocol (small sample)

This is one well-controlled but small mechanistic trial. It's strong evidence that catch-up sleep doesn't fully reverse metabolic effects, not proof about every long-term outcome. You can still partly recover alertness by sleeping in.

Abinash Joshi, MD in the Register1 claims gradedSee their record →