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findings about sleep, validated by science: [bold added]
Setting the thermostat to around 65 degrees Fahrenheit is good for sleep, studies have found. Research has also found that room temperatures as low as 60.8 degrees are best when people pile on the blankets.
The body’s core temperature needs to drop by about 2 to 3 degrees Fahrenheit to initiate sleep, [UC Professor Matthew] Walker says. “If our core temperature is too high the brain cannot easily make the switch from being awake to being asleep, or create the best quality sleep.”
One counter-intuitive piece of advice--take a hot bath before bedtime:
The hot water brings the circulating blood to the surface of the body, which is one of the quickest ways to drop core body temperature.
“When you get out of the bath you cool down more quickly, which is what the body wants to do at bed time,” says James Horne, a neuroscience professor at Loughborough University in England. His research has found that young, healthy people have about 10% more slow-wave sleep when they take a warm bath before bedtime. He says soaking in water that is about 102 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes in the early evening will improve sleep. A shower won’t have the same effect, he says.
This may explain why people with hot tubs seem mellower----they sleep better.
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