4 Health Benefits of Sleeping Cool

You’ve likely heard people say, “I love sleeping in a cold room with a warm blanket,” but did you know that there are numerous health benefits to sleeping cool? Not only should you try to sleep in a room that is cooler, you should also make sure that your body temperature itself stays regulated throughout the night. Here are just a few reasons why.

• While you sleep, the set point for your body temperature in your brain goes down. This means that the optimal temperature that you brain wants to achieve is lower than it is during the day. By lowering the temperature in the room and even wearing a pair of temperature-regulating pajamas, you can help your body to reach that temperature and give yourself a better night’s sleep without waking up during the night.
• Because your body’s optimal temperature is colder during the night, becoming too hot could affect your REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. This is the stage at which you dream and it is essential for getting a full night’s rest. Keep yourself cooler to ensure that your REM stage is full and complete.
• Temperatures in the 60s encourage the body to produce more melatonin, which does a number of great things for your body. First, melatonin improves your brain’s health, which is especially important as we age. Melatonin also prevents certain cancers, diabetes, heart disease and even Alzheimer’s.
• If you’re trying to lose weight, you may want to consider sleeping cooler. Studies show that regulating your body temperature and the temperature of the room while you sleep increases “beige” fat, which is a heat-generating type of fat that helps you to burn calories and lose weight throughout the night. You make smart decisions about your weight throughout the day, so encourage weight control even as you sleep by lowering the room temperature and wearing temperature-controlling sleepwear.