Take It All Off, Utah! Tips To Sleeping Better

Health experts say sleeping naked can promote a good night's rest.

Studies have shown that keeping cool can help you fall asleep faster with the ideal bedroom temperature somewhere between 60 and 67 degrees.

Cooling your body also promotes better sleep quality, healthier skin and has even been linked to less stress and anxiety.

So even if you're not comfortable sleeping in the nude, health experts say ditching a layer or two of clothing, like that extra sweatshirt you wear to bed in the winter, might help you fall asleep faster.

Of course family situations (like kids that may wander into your bedroom at night) may prohibit you from sleeping all the way undressed. Experts say at the very least, don't wear much (added benefit: your spouse will likely love it!).

Washington County health official Dr. David Blodgett said getting a good night's rest is paramount to leading a healthy lifestyle. And he said keeping the bedroom cool is one of the keys.

"Really, a bedroom temperature of about 65 degrees is ideal," he said. "Obviously you don't want to be cold, but keeping the bedroom cool and snuggling up in blankets helps us sleep better."

The website Sleepadvisor.org offers these eight reasons why sleeping in a cool room is helpful:

1. Fall Asleep Quickly

As nighttime approaches, our body temperature naturally drops, signaling that it’s time to slow down and get some rest. By keeping your bedroom cooler, you’re reinforcing your body’s natural instinct to sleep. If the room is too hot, it could potentially block that signal and cause it to take longer for you to fall asleep.

2. Better Sleep Quality

If you’ve ever woken up in the middle of the night drenched in sweat, you know how disruptive that can be. If you keep your bedroom cooler and regulate the temperature throughout the night, you’ll find that your sleep quality improves.

Another way that keeping your room cold can improve the quality of your rest is by stimulating melatonin production^[1], a hormone that promotes sleep.

You also have a greater chance of experiencing deep sleep if your room is cold. Sleeping in a cool room can help you combat insomnia by lowering your body temperature, which then slows down your metabolism rate. As a result, you don’t spend as much energy during sleep, and you’re less likely to wake up in the middle of the night.

3. Anti-Aging

As mentioned above, cooler rooms encourage the body to produce melatonin. In addition to promoting sleep, melatonin is also a powerful anti-aging hormone. Other benefits of increased melatonin production are regular menstrual cycles, enhanced moods, weight loss, cancer-fighting properties, and increased brain health.

4. Weight Loss

Sleeping in a cold room can help you with your weight loss goals. Again, when your room is set to an optimal, cooler temperature, the melatonin your body produces will cause your body to store “beige fat,” which contrary to the name, helps you burn calories instead of storing them.

5. Decreased Risk of Disease

In addition to the phenomenon of beige and brown fat increasing in cooler temperatures and causing your body to burn more calories, it also increases insulin sensitivity^[2], which lowers the risk of type 2 diabetes.

Colder sleeping temperatures also promote glucose disposal, another indicator of type 2 diabetes risk.

Diabetes isn’t the only disease that a cold room could help combat. The increased melatonin production could also have a positive influence on Alzheimer’s and other dementias. Since melatonin can improve sleep, this could lower one’s risk of dementia^[1]. However, experts do not recommend melatonin for elderly people already living with dementia due to a higher risk of falls and other accidents.

6. Prevents Insomnia

A stressful day and an overactive brain aren’t the only things keeping you awake at night. According to experts, one of the potential symptoms of stress is an elevated body temperature^[4].

Remember that our bodies cool off at night in anticipation of sleep. However, if your body is hot due to stress, you’ll have to alter your environment to cool you down enough to signal that it’s time for bed.

7. Enhances Mood

There are a couple of ways that sleeping in cold rooms can enhance your mood. The first and most obvious one is that since a cooler room improves the quality of your sleep, you’ll wake up more rested and feel better.

The other reason has to do with the link between melatonin and serotonin. Serotonin^[5] is a known mood-enhancer, and it’s also the precursor for melatonin, meaning that melatonin is made from it. When we have enough of both of these hormones in our brains, we rest better and feel happier.

8. Reduces Stress Levels

Similar to the mood-enhancing effects of colder temperatures in the bedroom, you’ll also find that getting a higher quality of sleep reduces stress all day long. Chronic stress^[6] can lead to long-term health complications, such as depression, stomach problems, muscle tension, weight gain, and memory and concentration difficulties. Therefore, doing your best to alleviate stress is important.