Getting a good nights rest during the Summer is a hassle! You start off good but then wake up in a cold sweat, interrupting those sweet ZZzzs.
We all know (and many have tried) to toss the covers ― yet no matter how sweaty and uncomfortable you get, you can’t bring yourself to go entirely free of a sheet or blanket.
But why is it nearly impossible for us to ditch the blanket?
“Our circadian rhythm is tied to temperature, and a drop in core body temperature happens right before sleep,” explained Ellen Wermter, a board-certified family nurse practitioner in Charlottesville, Virginia, and a spokesperson for the Better Sleep Council.
Your temperature continues to fall throughout the night. It’s your body’s way of conserving energy so it can be redirected to other systems like digestion.
Sheets and blankets keep your body temp from dropping too low and waking you up. But when it’s hot outside, our covers ritual can work against us. For one thing, even a sheet in hot weather traps the heat against your body.
Because the natural drop in body temp right before sleep is a cue that it’s time to sleep, temps that are too warm trick your brain into thinking it’s time to be active, not rest.
But no matter the temperature, embracing your blank is “part of your routine, and without it, your brain feels that something is missing and may find it difficult to relax,” Wermter said.
The use of blankets, especially weighted ones, is associated with higher levels of serotonin, meaning they can help us sleep better.
Source: Huffpost