Falling onto your mattress and sliding under a warm blanket after a long and tiring day tops the list of life’s little pleasures. But what would happen if you fell onto your mattress without a blanket to slide under? We shiver at the thought — both literally and figuratively.
Apparently, our body temperature endures quite the rollercoaster of fluctuations while we sleep. Ellen Wermter, spokesperson for the Better Sleep Council and a board-certified family nurse practitioner in Charlottesville, Virginia, tells Huffpost, “Our circadian rhythm is tied to temperature, and a drop in core body temperature happens right before sleep,” she explains. Our core body temperature continues to fall throughout the night, so even if it doesn’t feel cold enough to need a blanket when you go to sleep, you’re likely going to want to remain under the covers to keep your sleep cycle from being disrupted in the middle of the night.
A blanket can be the key to triggering a sleep response
The quality of our sleep doesn’t solely depend on temperature, and the importance of a blanket goes well beyond simply keeping the body warm. Michael Grandner, Ph.D., director of the Sleep and Health Research Program at the University of Arizona in Tucson explains to The Healthy, “Since most people sleep with a blanket, the physical sensation of the blanket itself gets paired with sleep. This means that simply being under a blanket can cause the brain and body to be primed for sleep. It can actually trigger a sleep response,” he says.
Yet sometimes, it just gets too darn hot. Especially during those sweat-soaked summer months when the thought of snuggling under a blanket triggers the onset of even more sweat. But knowing that falling asleep without a blanket can actually disrupt the sleep cycle is a shivering thought. At least now we are aware of how necessary even the thinnest of blankets is for a good night’s sleep.
