It appears that sleeping naked is not only sexy, but is also beneficial for one’s health. Here are five surprising (and scientifically confirmed) ways sleeping in your birthday suit can benefit your health and well-being:
BETTER QUALITY OF SLEEP
An Australian study concluded that some forms of insomnia can be provoked by improper body temperature regulation at night. Another study showed that the regulation of in-bed body temperature could significantly help in reaching a deeper sleep. In one study in particular, Dutch scientists placedthermosuits on participants in order to lower their skin temperature without affecting core body temperature. As a result, the participants had an uninterrupted sleep and spent more time in the deep sleep stages.
So if you are using heavy blankets or wearing warm clothes at night, it can negatively affect your sleep.
COMBAT BELLY FAT AND LOWER CORTISOL LEVELS
Natural body cooling at night can also help you lower your cortisol levels. Cortisol, or the so-called stress hormone, is responsible for a number of disorders, including high blood pressure and cholesterol levels, disturbed sleep and increased appetite, hormonal imbalances, and a weak immune system.
Between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m., when your body is resting deeply, the cortisol levels reach their minimum. After 2 a.m., the glands that produce cortisol start working more actively in order to prepare the body for the next day and make you feel energized when you wake up.
When you don’t get enough sleep, you wake up with abnormally high cortisol levels, which is likely to stimulate your appetite (especially for comfort foods, such as sweets and cakes) and enhance the tendency to over-eat. Needless to say that this can contribute to increasing your belly fat.
STIMULATE THE RELEASE OF ANTI-AGING HORMONES
Keeping your body or your bedroom at a temperature higher than 70˚F (21˚C) prevents the release of melatonin and growth hormones, which are most vital anti-aging hormones.
Melatonin is released when you sleep in complete darkness, which triggers a slight but significant cooling in the body. Growth hormones are released as body temperature decreases. Moreover, a study published in the journal “Sleep” showed that sleep itself can trigger the release of growth hormones.
HEALTHY BODY COMPOSITION
The increased body or bedroom temperature impedes the release of growth hormones as mentioned above, which is essential for tissue repair and healthy body composition.
A study at the University of Warwick concluded that those who sleep less than six hours are three times more likely to develop diabetes and heart disease, and therefore, unwanted weight gain. Lack of sleep is associated with the release of cortisol and hunger hormones, which cause a corresponding insulin increase; while it is also related to less active production of the fat-burning and appetite-controlling hormones.
BOOST OXYTOCIN
Oxytocin is a powerful feel-good hormone (also called the “love hormone”), which is involved in orgasm and sexual responsiveness, stress, combating depression, reducing intestinal inflammation by improving gut motility, and blood pressure reduction. So if you and your partner are sleeping in your birthday suits, skin to skin touching can boost the release of oxytocin. And of course, we can’t neglect the most obvious benefit of sleeping naked: it can trigger sexual desire in you and your partner and thus you will have more intimate moments together.
If these aren’t enough reasons for you to ditch the bulky pj’s tonight then I don’t know what is:)
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