According to the results from a recent poll conducted by the National Sleep Foundation, only 12% of American adults sleep naked. Yet did you know there are some significant benefits for sleeping in the nude?
The Alternative Daily posted some great reasons for sleeping naked, but here are some additional benefits of leaving the pajamas packed away and sleeping naked:
Improved Sleep Quality
Your body naturally reduces its temperature as you fall asleep and begins to increase it again just before you wake up. However, when you wear pajamas or other clothing to bed you risk interfering with your body’s natural temperature control.
The added layers of clothing can make your body temperature too warm, which causes restless sleeping. It can also cause you to overheat throughout the night, so leave the clothing behind and let your body regulate its temperature on its own.
Boost Your Metabolism
A study published in the journal Diabetes reveals that people who slept in a cool room were more likely to produce a healthy type of fat that burns calories. Sleeping naked allows you to stay cool throughout the night, so your body is forced to generate its own body heat, which naturally burns calories even while you’re sleeping.
Relieve Insomnia
Research released by the University of South Australia’s Center for Sleep Research indicated that people who struggle with insomnia tend to have a higher body temperature before falling asleep as compared to people who sleep normally. As an insomniac’s body temperature is higher, they may find it more difficult to fall asleep. Even if they do fall asleep, the elevated body temperature can cause restlessness and overheating, which can result in the person waking up and finding it difficult to go back to sleep.
Lose the heavy blankets and shed the pajamas to help relieve those symptoms of insomnia.
Protect Your Testicles
Going to sleep while you’re wearing underwear can increase your risk of developing infections in your urethra and skin rashes on your testicles or thighs. After all, bacteria thrive in warm, moist environments, which can result in chafing or irritation.
Sleeping naked also gives men the added benefit of keeping the scrotum at the right temperature for optimal sperm production. Ideally, the testicles should be slightly cooler than the normal body temperature, so sleeping naked allows your body to regulate temperature properly.
Reduce Symptoms of Stress
When your body is allowed to cool naturally at night, it also helps to reduce the cortisol levels in your system. Cortisol is your body’s natural stress hormone.
When cortisol remains at consistently high levels, it can lead to a number of health disorders, including high blood pressure, weight gain, high cholesterol levels, and hormonal imbalances. So lose the pajamas and reduce stress at the same time.
Look Good and Feel Good
When you sleep, your body releases a range of different hormones into your system, including oxytocin and melatonin. Oxytocin is your body’s natural ‘feel-good’ hormone.
Oxytocin can also help to promote growth and healing. It also helps to produce anti-stress effects in your body, resulting in reduced cortisol levels, fewer symptoms of anxiety, a boosted immune system, and reduced blood pressure.
Allowing your body to regulate temperature naturally while you sleep also releases melatonin, which is known as a potent anti-aging hormone. Of course, sleeping naked also has the added benefit of allowing your skin to breathe.
Improved Intimacy
Let’s face it. If you’re sleeping naked there’s a greater chance of becoming more intimate with your partner. A recent survey revealed that people who sleep in the buff are more likely to have happier love lives.
Sleeping naked with a partner boosts skin contact, which also increases oxytocin levels in the brain. Of course, sleeping in your birthday suits can also be a natural trigger for sexual desire in you and your partner, which could increase the level of physical intimacy between you.
Even if you’re just content spooning with your significant other while you fall asleep, the elevated oxytocin levels naturally make you feel more connected with your partner.
There are plenty of positive reasons to lose the bulky pajamas and climb into bed to sleep naked. You’ll sleep better, you’ll feel more energized, and you’ll wake up feeling refreshed.
Zak Ferguson is a homeopath who writes on a variety of health matters for health/fitness and a few lifestyle blogs around the web. In his home life he is a DIY enthusiast, Dad to two pre-teen boys and can hold his own on the shooter video games the boys play!
