Be it an adult or child – restful sleep is vital for everyone. If you are not well-rested, it will affect your overall general and mental health. When it comes to seasonal sleep patterns, the answer is yes, seasonal changes do affect your sleep, just like any other external factor, for example, a mattress. If you want to learn more about this phenomenon, continue reading below.
Read: How a Wrong Mattress Can Affect Your Health and Productivity
A] How Different Seasons Can Affect Your Sleep?
Experiencing in-frequent sleep disturbances as the weather changes are quite common. While the body can adapt to these changes, it could still impact the quality of sleep. Thus, listed below are a few pointers that show how different seasons can affect your sleep cycle.
1. Compromised Immune System: Sleep and immune system are co-related. So, if you compromise on the quality of your sleep, it could make your immune system more vulnerable. Poor sleep can decrease the white blood cells in the body, making the immune system weak, thereby hampering its ability to fight off illnesses.
Several studies indicate that lack of sleep is linked to several diseases. Also, individual’s who don’t get enough sleep are prone to fall sick more often. Plus, a disturbed sleep cycle can also slow down recovery.
2. Changes in Temperature: One needs an ideal temperature for a good sleep which may not be possible due to seasonal changes. Sleep is strongly linked to thermo-regulation – a mechanism responsible for sleep regulation. Exposure to heat is more likely to increase wakefulness, while cold temperatures can lead to restless sleep.
3. Illness and Allergies: Each season brings new allergens from different places. Trees and grass pollen are found in spring and summer, while dust mites are common in winter. Such allergens irritate the nasal passage, making breathing difficult and interfering with the sleep pattern.
In addition, nasal congestion tends to worsen at night due to the drop in temperature, affecting sleep. Plus, illnesses of any kind can cause discomfort, and result in poor sleep.
4. Seasonal affective disorder : Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is caused due to lack of sunlight. This disorder is observed in a recurring seasonal pattern and could lead to depressive episodes, commonly experienced during late fall and winter. Experiencing tiredness even after a long sleep, feeling lethargic during the day, loss of appetite, weight loss and seasonal insomnia are some of the common symptoms of seasonal affective disorder.
Getting an accurate diagnosis for a seasonal sleep disorder is important, so consult with a sleep specialist. They’ll advise you on the correct treatment plan, which will help alleviate the symptoms of SAD.
5. Loss of Sunlight: Loss of sunlight is one of the major reasons that contribute towards poor sleep between changing seasons. During winter, the days are shorter and the nights are longer.
This makes it difficult for an individual to get enough sunlight, which can lower the vitamin D levels in the body. Lack of vitamin D can affect the production of serotonin (a hormone), which is important for regulating the sleep-wake cycle and maintaining melatonin – a hormone that induces sleep.
Read: How to Boost Work Productivity With Better Sleep
B] Best Mattress to Improve Sleep
Though seasonal changes cannot be prevented, you can improve your sleeping experience by purchasing a high-quality mattress. The right mattress can help you deal with seasonal changes more effectively, ensuring your sleep is not affected. It can also help improve your overall health and keep various issues, such as backache and body pain away.
1. Organic Latex Mattress: Organic latex mattresses are made using natural materials. It is one of the many reasons why it has become a popular choice amongst a massive customer base. The latex used to make the mattress is sustainably extracted from a rubber tree. Plus, the making process does not involve any chemicals. This makes the mattress healthy, durable, and environment-friendly.
It provides excellent support to your body and easily adapts to your body shape. Organic mattresses also help maintain neutrality in temperature. Thus, making them an ideal choice to combat the various seasonal effect.
They are naturally resistant to dust mites, mould, and mildew, thereby preventing the risk of allergies. The lifespan of an organic mattress is also longer compared to other mattresses, making it a worthy purchase.
Further reading: The Ultimate Non-toxic and Chemical Free mattress guide
2. Gel Mattress: Gel mattresses are made with a combination of foam and gel, which makes them stand out among other mattresses. The mattress does not heat up due to its gel technology, plus it does not allow the absorption of heat, thereby maintaining a cool temperature while being asleep. It also contours to your body shape and as a bouncy feeling.
Further reading: Types of Mattresses That Can Help Give You A Good Night’s Sleep
3. Memory Foam Mattress: Memory foam mattresses are one of the common types that are known to mould and respond to body heat and pressure. It bounces back slowly, giving you total comfort while creating a sink-in feeling.
Memory foam mattress, however, traps body heat, so it is not an ideal all-season mattress. Additionally, its lifespan is much shorter than an organic mattress. Plus, over time, the mattress may lose its shape and cause discomfort such as body stiffness, backache, among others.
Further reading: Things to Consider When Choosing Best Orthopaedic Mattress
To sum it up
Seasonal changes are inevitable. They can impact a person’s mood, productivity, health, and most importantly, the quality of sleep. This happens because of various reasons, as mentioned above. Thus, the best way to improve sleep and combat the different changes in the weather is to buy a mattress that enhances sleep while providing optimal comfort. The best mattress will be suitable for all seasons and provide you with your money’s worth.
Looking to purchase a mattress online in Mumbai? Check out these certified latex mattresses that come with 20 years of warranty! You can even pair them up with organic pillows for adults to ensure you sleep well.
If you have kids, don’t compromise on their sleep, check out some of the best organic mattresses for kids
.