Health

Why You Should Sleep Naked, According to Science

September 2nd 2016

Being naked in your own home can be very liberating, as clothes can be uncomfortable and public nudity is frowned upon.

Nudity also has health benefits, especially when it comes to sleeping.

There are several major health perks to sleeping naked, according to a video on Discovery Channel's DNews YouTube channel. The most obvious advantage: It makes you cooler, host Amy Shira Teitel said.

"There's a fair bit of research out there that says being cooler not only helps you fall asleep, but also helps you sleep without waking up during the night," Teitel said.

Researchers have made similar claims many times:

The DNews video echoed that finding:

"Being cooler has to do with neural activity," Teitel said. "In both humans and animals, warmer skin has been linked to increased activity in the brain that regulate sleep cycles. The warmer the subject, the [more] disturbed their sleep. One study from the journal Brain found that a moderate cooling of the skin just 1.08 degrees Fahrenheit helped subjects sleep more deeply and stop them waking up at night, particularly the elderly."

Sleeping naked can also be beneficial for the skin and genital area.

nude-woman-on-chairStocksy/Katarina Simovic - stocksy.com

"Sleeping naked allows your skin to breathe, and also your private area," Teitel said. "This can be especially important for women, particularly those prone to yeast infections, because bacteria, including yeast, thrive in warm, moist areas. Freeing your lady bits from constricting fabric and allowing it to breathe all night can decrease bad bacterial growth and help prevent infections."

Nicole Prause, a former associate research scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles, affirmed to Medical Daily in 2014 that sleeping naked can help protect against bacterial infections in women. But sleeping nude isn't just helpful for women, the DNews video revealed.

Some men sleep naked to improve their sperm count if they want to have kids.

Men who wore boxers during the day and slept naked at night had lower rates of sperm damage by 25 percent, compared to men who wore briefs, according to a study conducted last year by the National Institute of Child Health and Development and Stanford University.

"Among men in the general population attempting pregnancy, type of underwear worn during the day and to bed is associated with semen quality," lead researcher Katherine Sapra said, according to the Daily Mail. "Reducing exposure for bed decreases DNA fragmentation; better semen quality parameters are observed in men wearing boxers during the day and none to bed."

You can watch DNews' full video below:

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