Picture this: an excruciatingly hot summer day turns into a muggy night, and you’re left tossing and turning, trying to get comfortable in a room that’s just too hot. These are the evenings where we’re particularly grateful for the miracle of AC––but what’s actually better for your health, surrendering to the heat or blasting the air conditioning? We’re pleased to report that the answer is probably the one you want to hear.
Studies have found that sleeping in a cold room year-round has ample health benefits, with more being discovered as sleep is further researched. A cold room can help you fall asleep faster by reinforcing your body’s natural drop in temperature that occurs when you’re tired, while also improving the quality and longevity of sleep, as a warm room can raise the body temperature enough to wake you up in the middle of the night.
In addition to improving sleep quality, a room that sits between 60- and 68-degrees Fahrenheit will encourage the production of melatonin in the body––the hormone responsible for improved sleep, anti-aging, and a stabilization in mood. For those of us looking to shed excess weight, the increased melatonin production can help aid weight loss by burning calories throughout the night. This same process can also help prevent diseases such as type 2 diabetes by increasing insulin sensitivity.
This is only the beginning of the benefits that sleeping in a cold room offers––with various studies suggesting that this practice can help prevent insomnia, and even lower stress levels in the body, which can lead to decreased risk of disease due to inflammation. Experts suggest prioritizing sleeping in a cold room year-round––great news for our short, hot summers, but perhaps less so for the long, cold winter that follows.
