Immersing yourself in a bath at around 40°C, 1h30 before going to bed, would allow you to have better quality sleep.
Slip into a hot bath to win the arms of Morpheus: this is the solution suggested by researchers at the University of Texas. In Sleep Medicine Reviewsthey show that a bath some time before bedtime leads to better sleep.
A large data study
The research team analyzed 5,000 studies thanks to a system called “systematic review of protocols”. “The only way to know if sleep could be improved was to combine all the data collected in the past and look at it through a new prism,” says Shahab Haghayegh, lead author of this research. Scientists have included different criteria such as the perceived quality of sleep, the time to fall asleep or the total duration of the night.
The ideal temperature of the bath, so that it allows a good sleep, would be between 40 and 43°C and it should be taken between 1 and 2 hours before bedtime. If these two criteria are met, researchers estimate that a person can fall asleep about 10 minutes earlier than usual.
Body temperature and sleep are linked
The study did not look at the causal relationships between hot bath and sleep, as they have already been the subject of much work. Body temperature and sleep are strongly linked. For example, the body temperature in the late afternoon or early evening would be a little higher, compared to periods of sleep. Conversely, in the morning, the body warms up, which sends the signal to the brain to wake up. Thanks to baths or showers, it would thus be possible to “deceive” the brain. The solution is certainly not the most ecological, but its effectiveness is proven!
.
