Should You Sleep Naked? The Facts Laid Bare

The average person will spend well over 225,000 hours sleeping during the course of their lifetime. To break that down, that’s nearly 9,500 days and a total of 26 years asleep. On top of that, we spend a further 7 years trying to get to sleep.

Now that you have a grasp of how much time we actually spend in bed sleeping, it's pretty safe to say that we should do everything we can to ensure that we sleep in the best way possible for a good night's rest and for our health. One of those ways is what we wear to bed.

We all have our own bedtime routine, but when you turn in for the night, do you wear pajamas or do you sleep naked?

There are some strong arguments for sleeping naked, particularly if you share a bed with a partner. But is it recommended or healthy for your body?

Let’s take a look at the bare facts and come up with a decisive answer to the question ‘should you sleep naked?’

How Much Sleep Do We Need?

As adults, we need at least seven hours of sleep each night. Maintaining a good sleep routine is important for both your mental, physical, and sexual health.

If you’re not getting enough sleep, it can contribute to a wide range of conditions including depression, diabetes, or even heart disease.

For some people, a lack of sleep can also lead to a lower sex drive and even erectile dysfunction.

How Can Sleeping Naked Aid Your Circadian Rhythm?

We all have a natural circadian rhythm that follows a 24-hour pattern and regulates our sleep-wake cycles. The Circadian rhythms are our physical, mental, and behavioral changes every day and night.

In order to synchronize our circadian rhythms, our pineal glands produce the hormone, melatonin. Once produced, melatonin is released into the bloodstream, which helps our body get the rest that it requires.

The temperature of your body affects the quality of your sleep as well. The optimal temperature for maintaining the best night's sleep is 60 - 67°F (16-19°C). When your body temperature drops to this level, melatonin levels start to rise and you naturally become sleepy.

But if you overheat during the night, you may wake up prematurely and miss out on the all-important non-REM deep sleep phase. Missing this part of your sleep cycle can affect your concentration throughout the day and affect your ability to ward off infections.

How Does Sleeping Naked Affect Your Sleep?

By sleeping naked, your skin will be able to regulate its own temperature more effectively, improving the overall quality of your sleep and making you feel more rested.

For many, going to bed without any clothes on helps them fall asleep quicker and ensures they don’t wake up in the night.

Sleeping longer and deeper will mean you feel less groggy first thing in the morning, will aid your ability to focus, help you manage stress better, and stabilize your mood in general.

So, does sleeping naked help your sleep better? Yes, by helping to control your body temperature and keeping it cooler, your body will produce the melatonin required for a better night's sleep.

Bare Naked Self Esteem

A study published in 2017 found that people that spend more time naked enjoy increased self-esteem. While you may not want to become a naturist and spend your days in nudist resorts, sleeping naked may be a good compromise.

Of course, sleeping naked isn’t going to make you feel like a movie star or that you spend seven hours in the gym each day. What it can do, however, is make you more accepting of your own body which, in turn, can make a huge difference when you’re not happy with your physical appearance.

Sleeping Naked Can Help You Lose Weight

Sleep is ideally made up of two cycles. In the first phase of your sleep, your body will lower your cortisol levels. In the second phase, these levels will increase. This cortisol boost serves to provide you with the necessary energy for when you wake up.

When sleep gets interrupted due to being too warm during the night, your cortisol production will ramp up at the wrong times. This results in an increase in your appetite, meaning you eat when you shouldn’t need to.

If a midnight trip to the fridge or pantry is a problem for you, ditching the pajamas may help reduce the need to eat in the night, since your body won't be waking you up with a hungry appetite.

In addition to this, if you’re a little colder while you’re sleeping, your body needs to work harder to keep warm. To do this, you must burn more calories. As we all know, if you burn enough calories, you’ll eventually start to lose weight.

Sleeping Naked and Sex

Where does sleeping naked fit in with your sex life? The first thing to consider is that nude sleeping could improve the connection you have with your partner, increase the opportunities to have sex, and, ultimately give you a self-esteem boost.

Skin-to-skin contact with your partner is a great way to increase oxytocin production. This hormone is linked to bonding and can also help you relax. Oxytocin is a neurotransmitter that can improve sexual desire, intensify erections, and improve orgasms.

Outside of the bedroom, oxytocin has other benefits to your relationship. The hormone is often associated with building trust, empathy, and fidelity between partners.

Male Fertility and Naked Sleeping

Regulating your body temperature doesn’t just increase melatonin production, it also helps to keep your testicles cool. If you head to bed wearing tight-fitting boxers, your scrotum will feel the heat and this can have a knock-on effect on both your sperm count and fertility.

If you want to ensure your sperm are strong swimmers, wearing loose-fitting shorts or even sleeping completely naked will ensure you don’t overheat down there.

Naked Sleeping Tips

If you want to start sleeping naked, you’ll want to consider hygiene. Using bedding made of a natural fiber such as cotton will ensure it’s comfortable against your skin and breathable.

We all sweat during the night. Over time, this can soak into your sheets leading to a build-up of bacteria. Washing your sheets regularly will help combat this issue. So make sure to be mindful of that!

Alternatives to Sleeping Naked

Sleeping naked isn’t for everyone. You may have hygiene concerns, or you may have roommates or other reservations. Everyone’s different, and it’s always important to feel completely relaxed with your sleeping arrangements.

If you don’t want to sleep naked, wearing loose-fitting shorts will improve the airflow around your testicles, and wearing a loose t-shirt will ensure the rest of your body doesn’t overheat. Wearing natural fabrics will also ensure your clothing is breathable.

Sleep Awareness Week

Between the 13th and 19th of March 2022, it’s Sleep Awareness Week. This is a time when the National Sleep Foundation highlights the importance of a good sleep routine. With this in mind, is it time to change up the way you sleep?

Why not sleep naked for a while and tell us all about the benefits you’ve experienced? Join our community and share your personal experiences. Here at BDE, we have built a strong community that focuses on building each other up, learning from others' experiences, and improving relationships and our health!

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