Have you ever considered sleeping naked? A small 10% of Americans make a habit of it. But it may just have some pretty substantial benefits! Not convinced? Well here are 8 reasons to try it out…
8 Benefits of Sleeping Naked
Emotional Bonding (The benefit of oxytocin)
When your skin touches another person the hormone oxytocin is released. Oxytocin strengthens relationships and induces loving feelings towards others.
Oxytocin also promotes sexual arousal, reduces stress hormones, increases trust, lowers heart rate, reduces blood pressure, and raises overall sex drive. What a great way to help your body recharge and to draw closer to others. Oxytocin also improves gut motility and decreases intestinal inflammation (who would say no to a healthy gut?). (source)
Additionally, crawling between the sheets with nothing on, can more easily invite sex, opposed to that plaid pair of flannel pj’s. And nature’s most fun sleep aid is the “O” so pleasurable orgasm. If you want the reasons why sex is good for your health click here.
Better, Deeper, Sleep
There are few things better than those nights that you sink into a deep and comfortable sleep. Sadly, that kind of sleep can be hard to find and even the smallest variables can hinder the ability to obtain that kind of sleep. Even the room temperature has a narrow window!
The optimal temperature for restorative sleep is between 60 and 68 degrees fahrenheit. When the temperature fits these parameters it helps the body’s core temperature drop in preparation for sleep. If you are too hot, it prevents the body’s core temperature to reach optimal ranges, which can cause restlessness in some, and insomnia in others. Sleeping naked can help prevent the body from being too hot, and therefore facilitate better sleep. (source)
Balanced Cortisol
By focusing on finding that happy sleep temperature, and stimulating growth hormone, cortisol will drop. In a healthy sleep cycle, between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. cortisol is at its lowest. After 2 a.m. cortisol begins to rise and prepare for the upcoming day, reaching a high point at about 6 a.m. If you don’t get enough sleep you will wake up to very high cortisol. When cortisol is abnormally high it increases your appetite, and causes cravings for comfort foods (cakes, cookies, muffins). It also causes you to overeat. Then to make matters worse it increases tension and anxiety, and causes weight gain around the midsection.
High cortisol can wreak havoc on the body, doing damage by:
- weakening immunity,
- raising blood pressure,
- raising cholesterol,
- increasing appetite,
- disrupting normal sleep patterns,
- lowering libido,
- increasing cravings for sugars and carbs,
- aggravating PMS,
- contributing to adrenal fatigue,
- contributing to fertility problems,
- contributing to thyroid disease,
- and contributing to abnormal blood sugar, and diabetes. (source)
Sleeping naked can help facilitate a happy temperature, stimulating growth hormone and regulating cortisol.
Keeps You Young (the benefit of melatonin, and growth hormone)
Want to look young and beautiful? The term “getting my beauty rest” isn’t just for make-believe. Keeping the temperature no higher than 70 degrees allows the anti-aging hormones, melatonin and growth hormone, to function properly. Plenty of people like to feel cozy at bedtime, but a sleep environment that’s too warm can prevent the natural cooling that should take place in your body while you sleep.
By cooling things down a touch melatonin is permitted to help regulate the body’s sleep wake cycle, as well as work its magic as an antioxidant by scavenging for free radicals, specifically oxygen and nitrogen. (source) Likewise, that same cooldown stimulates the growth hormone. Growth hormone is more magical than Botox. While you sleep growth hormone:
- “Increases calcium retention, and strengthens and increases the mineralization of bone
- Increases muscle mass through sarcomere hypertrophy
- Promotes lipolysis
- Increases protein synthesis
- Stimulates the growth of all internal organs excluding the brain
- Plays a role in homeostasis
- Reduces liver uptake of glucose
- Promotes gluconeogenesis in the liver
- Contributes to the maintenance and function of pancreatic islets
- Stimulates the immune system” (source)
Better Body Composition (the benefit of growth hormone)
Growth hormone (HGH) is an all-encompassing hormone for health, affecting nearly every cell in the body. By sleeping naked and preventing being too hot while you sleep Growth hormone can work its repairing magic. Growth hormone:
- promotes bone density,
- repairs tissue,
- builds muscle,
- lowers your risk of diabetes,
- lowers your risk of heart disease,
- promotes healthy weight,
- keeps hunger hormones balanced,
- stimulates the growth of internal organs,
- stimulates the immune system
- and keeps insulin at healthy levels. (source)
Helps Maintain Healthy Sex Organs
For women, sleeping naked can help reduce problems with yeast infections. Although small amounts of yeast are normal, we don’t want to over accommodate it. Yeast thrives in moist environments, so allowing things to air out on a daily basis can help maintain balance. For when yeast gets out of hand try this trick!
For men, sleeping naked can help increase fertility by keeping the testes at adequate temperature and retaining sperm quality.
Improves Circulation
When you take it all off your blood circulation improves. I don’t know about you, but there are few things better at the end of the day than stripping off those skinny jeans, and dropping that bra on the floor! Although there are plenty of moments when clothes bring comfort, their use still comes at a small price. Elastic waistbands and tight-fitting clothing can inhibit circulation.
Warms Your Tootsies (The benefit of a roaring metabolism)
Sleeping nude allows our bare skin to absorb more nutrients and accelerates the repair process to the skin. An uninterrupted airflow will also allow the sebaceous glands to work best… allowing skin to regenerate. This helps to boost the metabolic rate of the body. Higher metabolic rate equals greater potential for a healthy weight, or weight-loss if needed.
Maybe Those Flannel Pj’s are the Better Choice for You
Many of the reasons to slip between the sheets, with nothing on at all, have to do with your body temperature being too high. But what if you have a low metabolism? What if tossing those comfy flannel jammies would keep you awake shivering for hours? Well, access your own situation. Is your metabolism dropping the ball and you’re not maintaining a healthy 98.6 degrees? In this case my suggest would be to fix it! But until then, be aware of your personal needs and decide what really benefits you most. If those flannel pj’s still call your name then by all means go get snuggly!
Is Being Naked Really Required to Reap All Those Awesome Benefits?
Honestly? I don’t think so! So, if you still want your pj’s, whether they are silk, flannel, or otherwise, you should still be able to wear them. The main idea is that your body temperature can find that happy spot for restorative sleep. If you love your flannel then try going with a much lighter blanket, or turning the thermostat down. If your comfy in something silky then you may be fine as is. When it comes to oxytocin and emotional bonding, well there is always those moments before you fall asleep. Wink, wink! 😉
Looking for Better Sleep?
Sleeping naked may very well be too much to ask from many of you. And in truth you may just be looking for a really good nights sleep; a night where you fall asleep easily and stay that way until morning, a night where you waken the next morning feeling refreshed, a night where sleep really does its job and you wake up radiant (bed head but no dark circles)! Wait… I think we are all looking for that. It just comes more easily to some than others. For those of you that are still having a hard time I have a great “solution”… The Sleep Solution actually, by Emily Benfit.
I read this book, and LOVED it! Now, I’ve never struggled with severe insomnia. My sleep problems in the last few years have revolved around the problems of nursing, teething, and bedwetting, more than that of insomnia. However, after apply some of the tricks Emily shares my sleep improved. Not only that, the sleep of my children improved!
The Best Part!
Right now you can order The Sleep Solution and get a great 2 for 1 deal at a discount price!
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Just for fun, comment by telling us about your favorite pair of pj”s!
This post is linked to: Fight Back Friday
Photo Courtesy: Freedigitalphotos.net
Hi, your link to the Sleep Solution isn’t working.
Whoops! Thanks. I got that fixed!
pending on the weather,is how I sleep,
Interesting article; I’m glad this came up. Reason #1 about increased oxytocin is enough for me. I have noticed over the years that on the few occasions my husband and I sleep in the nude, I feel closer to him and feel better about our marriage. Normally this only happens when the kids are away (i.e. spent the night at their grandparents, etc), so I attributed the effects to the kids not being around, but never occurred to me it might be as simple as the skin-to-skin contact. Whatever it is, it works so well that we joke about sleeping nude all the time once the kids are grown and moved out. It really has such a noticeable effect – on me, at least. I just feel so connected to him and our communication seems effortless.
Sorry, my long-winded comment wasn’t about my favorite pair of PJs… unless we just say my favorite pair is nothing at all 🙂
I am a middle of the road gal! I found these cotton cami tops when I was breastfeeding my baby, then I became addicted! Winter/spring/summer/fall I am always wearing them to bed, I bought them in all colors so I am stocked, and I wear them in layers with my other clothes! Here in Washington you have to prepare for whatever so layers work! They are medium length with spaghetti straps. Just this and undies work for me. The nude sleeping has not been a reality since baby came around, now almost 4 yrs old!
I sleep naked and have been doing it for years. The comfort level is so much better than with pj’s or underwear. I started doing this years ago for some reason, I really don’t know why. It took about a week to get use to but after that it became fantastic. I don’t know if it’t for all the reasons you state but they sure sound good.
Ever since I was a little girl I sleep naked. My mom would freak out about it & tell me to wear my pj’s, but I simply couldn’t have a good night sleep with them. She would tell me that I needed to be prepared to run outside in case of an emergency like a fire or something, I would tell her that in case of a fire my last concern would be if I’m naked or not, if I had to run out, I would run out. Good to know that it’s actually beneficial. I wonder if it’s sleeping naked all these years what has kept me looking young. I’m 30 but people always say I look 17 @ most.
I’ve slept naked for years. It’s healthy and keeps you looking young. Also a major contributory factor to looking younger than your actual age is having cold showers.
my religious always nude
My biggest problem is that I can’t seem to sleep for more than 3 hours, and then I wake up, most of the time it’s not for more than 5 minutes, but it still really seems that I never get a full night sleep and as I get older the worse it seems to be. any ideas.
I would suggest checking out Emily’s book, The SLeep Solution. She has tons of great tips to help with all kinds of sleep problems. I believe it is on sale right now too!
I haven’t tried will do it.
Interesting article. I wish I could try sleeping naked, but the problem is, I live in a family of six and everyone still lives at the same house. Even more so, I share a room with my brother and he and I both have very few friends so we hardly ever stay the night anywhere other than at home. I would try it if I got the chance, and when I’m home alone I walk around the house naked, so maybe when I move out of my parents’ house in a few months I can try it. Thanks for the article. If there’s one thing I like more than being naked, it’s learning things that you can’t hear about in school. School 🙁
I love sleeping naked! Sometimes I wear just underwear though like if it’s that time of the month, but I always prefer to be topless and pantless. I don’t remember when I started, but it was out of curiosity and I’ve been sleeping naked for years for ever since It’s just so much more comfortable and unrestrictive. I like the feel of the sheets and the air against my skin. I feel better when I sleep and when I wake up in the morning as well. I leave a L tee shirt beside my pillow and I’d just grab that and slip it on before leaving my room or when I wake up.
sleep is better and deeper and one gets comfortable with the skin one is in…an ideal method of overcoming body dysmorphic disorder. you also go back to caveman times. its even better not to take any blanket or sheet on top of the body. you and your spouse together in each others arms…that is the way to go.
nice post!..
For all the reasons you list and more living naked is even healthier.
Sleeping nude is natural
I agree especially when it’s hot and humid,