when you think about cold weather or the winter, you think about tucking yourself into your ghostbed mattress, cuddling yourself in your blankets, and falling asleep until spring comes – essentially, behaving just like a hibernating bear. However, the cold season does not necessarily allow you to make the decision of hiding yourself away under your blankets, as it does lead to some unexpected changes.
What you might not realize is that sleep patterns areusually affected by the weather – especially cold weather. The environment forces the body to make certain changes, and knowing that the days are shorter and the nights longer – the body does adjust to these environmental changes.
Increasing research gas led to sleep scientists uncovering the different changes that happen in the body and mind, and it does not have anything to do with being sick or down with a cold. Here are some of those ways.
Even though there are numerous people to like to cuddle up with multiple blankets at night (and I’m sure it is the same case for you), research confirms that the way to ensure you sleep faster is sleeping in a cool room. The reason for this is due to the natural temperature cycles of the body.
Over the course of an entire day, your body temperature does not remain constant. Instead, it will fall and rise slightly in cycles, but it is at its lowest when you are in deep sleep, at around 5 in the morning. In fact, as you become drowsy, the temperature of the body goes down gradually, and it rises gradually when the morning progresses.
When your bedroom is very hot or warm, it becomes very difficult for you to sleep, and it makes you more restless throughout the night. Because of this, avoid turning up your thermostat when the temperatures are dipping, as the cool air will help you sleep.
Sleeping in drafts makes your sleep lighter
Fresh air is great, as your mom may have told you growing up. However, when it comes to sleeping, opening your windows to the breezes of winter, or opening your bedroom door to open a pathway for a cool breeze to enter the room – it is a bad idea.
In fact, a study that was done in 2017 revealed that sleeping under a draft of wind makes you shift more often during your sleep to try and stay comfortable. This will raise your heart rates, and wake up more often during the night – beating the purpose of why you are sleeping in the first place. If you can, make sure to block the draft, and ensure you sleep better.
Longer sleep times because of low light in winter
Winter is not exactly the best season in existence – the low temperatures, the possibilities of getting sick, and the lack of sufficient daylight because the nights are shorter. It is perfectly normal for you to feel sleepy earlier in the day, so you do not need to think something is wrong with you.
In fact, the sleep cycles are affected by the access you have to natural light. This is why you go out in the sun in case you are feeling sleepy, due to the effects of natural light on the brain. The less light there is, the more levels of melatonin there is in your body, which will ultimately affect your natural cycle of wakefulness and sleepiness.
Cold makes the body work extra hard
You may not know it, but the amount of cold or heat that you are experiencing due to weather changes will have an effect on your sleep quality. For instance, the hotter or more humid it is, the less deeply you will sleep, and your sleep will also be less refreshing. That is not surprising news if you are trying to sleep when the weather is so hot.
Cold weather has an interesting effect though. While sleeping through cold conditions is great and helps you sleep better, but the body ends up working a bit harder than usual. In fact, the heart rate goes up during the winter, as well as the rates of blood pressure, even when you are asleep. Scientific research actually reveals this is probably the reason why the rate ofheart attacks increases during the winter months, not directly because of the cold.
Note that it is easier to fall sick during the winter due to lower immunity, which is a consequence of reduced exposure to sunlight. Sleep can become quite uncomfortable sue to colds and allergies, which force you to use medication – but these medication can help to improve your sleep quality.
Cold weather will make the body will produce lower levels of sleep-disrupting hormones
It is normal to think of winter as stressful and summer as a relaxing time of the year. However, scientific research reveals that cortisol, a hormone that the brain produces when you are under stress, is actually at its lowest levels during the winter and at its highest levels during the summer. On a normal day, cortisol levels will be at their lowest when you are asleep and will change their levels throughout the day as you are awake.
This is important to note, because the levels of cortisol will affect your sleep mechanism – especially when they are very high (which is why you will find it impossible to sleep when you are stressed). This is why you tend to feel very relaxed and sleepy when the winter comes by, or when it is a cold, rainy evening, since cortisol levels are significantly lower.
Final thoughts
While there is much to learn regarding sleep and the effects of the cold season on your sleep cycles, it is important to know that the weather plays an important part in your sleep and general health. It is normal to find sleeping in a cool room and cuddled in your blankets very appealing, and knowing that scientific research conforms it is a normal feeling you are experiencing.
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