Good news for those who always toss and turn at night: your thermostat is the key to a good night’s sleep.
According to the National Sleep Foundation a cool room, around 65 degrees, makes for the best sleep..
Here’s why.
Your body’s core temperature naturally decreases and increases as part of its normal sleep-wake rhythm, according to a study by BioMed Central.
“Sleep is most likely to occur when (core body temperature) decreases, while it hardly occurs during the increasing phases,” the study says.
So, lowering the core body temperature gets you closer to “sleep mode.”
And lowering your room’s air temperature is one way to do that.
Basically, think of your bedroom like a cave: It should be cool, quiet and dark.
Here are a few ways to help lower your core body temperature so that you can sleep soundly.
Set a programmable thermostat. Program a programmable thermostat to lower to around 65 every night so you never have to worry about it. If you’re uncomfortable at 65 degrees, feel free to move it up to 68 or 70.
Turn on your ceiling fan. The air circulation from the fan will help evaporate sweat off your skin, taking heat away from your body (that’s called evaporative cooling).
Drink ice-cold water. Drinking a few sips of ice-cold water at night will cool your core temperature, leaving you more comfortable.
Shower before you go to bed. While the shower will initially heat you up, you’ll experience rapid evaporative cooling when you get out, lowering your core body temperature as a result.
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