'You've Discovered the Use for Books': Fans Mock Elon Musk Over 'Help With Digestion' Sleep Hack

Elon Musk said on X on 27 September that he sleeps with books beneath the head end of his bed frame, creating a slight slope that he says helps digestion and reduces stomach acid backflow. The advice drew jokes about his unusual use of books.

For context, Musk was replying to an X user who said 'inclined bed therapy' had 'fixed his acid flux and headaches'. Musk's books were his suggested way of creating the incline described by that user. The user's statement is an account of personal experience, not proof that the method treats either condition. The original post was reported to have received 35K views and 149 likes.

Musk's reply gave a practical instruction. 'Just pile some books under the head-end section of the bedframe. Whole bed should have a slight downward tilt towards your feet. It helps with digestion and reducing stomach acid back flow.' His comment was reported to have drawn 71.7K views, 1.7K likes and 208 comments.

Musk's Sleep Hack Starts Under the Bed

The books go under the frame, not under Musk's pillow. The idea is to tilt the whole bed, leaving the head end higher than the feet. That distinction matters because a stack beneath a pillow would be a different arrangement from the one Musk described.

His reply does not say how many books he uses or give a measurement for the slope. It says the tilt helps with digestion and backflow, without describing a personal outcome. The original poster linked the incline to relief from both acid reflux and headaches, but that user's experience cannot establish what would happen to somebody else.

Both accounts concern health, and the details available do not establish that the proposed method works generally. IBTimes UK cannot independently verify the claimed effects, so Musk's advice should be treated as a personal account.

X Users Mock Musk's Choice of Books

One response made no claim about reflux. 'You've discovered the use for books in 2026,' one user wrote. Another asked, 'I wonder what books Elon is using under his bed.'

The humour rests on what Musk chose for the job. He described using a pile of books to raise part of a bed frame, without saying what those books were. The two quoted replies tease that choice.

Musk's response drew more views and likes than the post to which he replied, according to the reported figures. That comparison shows the attention his comment received. It cannot tell readers whether the health claim is sound, or how many of the 208 commenters agreed with him.

Musk Has Raised the Sleep Question Before

This was not his first post about the angle of a bed. In 2022, Musk wrote that raising its head could improve sleep quality, and advised against eating in the three hours before bedtime. He gave the height as 'about 3" or 5 cm'.

The two posts share the idea of elevating the head end of the bed. The older tip also mentions when to eat, while the September reply offers a household way to create the incline.

Musk has described himself as a bad sleeper. He has also said he usually sleeps for about six hours, with his typical schedule involving going to bed around 3am and waking around 9am or 9:30am.