Elon Musk sleeps with his bed propped up on books: Does his strange health hack work?

Elon Musk can afford almost any bed or pillow money can buy and yet his solution to one nighttime problem, however, apparently involves a pile of books.

The Tesla and SpaceX boss revealed that he props up the head end of his bed using books, creating a slight slope that he says helps with digestion and acid reflux while he sleeps.

“The whole bed should have a slight downward tilt towards your feet,” Musk wrote on X while responding to a discussion about nighttime reflux.

It sounds like another eccentric Musk habit, but the basic idea isn't particularly unusual.

Acid reflux happens when stomach contents move back towards the oesophagus. Lying flat can make nighttime symptoms worse because gravity is no longer helping keep those contents down.

Dr Loai Albarqouni, an associate professor of evidence-based medicine at Bond University, told the Daily Mail that raising the head of the bed above the stomach can help gravity work in the sleeper's favour.

Research has also looked at head-of-bed elevation as a way of reducing nighttime reflux symptoms.

That doesn't necessarily mean piling up books is the best way to do it.

Simply stacking pillows beneath your head may not have the same effect because it can bend the body rather than creating a gradual incline. Bed risers or a wedge designed for reflux are commonly used alternatives.

Musk's choice of books is also rather fitting.

He has spoken for years about reading heavily as a child and has credited books with helping him teach himself about rockets before SpaceX was created.

So no, the books themselves aren't doing anything special for his stomach.