TOTALLY GEEKED!

What’s your sleep uniform? Do you clad yourself in cozy pajamas? Sleep in underwear and a T-shirt? Layer up in sweatpants? Or do you sleep in the nude? There are a number of good reasons to make a habit of the latter, as this recent article (link is external) points out. Sleeping naked can be good for your relationship, your health, and for the quality of your sleep itself. 

If one recent survey is accurate, not many Americans are taking advantage of the benefits of sleeping in the buff. A national survey of 3,700 men and women found (link is external) only 8% reported sleeping naked. (Nearly three quarters—74%--went to bed wearing pajamas.) Let’s take a look at some of the underlying advantages to ditching your bedclothes. 

It’s not hard to imagine the positive effects that sleeping naked can have on relationships. For bed partners, sleeping skin-to-skin can enhance feelings of closeness and intimacy, both physical and emotional. Rather than relying on clothing for extra warmth, naked sleepers can sleep close together to keep each other warm—and still take a little distance to keep cool. Sleeping naked probably isn’t going to hurt partners’ sex lives, either. Being naked and physically close in bed together can make sex—especially the spontaneous, unplanned kind—more likely and more frequent. And sleeping naked may contribute to greater feelings of happiness in relationships. A survey conducted by Cotton USA, which promotes the use of U.S. cotton products around the world, examined the bedroom and sleep habits of more than 1,000 adults in Britain. Couples who made a habit of sleeping naked were more likely (link is external) to report being happy in their relationship, compared to couples who slept clothed. 

Skin-to-skin contact triggers the release of oxytocin (link is external), which is sometimes referred to as the “love hormone.” Oxytocin has a powerful influence over emotions that drive social behavior and interpersonal connection, engendering feelings of trust, ease, and stability between. Studies have shown that a boost to oxytocin levels makes us more sensitive to others’ emotions (including, perhaps, overly sensitive (link is external)), and may even increase levels of attraction (link is external) for partners in long-term relationships. Oxytocin doesn’t just promote positive, relationship-enhancing emotions, it also confers benefits to physical health, reducing stress and anxiety levels and lowering blood pressure. 

There are other health benefits that may stem from sleeping in the nude, ones that you can take advantage of whether you sleep with a partner or on your own. By helping the body to stay colder overnight, sleeping naked may help your body to increase its stores of brown fat, a type of fat that actually burns energy (link is external) (in the form of calories) rather than storing it as ordinary fat does. Babies have brown fat, as a mechanism to help keep them warm. Recently scientists have discovered that adults may also have brown fat, which has led to a great deal of attention about the possible therapeutic benefits of brown fat in managing weight and helping to avoid metabolic diseases including type 2 diabetes. We don’t yet know what benefits there may be in manipulating brown fat—there is still a great deal to learn about how this type of fat functions in adults, and whether it makes sense to try to increase or activate brown fat for health benefits. Early research suggests that exposure (link is external) to cold—including sleeping (link is external) in a cool bedroom—may trigger brown fat to be active in burning calories, may increase brown fat amounts. Increasing amounts of brown fat may in turn help you shed weight, and improve (link is external) glucose levels and insulin function. In addition to keeping the temperature down in your bedroom, the cooling effects of sleeping without clothing may be a way to contribute to improving the way brown fat works in the body. 

Regulating body temperature downward, and not overheating during the night is one clear way to help improve sleep. Body temperature naturally decreases (link is external) throughout the night, a necessary part of the body’s transition to sleep. Sleeping naked can make it easier for the body to effectively execute this gradual downward turn in temperature. Avoiding staying too warm while in bed and sleep—and allowing the body to regulate temperature as it needs to—can make it easier to fall asleep and can help you sleep more soundly. 

Intrigued? Ready to give sleeping in the nude a try? Here are a few suggestions to make sleeping naked work well: 

Invest in good bedding and wash it frequently. If you’re sleeping skin to sheets, you want that bedding to feel comfortable. Use natural fibers such as cotton or silk, and wash and change your sheets frequently. 

Keep your bedroom temperature on the cool side. Some of the benefits of sleeping naked may diminish if you’re stripping down only to sleep in a sauna. What’s more, your sleep can suffer from a room that’s too warm, with or without clothing. For most people, a temperature (link is external) in the neighborhood of 65 degrees is best.  

Make sure your hands and feet are warm. The body releases heat (link is external) through its extremities as part of it’s sleep-related cool down. Having cold hands and feet can interfere with this process. Keep your hands and feet warm in the hours before bed—a shower 90 minutes before bed is one good way—and make sure you have sufficient bedding to avoid becoming cold in your hands and feet during the night. 

Wear as little as possible. If sleeping naked isn’t for you, try to wear as little clothing as you can for your night’s rest. You’ll avoid overheating, and sleep more soundly as a result.

Don’t decide sleeping naked isn’t for you until you’ve given it a try. You may be surprised at how natural and comfortable it feels.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/sleep-newzzz/201508/shedding-your-clothes-bed-is-good-idea