Temperature can make a substantial impact on the quality of your sleep. Making sure that you are sleeping at the correct temperature can be crucial for your circadian rhythm and ensure that you are getting enough quality sleep. Continue reading if you are interested in learning more about how hot temperatures affect your sleep and what the best temperature to sleep in is!
What Happens to Body Temperature While Sleeping
Understanding how your body temperature changes is the first step to better understanding how hot temperatures have an impact on your sleep. Your body temperature tends to fall as you are anticipating bedtime. Your body will naturally lose heat to help you fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer. The way that your body temperature changes as you get closer to bedtime is important for quality sleep, so ensuring that you do not interfere with it is important. Doing things like exercising right before bed affects your body temperature regulation which will result in affecting your sleep.
How Temperatures Affect Your Sleep
Your body can naturally regulate your internal temperature by sweating and shivering, but your body can only do so much and the environment that you sleep in will also affect your body temperature and sleep. The temperature of the environment that we sleep in is one of the most important factors. High temperatures make it more difficult for the body to regulate its temperature. Therefore, when you sleep in humidity, it can cause you to wake up more often and negatively affect your sleep efficiency. High temperatures also decrease the amount of time in slow-wave sleep and REM sleep. These stages in the sleep cycle are crucial for restoring and repairing cells, strengthening the immune system, and processing memories and emotions. The negative effects of sleeping in high temperatures can include decreased total amount of time sleeping, decreased time spent in essential sleeping stages, and waking up earlier resulting in feeling tired throughout the day.
How to Achieve Better Temperature While Sleeping
- Keep the thermostat set between 60 to 67 degrees Fahrenheit
- Close the blinds to keep out the heat from the day
- Use a fan
- Open the windows for more air flow
- Use quality mattresses, sheets, comforters, and pillows that are made for temperature regulation
Overall, temperature has a large effect on the quality of sleep that we get each night. Prioritizing a comfortable and neutral temperature at night will promote longer and better sleep each night. Sleep is essential for our physical and mental health - do not let your sleep suffer by sleeping in the wrong temperature! Learn more about our lab sleep testing and home sleep testing today!