Do you usually sleep with the heating on?
Big mistake!
If you want to sleep well , it is better to lower it , or even turn it off completely overnight ! Why?
Because heating is often the cause of headaches or sore throats on waking.
It's true that being warm is comfortable, pleasant and cozy during the cold season.
However, this is not what Dr. Joëlle Adrien, president of the National Institute of Sleep and Vigilance, advises. Explanations:
The cold has a vasoconstrictor effect on our body. As a result, the cold slows down our blood circulation.
This phenomenon helps us fall asleep and helps in better recovery.
On the other hand, if the temperature is too high, the opposite phenomenon occurs.
Another symptom due to too hot air in a room:a stuffy nose.
"We breathe better with fresh air," says Dr. Adrien.
On the contrary, when we sleep with the heating on, we often have headaches, sore throats and dry skin...
Not to mention the fact that these symptoms contribute to putting us in a bad mood.
Very often, in winter, we tend to turn up the heating too high.
However, to have quality restorative sleep, a temperature between 16°C and 19°C is more than sufficient.
Being too hot or too cold disrupts the sleep cycle. We then tend to experience “intra-sleep” awakenings.
For Dr. Adrien, the key to good sleep is “to sleep in a rather cold atmosphere, so to set the temperature of your room at 18°C”.
Respecting this temperature scale guarantees rapid falling asleep, easier breathing and better quality sleep.
According to Dr. Adrien, this temperature of 18°C is the Holy Grail for your body to achieve “thermal neutrality, that is to say that under the duvet, the body will neither be too cold nor too hot. The brain will be busy sleeping and not regulating body temperature .
You have to build a "thermal niche, a cocoon", says Dr. Adrien.
When you go to bed in a room with a temperature of 18°C, the bed sheets are cool and the body temperature rises to 37°C.
This temperature difference will cause the body to send calories which will be used to warm the bed, but also to cool the body.
And as we saw above, the colder the body, the easier it is to fall asleep.
1. Apply the basic rule which is to sleep with your cool nose and warm body.
2. Maintain a room temperature of around 18°C.
3. Humidify the room by placing a glass of water on a radiator or by investing in a humidifier.
Why ? Because this will guarantee a stable humidity level all night long. No more sore throats or headaches, dry skin, the result of “hot, dry, poorly humidified air”.
4. Air your room every morning. Also, don't forget to do it before going to bed for 15 min.
This allows you to renew the air in the room, because let's not forget that "indoor air is much more polluted than that outside".
5. For the less chilly, try turning off the heating completely at night, or even leaving the window open.
This is how you will get better ventilation. All you have to do is turn the heating back on when you wake up (and close the window!).
6. Diffuse lavender essential oil in the bedroom, as it is known to promote sleep, according to scientific studies.
7. Avoid strenuous physical activity or taking a hot bath before going to bed.
Why ? Because that would only increase the internal temperature. And it would be more difficult to go down when sleeping.
All in all, so many good reasons to save on heating :-)
