Sleeping Warm Or Cold - There Is A Best Way
What's your most comfortable temperature for sleeping? Do you like it a little warmer or a little cooler? Do you have friends or partners that have tried to sleep in the same room with you that argue about what temperature it is best?
You're not alone. People debate what's the best temperature to sleep in all the time. Even with science weighing in on the debate, some people like it cooler and some people like it warmer. Let's find out why.
Why There's Even A Debate…
Preferences are just that, something some people like that others don't. It’s as true with sleeping temperature as it is with clothing, hardwood floors versus carpet, or the type of car someone drives.
Some people do like it warmer, and others like it cooler. No matter which way you like it, the ideal temperature for you is the one that's going to let you sleep the best. Even though science says a cooler room is better, you're not going to get a good night's sleep if you're cold.
Scientists who study sleep generally say 65 degrees Fahrenheit is the best temperature to sleep in.
Your body naturally drops its internal temperature in the evening and throughout the night. It helps conserve resources.
Benefits of Sleeping In A Cool Room
Helps You Sleep Better
When the night comes, your body temperature drops. Unfortunately, many people have their sleep disrupted. Whether it be from a work schedule, noise, or using electronics late at night (blue light effect), many people are having trouble sleeping. By simulating the drop in temperature, you help your body recognize it is time to sleep. The cooler temperatures helps the body produce melatonin, which signals your body to sleep.
It can also help you stay asleep. Research says insomniacs have a higher core body temperature while they sleep, which might make it more difficult for them to stay asleep.
A Slower Metabolism
In cooler temperatures, our metabolism slows, helping to conserve energy and motion. It can help us stay asleep by lowering energy production. When your body produces a lot of energy, it has a lot to burn, so slowing it down means your body is more sluggish and desires sleep.
Increases REM Sleep
The lower temperatures stimulate our body to move into REM sleep. During this cycle, our body goes through memories helping to sort important ones and moving them into long-term storage. It's also a signal for the body to increase cellular repair, fixing the damage done throughout the day.
This stage of sleep also allows the human growth hormone to increase production. This hormone is vital for the repair and construction of healthy cells.
Healthy Weight Loss
Getting a good amount of sleep helps redistribute the fat in your body, focusing more on the healthier, metabolic brown fat. In combination with healthy exercise, a night of good sleep helps increase weight loss.
Reduce Stress And Anxiety
Deeper sleep helps reverse the effect of cortisol, the stress hormone. As cortisol rises, people feel more stressed out, increasing their heart rate, blood pressure, and alertness. Healthy sleep will allow you to reduce cortisol, allowing your body to respond more naturally to stress and relax more often.
Reduces Signs Of Aging
Looking tired can make you seem older, as in the dark circles under your eyes. But, healthy sleep will also let you maintain healthy collagen levels that keep your skin healthy and young-looking. It can help reduce wrinkles and gray hair.
May Help To Reduce Vaginal Infections
This one is for the ladies. Some correlations show that women who sleep better have reduced vaginal infections and yeast outbreaks. So far, no official study has proven the connection, but the theory makes sense and anecdotal reports support it.
Benefits of Sleeping In A Warm Room
You won't find a lot of benefits. However, there may be some.
Babies tend to do better in a warmer room, but not a hot room. Babies and infants cannot regulate their internal temperature and can get a better night's sleep when the room temperature is between 68 and 72. When the temperatures are warmer, it could increase the risk of sudden infant death syndrome.
Warmer temperatures also benefit people with autoimmune disorders. Many of them include depression in internal body temperature and metabolism regulation. A slightly warmer room helps increase comfort and can prevent the body's core temperature from going so low that digestion and specific enzymatic reactions slow down to a crawl.
People with thyroid issues or autoimmune problems experience a drop in internal body temperature before going bed. It can make trying to fall asleep in a cool room difficult.
People with circulation problems or neuropathy benefit from being a little bit warmer. If the temperature gets too cool, fingers and toes can experience chilblains or the precursor to frostbite. Circulation can drop to the point that blood clots become more likely.
How To Get The Best Of Both Worlds
There are great benefits to sleeping in a cooler room, even if you like it a little bit warmer. Some tools are around to help you feel warm and still be in a cool environment.
Heating Blankets
Crawling into a toasty warm bed can feel wonderful, especially in contrast to a cooler room. For some people, being a little bit warmer helps them fall asleep faster. Some of the better heating blankets have a timer feature that can preheat your bed and then drop to a much cooler temperature or even turn off after a prescribed time.
Smaller heating blankets or heating pads may help people with circulation issues. The warmth is concentrated over your feet, helping increase circulation and avoiding skin damage.
Hot Water Bottles/Hot Bean Bags
For hundreds of years, this was how people kept their feet warm in the winter. Bags filled with hot water, beans, or buckwheat retained heat and slowly release it under the covers. They're wonderful for relieving aches and pains and keeping you a little bit warm while you fall asleep.
We hope you try sleeping in a cooler room and if you need a little bit more heat, try these tricks to give you a little more control.