Bite Sized Lifestyle Tip #1- Optimize Sleep by Adjusting the Temperature
Let’s talk sleep. You may be wondering why, as a nutrition expert, I’m sharing tips for sleep. I’m a huge proponent of the fact that health requires a multi-faceted approach. In fact, there is a lot of evidence to connect poor eating habits with sleep quality. When we deprive our bodies of sleep, we derail our body’s ability to accurately tell us when we’re hungry and when we’re full. This is thanks to a disregulation of our hunger and satiety hormones, ghrelin and leptin. This is why you may find yourself with an insatiable appetite after a particularly terrible night of sleep. And to make matters worse, when we’re feeling low energy, the body craves the quickest source of energy possible- you guessed it- sugar and other refined carbohydrates.
As you can imagine, the effects of poor sleep extend beyond weight gain. It can wreck havoc on blood sugar control (contributing to the risk of type 2 diabetes) and increase cholesterol levels. In the short term, and in my opinion worst of all, poor sleep can affect our mood and exercise performance.
Since overhauling your sleep habits can be quite an undertaking, I want to share bite-size tips for optimizing the quality and quantity of your Zzzzs.
With summer on the horizon, temperatures are climbing. The temperature of your sleep environment is crucial. Studies show that an optimal temp for sleep is somewhere between 60-67°F or for my Canadian friends, 15-19°C. If you’re lucky enough to have AC, try experimenting with an adjustment in temp and see what it does to your sleep. And, if you’re like me and live where AC is a rarity, I want to offer some tips to keep you cool:
1) Purchase a fan and/or open a window. This may be a no-brainer, but it can make a huge difference. Link to my personal favorite.
2) Try a cooling pad. This has been a game changer for clients I’ve worked with. It’s pressure-activated so requires no chilling in advance.
3) Invest in breathable linens that are meant to keep you cool.
4) Keep a glass of ice water at your bedside. Cooing from the inside out is incredibly effective at lowering your core body temperature.
5) Take a bath or shower before bed. A drop in body temperature (created by moving from a hot shower or bath to room temp) can actually drive sleep.
How would you rate your sleep on a scale of 1 to 10?